Service Information: Operation items for test drives

 With this Service Information we would like to provide you with an overview of the topic of "test drives", and notify you about using operation items for test drives and for noise inspection.

Expenditures that result from test drives and which are incurred in conjunction with the service reception and final inspection for a vehicle, are part of the workshop overheads/administrative costs and they cannot be invoiced through warranty/goodwill.

If test drives are required as part of the technical repair procedure, these are to be viewed, where applicable, as warranty-compatible expenditure.

Examples of necessary test drives as part of the warranty repair are:

 noise inspection drives

 measuring drives

 calibration drives as well as

 test drives specified by the workshop documentation, irrespective of who renders the service.

On measuring drives the data sheet is to be completely filled out and include all the required details. A cost acceptance will only occur if the measurement results confirm the given customer complaint. For more detailed information, please refer to the applicable Warranty manual.

Because test drives cannot be conducted with incentive wages, the time required when conducting them, the employees involved and the exit/entry kilometer readings required according to the operation items, must be stamped onto the repair order or entered automatically or by hand.

If necessary, these times can be converted for submission in the warranty, guarantee goodwill case based on the workshop factor as work units or times.

Please note that the findings, which - where applicable - were defined by the test drive, are representatively documented on the order.

Data that are required for wage or salary calculation, are to be retained as per the respective statutory regulations.

For more detailed information, please refer to the applicable Warranty manual (EWMR or WMW).

For documentation of a test drive on the workshop order and, where applicable, submission in the case of implied warranty, warranty or goodwill, you have diverse operation items at your disposal in groups 00, 07, 18, 27 and 94, which we would like to explain to you in greater detail below.

Measuring and calibration drives

In DG 00 the operation items 00-9151 are used for, e.g. measuring and calibration drives. In this operation item the reasoning for the workshop test drive must be entered into the empty text field provided for the purpose. This operation item is also always drawn on when, in the remaining groups, no adequate operation item is available to document a test drive.

This operation item cannot be combined with the remaining operation items for a test drive and noise determination.

Consumption measuring drive

For the fuel consumption measurement you can use operation item 07-1333 for documentation on the workshop order.

Oil consumption test run

The oil consumption measuring drive is documented through operation item 18-1010.

Adaptation of automatic transmission

Operation item 27-1047 is filed for adaptation of the automatic transmission.

This operation item cannot be combined with the other operation items.

Noise determination at standstill in workshop

When determining noise at a standstill in the workshop, as well as for rectifying noise problems, operation item 94­1010 is available. If minor repairs such as, e.g. the grinding off of panels, or the retightening of bolts as part of the noise inspection are necessary, then this operation item is to be used in combination with the corresponding operation item for the noise test drive.

The combination of operation items is to be representatively explained in the message field of the order, otherwise the operation item will be rejected in the warranty/goodwill claim.

Please note here that for any disassembling work conducted on the vehicle the corresponding operation items have to be used as per WIS/ASRA for the individual components. Operation item 94-1010 relates solely to the localization and rectification of the noise, but not to the disassembling of the vehicle. The remedial action is to be documented in the corresponding empty text field on the order.

Example:

Remedy: Rear shelf in right area (relative to direction of travel), backed with 50 mm of felt at transition to rear window. The rear shelf is touching the body and causes creaking noises when the body twists.

Test drives for noise inspection

For test drives as part of the noise inspection there are three operation items available to you:

 94-1013

 94-1015

 94-1017

Important here is that the operation item refers to the damage-causing component, i.e. the technician defines the operation item based on the findings. Operation items 94-1013, 94-1015 and 94-1017 cannot be combined with each other. The operation items only form the means to localize the noise, disassembling work on the vehicle must be listed separately.

Example: The customer complains of wind noise as of a speed of 180 km/h in the right rear door area towards the C-pillar.

The technician determines that the seal frame on the right rear door is the cause of damage.

Because the noise involved here is on the body, operation item 94-1017 must be used.

If, during a test drive, several causes for the noise are determined, only one operation item may be used.

This must correspond with the reason for the complaint, and the damage code must be assigned and processed using the maximum work units/times.