1998 Audi A4 18.t quattro from North America - Comments

Audi will now reimburse you for a broken timing belt (which I have also suffered) up to the 105,000 mileage cutoff. This is a new development. If you call them they will now agree to reimburse your full amount paid for repairs. They are doing this because of an agreement resulting from a class action law suit. My bill was $4700 on a 1997 A4 that broke at 92000 miles. Call Audi at 1-800-822-2834 and ask them about the JK RECALL, they will know what you are talking about as there are thousands of these cases. They will ask you several questions and give you a reference number, you just have to send in your receipt. We need to spread this news because they will not contact you. You can see for yourself by typing Audi A4 class action on Google. I can't wait to sell my Audi. My ignition switch just broke yesterday, $300, it is a recall item that has already been replaced once and they refuse to cover me again. Good Luck.

Hello fellow Audi victims; I had no idea that so many people and a won Class Action suit already existed on the timing belt issue. Unfortunately not everyone can benefit by the won Class Action. My timing belt tensioner broke at 80,000 but I was lucky enough to be right around the corner from the Audi dealer and I saved the engine by slowly driving it into the dealership. The belt and tensioner were replaced and Audi is now telling me that because only the tensioner and not the belt broke I will not be reimbursed. Is anyone in my same situation..? Even the law firm that followed – and got paid - the class action is starting to return my e-mails with.. good luck..! Any suggestion will be greatly appreciated.

Class Action Settlement? At 45K miles on my 1999 A41.8T (Don't do that many long trips), and having replaced the timing belt 3 years ago, I took my car in for regular service and was advised that I should replace the tensioner because the one I had was an old "defective" design prone to failure. $850 plus tax.

I wasn't advised that the tensioner was worn, only that it was a defective design.

The Class Action settlement seems curious to me. In it, Audi denied any defects, but under the terms I needed to have it inspected and would be responsible for replacement costs if replacement was necessary. Since I was advised to replace it, if I hadn't then I would be foregoing reimbursement for any possible failure and resultant engine damage.

But if the replacement, at well below recommended mileage, is due to defective design, why should I have to pay for it?

It seems to me that Audi will be making as much money in replacing defectively designed tensioners as they will have to pay out for earlier occurrences of engine damage pursuant to tensioner failures. And more.

I don't see why a settlement that denies any defects should preclude any further class actions concerning replacements due solely to the defects the settlement denied.

Is anyone else in this position? Classic Catch 22. Something should really be done about this. Any ideas?

1998 Audi A4 1.8T. Timing belt broke on the freeway. All 20 valves bent and damaged all the pistons and cylinders. Had to rebuild entire engine. Ouch!!! Most people can't afford to rebuild the engine themselves and the cost is 4-5K at most shops. A local shop owner has quite a few of these cars powered by the 1.8L turned in for invoices that cannot be paid. Buyer beware! A word of advice... Timing belts need to be replaced every 60K. Sooner if you run the engine harder, as some do with a turbo charger. The Audi dealers that I talked to said that this engine is a "Synthetic" oil engine only if you want it to live. I like that car, but for the amount of $ to purchase one they need to make them reliable and more affordable to own. By the way, this is the second time for a timing belt/tensioner related failure that took out all the valves plus, again!

I'm having a hard time understanding why all these folks are having such a hard time with Audi over timing belts. When my tensioner failed in 2001 at 55k miles they replaced the tensioner and the belt for free, I didn't even have to ask, they just did it. The only difference in my case I see is that I heard/felt the problem (it was pretty obvious) and brought the car in before any other engine damage was done.