I've been watching the thread closely and seeing some of the later comments have decided for safety to anonymise it. This doesn't alter the quality of advice given to the OP.

Mod

No help to the OP, but this post does come at interesting timing. I am/was about to go and view a rather tidy looking white Audi A4 Avant at my local main dealer with this very engine. Is my confidence in VAG’s belt driven TSi motors misplaced?

Thanks for taking the time to reply everyone.

So regarding the cambelt, I was told by the sales guy that before they stick any cars out on the forecourt, they have to check for any necessary work.

He stated that the intervals for a cambelt change was every 5 years or up to a certain mileage. Since the car was 6 years old, it had to be changed.

Regarding the documentation, I don’t have the invoices, but I do have print outs of the car’s full service history which also lists what work was done and when, dating back to 2017.

Just to clarify, toothed belt is the same as a cam belt? As this is what’s stated was done in Feb 2023 at exactly 22,958 miles.

Again, this was done by the supplying Audi Dealership.

The warranty is not a manufacturer’s warranty, it is only an extended warranty so cannot be directed at the manufacturer to sort out.

When the car first broke down, I called the closest Audi dealership to me, to see if it could be towed there, but was told that since it was only an extended warranty they wouldn’t accept it.

When I called the supplying dealer, he said they couldn’t take the car in because their workshop is currently under renovations (I believe this is true, as when I spoke to someone at Audi UK, they did mention this as well.)

He instead gave me 2 other dealerships close by that I could I try since they were all under the Marshall Motor Group.

So currently, the car is sat at a sister dealership.

The timeline of events to clarify the situation I'm in.

December 4th: Made a booking for December 21st to get the car looked at.

December 7th: Car was towed to the dealership, Courtesy car was supplied through Enterprise.

December 22nd: The service advisor called me to explain that they’d had a look at the car, couldn’t get it to start, cambelt was intact, no compression through the cylinders, and the engine had to be stripped in order to determine the fault.

When I asked if it would be covered by the warranty she said it should be as the technician couldn’t see how I could have affected the fault.

She then proceeded to book the car in for the second week of January to have the engine stripped and said the extended warranty will cover the continued use of the courtesy car and that she would call Enterprise to update them.

December 28: Another guy called me to confirm what the Service Advisor had said about the car previously but also stated that he couldn’t guarantee that after stripping the engine, that the fault would be covered by the warranty.

As it stands, the car is still booked in for the second week of Jan to get the engine stripped. Although he will wait for me to confirm before they go ahead.

Called the guy who sold me the car at the supplying dealer, but he’s off until Jan 3.

The guy I spoke to suggested I speak to someone in his service department since they only deal with sales.

He then proceeded to transfer me to whom I thought was their own service department, only to find out it was the Audi UK Central Service bookings office. No help at all.

So the problem I have is, I don’t want to tell the sister dealership to strip the engine only to find out that it’s not covered by warranty, yet the supplying dealer is unable to take the car in because their workshop is under renovation.

So, is the best option at this point to just claim under the CRA?

Appreciate the kind words, as yes, definitely not fun having this on the back of Xmas.

Anyway, not much of an update, was busy with work so didn’t get the chance to make any phone calls until today.

Called the dealer to see if they could email me a full diagnostics report of what has been done on the car so far, but just missed them as they closed, and will be until after the NY now.

The guy I was dealing with at the other dealer is also off until the 2nd, so I will try and pop in on the 3rd to either speak with him or someone higher up to see what their initial position is on this.

Will give me some time to think as I’m caught in 2 minds at the moment.

I understand that the dealer may have to warn me about it potentially not being covered under the warranty, as for all they know, the car could have been abused.

But I know this is not the case, and given that it was a sudden catastrophic failure, all fingers point towards it being a warranty job.

So part of me is thinking to just go ahead with the booking for the engine strip, but again just don’t want to be left with a big bill and a car in bits if they try and wriggle out of it post stripping. As someone mentioned above, I’m not that mechanically minded when it comes to cars so wouldn’t be in a position to contest.

I do agree with others who have mentioned that it may be related to the cambelt change in Feb.

Initially, when I first broke down, I had called RAC since I’m insured with them.

The technician said instantly, from the “unmistakable noise” when attempting to fire it up, that the cambelt had gone. Said nothing he could do but tow it to a garage.

Audi Assist then sent the AA and he too suspected it to be the cambelt, just from the noise.

It would seem like this would be my point of argue that the the work should be covered under warranty.

It’s just the service advisor said it wasn’t the cambelt as they’d checked it and it was still intact.

Alternatively, I understand that claiming under the CRA will give me better protection, but the process may drag and take longer.

Didn’t realise that Vag had updated their stance regarding the intervals for a cambelt change, so may bring this up with the dealer.

Will post more when I get some updates, have a good new year all!

Edited by Xileno on 31/12/2023 at 11:04