NHTSA Complaint #10632217 — 2008 AUDI A4

THE VEHICLE HAD A LONG STANDING OIL CONSUMPTION PROBLEM COMMONLY KNOWN ON THIS MODEL AND YEAR VEHICLE WHICH AUDI ACKNOWLEDGED BY AUTHORIZING A REPAIR. AS A RESULT, AUDI OF AMERICA AND SCHMITT'S AUDI IN BOWMANSVILLE, NY AGREED TO REPLACE THE ENGINE PISTON RINGS TO ADDRESS THIS PROBLEM. ALTHOUGH I REPORTED THE PROBLEM MULTIPLE TIMES DURING THE WARRANTY PERIOD, AUDI DID NOT AGREE TO PERFORM THE REPAIRS UNTIL AFTER THE WARRANTY EXPIRED. THE ENGINE WAS TAKEN APART BY SCHMITT'S IN OCTOBER 2013 AT JUST UNDER 57K MILES, THE TIMING BELT WAS REMOVED AND THE PISTON RINGS WERE REPLACED. HOWEVER, APPROX. 3,000 MILES LATER, ON JUNE 30TH, WHILE DRIVING 60 MPH ON I-90 THE TIMING BELT SNAPPED WITHOUT NOTICE, CAUSING BENT VALVES AND MAJOR ENGINE FAILURE. THE CAR CAME TO A STOP IN THE MIDDLE OF THE HIGHWAY SPLIT WITH RTE. 219 WHICH WAS A VERY DANGEROUS SITUATION. THE POLICE HAD TO COME TO PROVIDE PROTECTION FROM TRAFFIC. SCHMITT'S WAS THE LAST TO TOUCH THE ENGINE BUT DENIED RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE BELT FAILURE AND STATED THAT THE TIMING BELT WAS DEFECTIVE. AUDI OF AMERICA DENIED THAT THE BELT WAS DEFECTIVE, EVEN THOUGH ACCORDING TO THE 2008 AUDI MAINTENANCE SCHEDULE THE BELT WAS NOT DUE TO BE CHANGED UNTIL 110K MILES. THE BELT BROKE AT ROUGHLY HALF THE MILEAGE IT WAS RECOMMENDED TO BE CHANGED AT. AUDI DENIED ALL RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE $4200 ENGINE REPAIR COST AND STATED I WAS OUT OF WARRANTY THEREFORE NO COVERAGE WAS AVAILABLE. I HAD EXTENSIVE COMMUNICATIONS WITH AUDI PRESIDENT [XXX] OFFICE AND WITH SCHMITT'S AUDI OVER A 6+ WEEK PERIOD TRYING TO RESOLVE THE ISSUE, TO NO AVAIL. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6). *TR