I purchased an 02 Audi TT 1.8L turbo 3 years ago. It was a certified Audi used vehicle. The car has 58,000 miles on it and the timing belt broke and took the top end with it. The dealership says they can make it run for $6000.00. The timing belt is supposed to last 80,000 miles, I maintain that this should be Audi’s responsibility. The car has been maintained by the dealership at all scheduled service intervals. I am currently in a fight with the dealership to get them/Audi to pay for the repairs. I welcome any advice.
I tend to disagree with your assessment that Audi should pay for the repair. You just can’t predict the life of most automobile parts with absolute precision.
if it were a 2005 and you’d bought it new, that’d be one thing (you’d probably still have a powertrain warranty, for starters), but -and I’m sympathetic for you, because six grand is a lot of money no matter how you slice it- I just can’t see how the dealer can be expected to pick up an expense like this.
Certified used cars usually come with an extended warranty. According to the Audi web site, their initial warranty lasts for 4 years / 50k miles. The extended warranty gives you another 2 years / 50k miles. It does cover the timing belt, cylinder head, etc. You need to check the details of your warranty since its terms may be different from what Audi offers now. The most important detail is its expiration date. Your car is now six years old and it’s possible that the warranty has already expired. If the warranty is still in force, you are within your rights to insist that the car be repaired under warranty. If it has just barely expired, try to negotiate a better deal than full retail price for the repairs. Having had all maintenance performed by the dealer should help. If the dealer won’t budge, talk to Audi directly. They have representatives to deal with situations like this.
The argument that the timing belt is supposed to last for 80k miles isn’t going to work. That’s just Audi’s best guess for how long it is likely to last before the probability of failure becomes unacceptably high. All they really promise is to repair the engine if the belt fails before the warranty expires.
If the car is in good condition otherwise, its trade in value is at least $11k. Therefore, it is worth repairing even if you decide to sell it immediately after.
Keep trying with Audi. That being said any VW/Audi mechanic can also work on this engine beyond a regular mechanic. Get a few independent estimates if going the dealer route fails as far as Audi footing part of this.
Thank you for your responses. Audi decided to pay for the engine rebuild we covered the cost of the timing belt replacement. We are happy with the service are receiving from Audi and our local dealership. We will be buying a new TT in the spring.
Keep an eye on the age of the belt also. An '02 car was probably built in the summer or early fall of '01.
This means the belt was 6 years old when it broke and age does them in as well as mileage.
The expense wouldn’t be paid by the dealer, they will either be paid by the OP, audi, or whomever underwrites the warrantee. I would try to get it covered under the extended warrantee, and/or talk to audi usa and try to get at least partial coverage. The car is worth considerably more than $6K, so it’s worth fixing either way.
This is why timing belts scare me, I don’t understand why VW/audi uses them in an otherwise high quality car (Actually, I do understand why, I just don’t agree.).