NHTSA Complaint #10147309 — 1999 AUDI A4

I OWN AN 1999 AUDI A4 1.8T. ON NOVEMBER 19, 2005, I TOOK MY AUDI TO TYSON'S CORNER AUDI DEALER IN TYSON'S CORNER, VA. AT THE TIME, MY CAR HAD 79,000 MILES AND THE DEALER CASUALLY MENTIONED THAT I NEED TO HAVE MY TIMING BELT REPLACED AT 90,000 MILES. THE DEALER DID NOT INFORM ME OF ANY OTHER PROBLEMS WITH MY CAR. SUBSEQUENTLY, I DROVE MY CAR. THEN A FEW WEEKS LATER WHEN I WAS DRIVING MY CAR AT 65 MPH ON THE HIGHWAY, THE TIMING BELT SUDDENLY GAVE OUT AND THE CAR ENGINE DIED ON THE SPOT. I COULD HAVE ALSO BEEN KILLED ON THE SPOT. AT THIS TIME, MY CAR HAD 80,000 MILES, NO WHERE NEAR 90,000 MILES THAT THE DEALER CASUALLY MENTIONED. I AM WRITING TO YOU TO INFORM YOU OF THIS MALFUNCTIONING TIMING BELT PROBLEM. THE TIMING BELT DAMAGED THE ENGINE AND THE DEALER IS QUOTING ME $7,700 FIXED MY CAR. WHEN I ASKED ABOUT THE WARRANTY WITH THE TIMING BELT, THE DEALER DENIED ANY WRONG DOING, FALSELY INFORMED ME THAT THERE IS NO WARRANTY ASSOCIATED WITH TIMING BELT, AND ABOVE ALL ASKED ME TOW MY CAR IF I WAS NOT GOING TO HAVE IT REPAIRED AT THE DEALER. I AM FULLY AWARE OF THE CLASS ACTION LAW SUIT ON 1997-99 AUDI A4 FOR THE MALFUNCTIONING TIMING BELT. YET, THE DEALER DENIES ANY WRONGDOING AND EVEN FALSELY INFORMED ME THAT THERE ARE NO WARRANTY ASSOCIATED WITH TIMING BELT. WHEN I CALLED AUDI USA CUSTOMER SERVICE, THE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE ALSO FAILED TO MENTION ANY WARRANTY BUT RATHER INFORMED ME THAT THEY CANNOT DO MUCH. THEY CALLED THE DEALER ON MY BEHALF, BUT AUDI USA WAS NOT WILLING TO DO ANYTHING FURTHER ONCE THE DEALER DENIED ANY RESPONSIBILITY. MY CAR IS STILL DAMAGED WITH NO ENGINE. DUE TO THE CLASS ACTION SUIT, I BELIEVE THAT AUDI USA NOT ONLY NEEDS TO FIX MY CAR AT NO COST BUT ALSO PLACE A RECALL ON ALL 1997-99 AUDI A4 TO PREVENT POTENTIAL LETHAL CAR ACCIDENTS. HENCE, I AM CONTACTING THE NATIONAL HIGHWAY TRAFFIC ASSOCIATION, WHICH OVERSEES ALL RECALLS AND HAS BEEN DOCUMENTING THIS TIMING BELT ISSUE WITH AUDI. *NM