I apologize for being a newbie and posting my problem but I'm in Miami and it's hard for me to trust the mechanics here that often either let you drive off without any idea of what's wrong or want to charge you extreme amounts just to check the car.

I've had my TT for about 2 years now and it all started when I got a flat tire about a year ago. I got cheap local tires put on and the car sounded horrible - very loud and of course, when I went back the guy said it was that tires were just loud. I dealt with it, kinda believing him, until the noise started getting louder and louder. I took the car to several mechanics and finally one guy convinced me it was wheel bearings in the front passenger side and $450 later the car seemed much better.

But there was a sound, a low sound that continued. I recently got another flat and had both front tires replaced. The sound continued and was more detectable when turning sharp. Enough that I learned to be more careful turning. I asked a mechanic recently what he thought after a test drive and he suggested it was something in the differential - he argued the noise, although sounding "front-ish" was coming from the back. Of course, he said he doesn't deal with foreign cars nor differentials and suggested I go to Audi proper...

Fast forward to today. I go to get in the car to go to lunch from my office building parking and as I turned the wheels they made a grinding noise. The noise was present in both directions and it wasn't there this morning when I went to work. I drove it carefully the one mile home and it sits out front until I can figure out what to do.

There is a highly rated car shop (Repairs & Service of Audi & VW cars. Miami, Hollywood, Fort Lauderdale, Auto Repair Mechanic) about 9 miles away but I'm honestly nervous to drive it there. The problem doesn't seem to be present if I am driving straight but the grinding comes as soon as I need to turn a corner or even go around a bend.

Other notable things recently but probably not relevant:
a) My check engine light came on and I went to two mechanics with it. One pointed out that my oil dipstick tube was gone and thanks to ECS Tuning and $10 with shipping I replaced it myself over the weekend. I was nervous about the oil I might have lost so I bought a quart of 5W-30 and through that in. Check engine light is still on though.
b) Other forum posts suggest I check the power steering fluid and I did and it is fine.

Of course, I worried that now with the noises today the I ignored something very important and have a mess on my hands. I only learned about the Haldex oil and filters recently trying to read about the noise and have not replaced them since I've had the car - which is less than 20K miles but who knows when that was last done... It has about 96,000 miles on it today.

Any direction at all would be greatly appreciated!

 

what have you discovered? mt tt coupe is fwd, so i have nothing to offer with regard to the quattro drivetrain.

 

So they "advised" me that the passenger side inner CV boot is damaged and the driver side joint needs replacement - then (and only then) they will detect any major problems. They also noted that the valve cover gaskets are leaking into the spark plugs and coils. Each job was quoted at $750. Does this make sense to you guys??