NHTSA Complaint #10125511 — 2002 AUDI A4

MY 2002 AUDI A4 1.8T WAS MALFUNCTIONING THE DAY I TOOK DELIVERY AND HAS HAD A SURPRISINGLY HIGH NUMBER OF DEFECTS SINCE THEN. TODAY, THE CAR IS INOPERABLE AND AUDI IS REFUSING TO ASSIST ME. ON 5/15/05 MY ENGINE SUDDENLY BEGAN VIBRATING HARSHLY AND LOSING POWER WHILE DRIVING ON THE INTERSTATE. THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON, AND MY DASH DISPLAY WAS FLASHING A RED WARNING. AFTER TOWING MY CAR TO MY DEALER, REEVES IMPORT MOTORCARS OF TAMPA, FL, I WAS INFORMED THAT THE PROBLEM I ENCOUNTERED IS A KNOWN DEFECT IN AUDI / VW 1.8 TURBO ENGINES. APPARENTLY A DEFECT IN THE 1.8T REGARDING SLUDGE THAT CLOGS THE OIL SYSTEM AND CAUSES A LOSS OF OIL PRESSURE. TO RECTIFY THIS PROBLEM, THE ENGINE MUST BE FLUSHED AND THE OIL PUMP, OIL PICKUP, ALL OIL LINES AND TURBO TUBES MUST BE REPLACED. I HAD NEVER BEEN MADE AWARE OF THIS FIX, WHICH COSTS ROUGHLY $2,000. AUDI DENIED WARRANTY ON MY CLAIM, MY ENTIRE ENGINE NEEDS TO BE REPLACED AND I AM NOW FACED WITH A SERVICE BILL OF $10,500!!!! MY DEALER INFORMED ME THAT AUDI HAD DECLARED MY SERVICE HISTORY AND THEREFORE DENIED ME WARRANTY. (THEY STATED THAT WHILE ALL SERVICE INTERVALS HAD BEEN OBSERVED, SOMETIMES I WAS SLIGHTLY OVER). ADDITIONALLY, MY RENTAL CAR SINCE MAY 16TH (USUALLY PROVIDED BY THE DEALER FOR WARRANTY WORK) IS NOW MY OWN RESPONSIBILITY. IN SUMMARY: 1. THIS IS A KNOWN DEFECT, FULLY DOCUMENTED BY THE MANUFACTURER. 2. THE FACTORY IS NOW REFUSING TO ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR AN EXPENSIVE YET TOTALLY AVOIDABLE ENGINE FAILURE. 3. THIS FAILURE WAS SUDDEN. IT WAS NOT AN ISSUE OF EXCESSIVE WEAR AND TEAR, OR A CONDITION THAT GRADUALLY WORSENED DUE TO NEGLECT. THEREFORE, THE PERIODS BETWEEN SERVICE INTERVALS SHOULD BE IRRELEVANT. 4. I HAVE SENT LETTERS TO AUDI NORTH AMERICA'S VP IN CHARGE OF CUSTOMER RELATIONS, MR. JOHANN DE NYSSCHEN, WITHOUT RESPONSE. BUYING AN AUDI WAS THE WORST DECISION I HAVE EVER MADE.