NHTSA Complaint #10152539 — 2002 AUDI A4

MY 2002 AUDI A4 JUST HIT 69,900 MILES & THE 3RD TURBO ON MY CAR HAS JUST GONE BAD & HAS NOW DEVELOPED A TICKING NOISE IN THE VALVE-TRAIN. FIORE AUDI IN ALTOONA, PA LOOKED AT THE CAR & SAID THEY NEVER HEARD A NOISE IN THE TOP OF THE MOTOR & THAT THE "DENTIST DRILL" TURBO NOISE WAS CAUSED BY AN EXHAUST LEAK. I VERBALIZED MY CONCERNS OVER OIL SLUDGE ISSUES WITH THIS CAR & THEY PULLED THE VALVE-COVER & OIL PAN & FOUND OIL SLUDGE BUILD-UP IN THE OIL LINES FEEDING THE TURBO & IN SOME OF THE OIL GALLEYS IN THE ENGINE. AUDI OF AMERICA AGREED TO REPLACE THE TURBO AND THE OIL FEED LINES UNDER AUDI'S EXTENDED OIL SLUDGE WARRANTY. AFTER THE ENGINE WAS PUT BACK TOGETHER, FIORE FINALLY HEARD THE "TICKING" NOISE IN THE TOP OF THE MOTOR. AFTER PULLING THE HEAD THEY DETERMINED THAT THE ENGINE BLOCK AND THE CYLINDER HEAD WERE WARPED. FIORE TECHNICIANS INFORMED ME THAT THESE DAMAGES WERE CAUSED BY THE ENGINE BEING EXCESSIVELY OVERHEATED. THE CAR HAD NEVER INDICATED THAT IT HAD OVERHEATED, YET FOR THIS "EXCUSE/REASON", THEY REFUSED TO COVER ANY REPAIRS REGARDLESS OF THE FACT THAT I HAD PRODUCED RECEIPTS DOCUMENTING THAT THE OIL WAS CHANGED RELIGIOUSLY AROUND 3,000 MILE INTERVALS (WELL BELOW AUDI'S INITIAL RECOMMENDATION THAT THE OIL BE CHANGED EVERY 10,000 MILES, AS REFERENCED IN THE MANUAL, OR THEIR SUBSEQUENT RECOMMENDATION OF CHANGING IT EVERY 5,000 MILES) WITH AN AUDI RECOMMENDED FULL SYNTHETIC OIL AS PER THE SLUDGE WARRANTY POLICY. THE OIL LINES THAT FEED THE TURBO CHARGER WERE NEVER CHECKED OR REPLACED DURING ANY OF THE TURBO CHARGER REPLACEMENTS, OR OTHER OIL SMOKE COMPLAINTS, UNTIL NOW. AFTER OUR 3RD TURBO REPLACEMENT, OBVIOUSLY DUE TO OIL SLUDGE BUILD-UP, I'M NOW TOLD MY MOTOR IS NO GOOD. HAD AUDI TAKEN CARE OF THIS ISSUE WHEN THESE PROBLEMS WERE FIRST DEVELOPED & IDENTIFIED, IT WOULDN'T NEED A NEW ENGINE AT LESS THAN 70K MILES DUE TO AN ISSUE THAT IS WELL-KNOWN WITH THIS VEHICLE & THAT WAS ALSO OBVIOUSLY PRESENT WHEN THIS VEHICLES WARRANTY WAS IN FULL EFFECT. *NM