I was driving my 02 A6 over the weekend ont he highway and had gone about 300 miles with no hint of any problems. I stopped briefly at a rest area then got back on the highway and got up to 70 mph, the car went out of gear. I thought my daughter had hit the shifter so I coasted to the side of the road and put the car in park and turned it off, then re-started. It started fine and sounded just the same - no smoke, no leaking fluids that I could tell, no odors or noises but no gears - none. Not even limp mode. It is sitting at a repair shop now and they are afraid it needs a new tranny. I am hoping someone on this list will have a better solution since the cost of replacing the transmission is getting close to being a really bad economic decision.

 

Check your TCM, you don't need to be in limp mood for it to fail.