Bad Mechanic ?
 

This is my first post. I am in dire need of help. I don't know if this is the right section. I can delete this and repost somewhere else if I have to.


I bought a 2005 A6 in January. I love this car and it wasn't running perfectly but as long as I put a quart of oil in every 2k miles it was steady and reliable. It seems like everywhere I take it, it gets messed up more and I find new scratches. Everyone is trying to tax me for driving this car and they get mad when I try to save money and be smart about things. I had one time where a mechanic messed a bunch of stuff up on purpose because he tried to force me to buy ceramic brake pads instead of semi metallic. I let him "look at it" and it came back with all kinds of new errors on my screen. He messed up the lights and I worry that he may have done something to the engine too. My door panel was cracked because they slammed it with the seatbelt buckle hanging down. I called their customer service and they basically acted like they were on trial and told me I can't prove anything. It seemed to be running okay after that except for the lights.
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The reason I made this thread is: I dropped the oil filler cap into the engine and in an unfortunate set of events I had to keep driving and I tried to compensate by putting oil in since it was spitting it out everywhere. The car smoked, died, and wouldn't start. I think the mechanic said there was too much oil for the piston to move or something like that.


I took it to a shop and they told me I had to wait a few days before their German car guy would come in. Then after that they told me they would need a little more time to diagnose the problem. It was supposed to be a free diagnosis but they ended up charging me for 3 hours of labor for it. I told him I didn't agree to that and he told me I did. I gave in because I just wanted my car back. First they told me a few things needed to be replaced and it would be $1300. I agreed. Then later they called and said some more things needed to be replaced. I reluctantly agreed and the total went up to about $2500. I love my car so I agreed. They called me and I came and picked it up and he was proud to tell me it was running like a spaceship. Everything was going smoothly and then a month later it started up very rough in the morning. It would kind of gurgle and make a backfiring sound if I hit the gas while it was in park, it would lurch for a while when in drive until it warmed up and then it would be good for the rest of the day. I heard a rattling sound in the engine, in this little thing near the top if you take the cover off. I kept bringing my car back to them and they told me they don't know whats wrong but refused to really look at it. Finally, he hooked the computer up to it and gave me the codes and told me a flap is stuck from carbon and to put lucas fuel injector cleaner in it. I tried that about 3 times over the course of 6 gas tanks and it is not working.


I feel like I spent too much money for the car to only run well for a month and they don't seem to want to do anything or even take a look at it. I feel like they may not have done it properly. I also asked them to take a look at the lights that werent working while they're at it and they just told me they didn't know whats wrong and that they didn't seem to be getting power. I took it to an Audi specialist and they fixed my tail light for free and told me it just wasn't "connected all the way". But they want $100 to diagnose the dipped headlight error. They are trying to sell me a whole new assembly but that seems excessive to me because the turn signal works so I guess I'm going to have to try to fix it myself. To get back on topic, this is a very popular AAA shop and they are busy but I feel like for the amount of money I spent, I deserve better treatment and I could have bought a new car for the amount I spent. Now the other shop is trying to sell me a new throttle body for $1400. I would like to know if there is a chance the throttle body issue has something to do with the repairs that were done at the other shop. Or if the problems I'm having have to do with the repairs I had done and not the throttle body.


This is what I had replaced to get the car running well again:
6 Lower Gaskets
1 Upper Gasket
1 Fuel Injector
1 Injector Kit
1 Intake Runner Valve
1 Intake Actuator
Vacuum Lines
6 Coils / Spark Plugs
Total $2368


These are the errors I got from Autozone:
P2006 - Intake manifold flap for air stream regulation, bank 1 Stuck closed
P2296 - Fuel Pressure Regulator 2 Control Circuit High
P0068 - MP/MAF ? Throttle Position Correlation


It says the fuel injectors are mounted on the manifold. It also says a loose or cracked manifold will cause a vacuum leak making the engine idle rough and create an oil leak in some cases. Its also suggesting a intake manifold gasket and says that a failed gasket can cause coolant, oil, and vacuum leaks.


The car seems to be lacking power and sometimes it randomly shuts down with an ESP Failure and I have to turn off and restart. This never happened until after I got it "fixed". I was told it is running rich. I'm clearly not an expert but I am just saying what I noticed and asking if any of these things could be related. Is there a chance they didn't repair it properly? Should I ask them to check their work or is this all completely unrelated.


The Audi Specialist said: Multiple Air Intake, Throttle Valve, Manifold pressure, and fuel trim faults. Can detect noise from throttle housing. recommend start with replacing throttle body due to faults. apr $1360


Left tail light assembly failing, bulb holder scorched. recommend replace assembly (even though it is working fine now that its connected. this is a big red flag to me that they want to sell me things I don't need)


Left headlight assembly inop. (turn signal works but not dipped headlight, and also error for adaptive headlight) may need headlight assembly $100 to diagnose.


Here are the codes from a different mechanic:


Fuel Pressure Regulator Valce
Fuel Pump Elec. Defective
Throttle Actuator
Fuel Pressure Sensor
Manifold Pressure Sensor
Intake Manifold Flap
Throttle Valve Controller Malfunction


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Please tell me how I can get things running again. It doesn't have to be perfect. I just don't want it lurching when I start it up in the morning. The car is only worth about $2000 but I bought it for $6300 a year ago. I love it and Ive already put at least another $3000 into it. Is it possible that the people at the AAA shop didn't put things on correctly and caused damage? Should I try (again) to have a meeting with someone at the shop or just call customer service? :(