thanks for sharing that story.
It sounds like you had good success with Audi Customer Service.



> wrote in message
oups.com...
>I have a 1998 Audi A4 Quattro with the 1.8T engine and it recently had
> a timing belt failure (86,000 mi). I was surprised because the dealer
> had performed a related recall ("JK Campaign") just four months
> earlier. In fact, the service invoice clearly stated that the timing
> belt had been inspected and did not need to be replaced until 90,000 mi
> (this was when the car had 82,000 mi). After telling this story to the
> guy at my local shop, he advised me to call Audi and he gave me the 800
> number. The customer service advocate at Audi was nice enough and he
> verified that my wife was the original owner of the vehicle. He opened
> a case and asked me what I'd like Audi to do. At first I thought he
> was joking! So I told him politely that I'd like Audi to pay for the
> cost of the repair and the other expenses I had incurred related to
> this breakdown. So he took down more information and said he'd call
> back the next day to let me know what they could do. The next morning
> he called back and said that if it was in fact the timing belt that
> failed, then Audi would pay for the repair and even the towing costs.
> But he said I'd have to get it towed to the nearest Audi dealer (about
> a $300 tow charge). Since my local shop is good I knew they wouldn't
> mis-diagnose a timing belt failure, so I had it towed to a dealer. It
> took over a month, but the dealer did replace the engine (head and
> block) and there was no charge at all to me. (I did have to go without
> a car for a month, though). About a month after that, I got a check
> reimbursing me for the towing charges and a charge for three days of a
> rental car. (They refused to pay for the rental car gas and my one
> night stay in a hotel, though). While the car was in the shop, I got
> something in the mail from the dealer that did the recall work (a
> different dealer than the one putting in a new engine). It was a
> general advertisement stating that there was a high demand for 1998 A4
> 1.8T vehicles such as mine, and it went on to say that I would be
> offered some sort of bonus if I were to trade it in as part of a new
> Audi purchase. This was the first piece of advertising mail I had ever
> received from this particular dealer... I couldn't help but laugh at
> the coincidence.
>