I would like to know how many people with a so called "sealed transmission" have had them go out or need repairs before 150,000 miles. I had mine go with 70,000 miles because the fluid was so dirty the pump wouldnt take fluid up anymore and Audi will not compensate my rebuild at all. Please email me at pierzynskijl@aol.com if you are really interested in following up with a lawsuit.

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WTF are you out of your mind???

There is no way to convince a court to make them pay for your problem

And I also heard the failure rate the ZF (the manufacter of Audi transmissions) is around 12% which is very very low considering most others is probly 25-30%

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I reject reality, and substitute my own

I would say go with petition, and a staitment from your mechanic too. and offcouse a bill for work and parts.
if that wont go, then law suit. but it will be very long and boring. its easier just to march in circles around audi and untill they will give you a brand new audi as compinsation.

and PS yes the case may not hold in court, but if you prove that the sealed transmision is a wrong idea and it does not work. and that oil has to be changed then ye it will definatly hold. you will nead a profesional mechanic and a tranny engenier. did you keep all the stuff from tranny?

The problem is the frequency of the failure, its the cost. The rate metioned above is probably correct but a 5 grand a pop the replacedment cost is much higher than pretty much every tranny on the road. Damn quattro. If you complain enough you may be able to strike a deal where audi will pay the labor and you pay the parts. If you sue you may get a new tranny and you may get nothing.

5 grand is an a bit higher average for a tranny. new.

Three Comments here..
First, 5G's is high unless that's the installed cost. I've seen the actual complete transmission sell on E-bay for around $2600, but I'm sure it was a remanufactured unit.

Secondly, having sold ZF Gearboxes in the past, I will agree with the person who says that they are better than most. Usually the input and output seals to the planetary train are what go up. This is caused by either excessively high running speed or degradation to extreme temps. Either way, it is fairly normal for the gearing to last for 50 years if the seals haven't been corrupted.

Thirdly, suing Audi or threatening them will get you NOWHERE, even with hundreds of individual backers. Statistically, the transmissions are sound, and more importantly, there is no way you can disprove that your driving habits and or other outside variables didn't have an effect on the transmission's failure. Although we here may sympathize and understand your issues, you would need hard unwaivering facts in a court of law to prove Audi sold you a defective product they knew was defective.
A better bet would be to write a bunch of letters (in triplicate) to the Audi dealer you bought the car from, the President of Audi NA and the Better Business Bureau telling them what occurred and the response you received from Audi. They may want to hush you up and send you a full or partial reimbursement, or more likely, send you nothing.

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The A8 is no more.. I sold it to a great guy who will mod it even more!

^He said excatly what i was thinking in wayyyy more detail

One other question did you buy the car when it was new or used

If used how many miles were on it

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I reject reality, and substitute my own

[size=2]The 2600 dollar transmissions you have seen on Ebay are probably from Phoenix Transmissions. I found a complaint site on the internet that scared me completely away from them. Numerous posts where the transmissions didn't work or were faulty and not much more than a cold stare from Phoenix. Recall seeing posts where the buyer received no reply. I was looking to them as a potential future source for my 97 as I want to keep it, but the complaints were many and scared me away. Check them out yourself.

You can get the tranny, torque converter and valve body rebuilt for around $3000. How much would it cost you to sue Audi? I mean I'm all for it but the cost of the legal action won't make it feasible.

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Tonypai, do you have a source for the $3000 transmission pkg?

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Chuck