[Biturbos4] HELP! 2000 S4 Timing Belt Slipped

[Sherowsky Family]

Jeff,

The $16K repair bill is outrageous.  Unfortunately, that is what you will
find at most dealers.

Talk to the dealer that suggested waiting to 80K miles.  If they are a good
dealer, they will go to bat for you with AoA.  Without a dealer's support,
AoA will probably turn a deaf ear.  Even with support, the best you can
probably get this route is AoA splitting the bill 50/50.  But who knows, you
may hit AoA on a generous day.

If your original dealer is like most Audi dealers I have dealt with, they
will have no recollection of telling you to wait to 80K and unless it is
written on your service receipt that you requested this to be done and it
was not done per their recommendation, you will have a hard time proving
such legally.  The fact that they would not work you in for an emergency
situation is not a good sign.  You can discuss the situation with a lawyer,
but I fear unless the dealership admits some blame or you have written
proof, you will be in for a long tough battle that may or may not have a
good outcome and will result in repairs being delayed for a prolonged period
of time.

Personally, I would get the car to the best independent shop in the area.
Even if this requires having the car flatbedded some distance to a good
independent shop, it will save you thousands and most likely result in
better quality repair work.  My personal experience with Audi dealers has
been dismal.  That is not to say all are bad; I just have not found a good
one in my area.  I have gotten to the point that I won't let an Audi dealer
mechanic touch my cars, even for free service or warranty work.  I have just
had too many bad repairs and other things being damaged during repairs, as
well as at least one instance I know for sure where expensive synthetic oil
I brought was kept by someone at the dealership and not used in my car.

Ron

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jeff Bettencourt" <jeffreybettencourt at yahoo.com>
To: <biturbos4 at www.audifans.com>
Sent: Sunday, February 01, 2004 9:27 AM
Subject: [Biturbos4] HELP! 2000 S4 Timing Belt Slipped


> I'm looking for some help, I have a 2000 S4 with just
> under 75K miles on it. I have religiously brought it
> back to the same dealer for all recommended services,
> make sure Mobil 1 was used, etc. I have never modified
> the car - it is 100% factory minus the snow tires I
> purchased because I live in Boston.
>
> Last weekend, I was backing out of my driveway and the
> car just stopped. I had it towed to my secondary
> dealer (my primary dealer couldn't look at it for 2-3
> weeks!!). The diagnosis is not good - the timing belt
> "slipped", causing 2 valves to bend, oil to get into
> the turbos, etc. The repair bill for this is what
> truly took my breath away - $16,000 to FIX the car. (2
> turbos, 2 heads, water pump, timing belt, plus labor)
>
> Now I'm no expert on this stuff, but the car has a
> trade-in value of ~$18K, so do I now have a totalled
> car with almost NO value? With only 75K miles, I am
> well below the recommended interval of 90K or 104K
> miles (I've seen both). My primary dealer actually
> wrote on my slip at 60K miles that I should do the
> timing belt at 70K, but when I brought it in for the
> 70K service, my "service advior" told me I didn't need
> to do it at 70K & that I should wait until 80K.
>
> So, my question here is - what next? I've contacted
> Audi and asked for help, but I am wondering if I have
> any other recourse. Has anybody else out there been
> through this? For those of you that haven't - go have
> your timing belts changed!
>
> Any advice/stories would be greatly appreciated!
>
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