Happy original owner of 01 A4 Avant 1.8T. Car died at 65,000 miles with no warning. Our favorite local mechanic said, without looking, that timing belt skipped or broke--a well-known problem. So towed it to dealer, low and behold bent valves in the cylinder, so either "slipped timing belt or... excess carbon--did we, in fact, ever run out of oil?" (The answer is no--faithfully done maintenance).

Understand 1.8T has history in this area and there was a class-action on earlier model years. Any thoughts/input--most appreciated.

 

Yes, audi may be covering premature failure of timing belt. Run a search on the web.