I have an Audi S3 just out of warranty and owned by me from new. It has just 36,000 miles on the clock. Around a year ago I experienced a problem that felt like a slipping clutch but only in fourth or fifth gear when accelerating hard. The dealer could not find a problem. This winter it recurred. It was the clutch. Audi paid for 100 per cent of the parts and the dealer 50 per cent of the labour. It still cost me around £500 but it was a lot less than it could and would have been. A reasonable outcome, I thought, but still disappointing the clutch failed at all - my first in 35 years of motoring, and on the most expensive car I've owned.