NHTSA Complaint #10503498 — 2000 AUDI A6

LAST MONTH I FILLED UP MY TANK & AFTER DOING SO HAD A VERY STRONG SMELL OF GAS IN THE CABIN. I TOOK IT TO AN INDEPENDENT MECHANIC & HE TOLD ME THAT I HAVE A BROKEN ROLLOVER VALVE. TO REPLACE THE TANK COSTS $2500. THIS IS POTENTIALLY A VERY SERIOUS ISSUE GIVEN LEAKING GAS! AFTER RESEARCH I FOUND THERE IS A RECALL TO REINFORCE THE VALVE WITH EPOXY. UNFORTUNATELY THE RECALL IS FOR 2001-2004 MODELS & MINE IS A 2000. THE ISSUE ON MY 2000 IS THE EXACT SAME TANK/VALVE. I NEXT CONTACTED AUDI CUSTOMER SERVICE TO GET A CASE # HOPING THEY'D TAKE RESPONSIBILITY. THEY CREATED THE CASE BUT TOLD ME UNTIL THE ISSUE IS VERIFIED BY AN AUDI DEALER THEY CAN'T DO ANYTHING. DOING SO WOULD COME WITH NO GUARANTEES. I CALLED THE DEALER & THEY SAID THE COST OF A DIAGNOSTIC IS $109. SO I TOOK IT TO THE DEALER FOR A DIAGNOSTIC TO VALIDATE THE INDEPENDENT MECHANIC?S ANALYSIS. THE DEALERSHIP CALLED TODAY & CONFIRMED THE ISSUE FROM THE INDEPENDENT. COST TO PATCH IS $452+TAX (RATHER THAN COMPLETELY REPLACE THE TANK FOR $2500). THIS IS THE SAME RESOLUTION AS THE RECALL WHICH IS TO EPOXY THE VALVE. THEY TOLD ME TO EXPECT A CALL FROM AOA AS THEY JUST GOT OFF THE PHONE WITH THEM & AOA WOULD NOT BE PAYING FOR THE FIX (WHICH AGAIN IS IDENTICAL TO THE RECALL RESOLUTION). AOA CALLED & SAID THE MAIN REASON FOR NOT PAYING WAS THAT THE CAR HAS 169K MILES & A SECONDARY REASON THAT I HAD STOPPED TAKING IT TO THE AUDI DEALERSHIP. WHY SHOULD MILEAGE MATTER ON A KNOWN SAFETY ISSUE? IF MY CAR WAS A 2001 WITH 300K MILES WOULD THEY NOT HAVE SENT THE RECALL NOTICE? REGARDLESS OF MILEAGE THIS IS A KNOWN DESIGN FAULT THAT AUDI HAS ACKNOWLEDGED. MY 2000 HAS THE EXACT SAME ISSUE TO A T THAT THEY ARE ADDRESSING WITH THE 2001-2004 MODELS. I BELIEVE THAT SINCE AUDI HAS ACKNOWLEDGED THIS, THAT IT IS A MAJOR SAFETY ISSUE & IT?S EXACTLY THE SAME ISSUE WITH THE 2001-2004 MODELS THAT THEY SHOULD PAY FOR THE REPAIR. *TR