Yeah don't give up hope so easily. Just look into DIYing it or try and find a VW/Audi Specialist in the area, they usually have all kinds of know-how and usually don't mind you watching and learning. I hate taking any car to a dealership, because all they tell you is bad news, and what they tell you is always WAY more expensive than you can get done somewhere else or DIY. My friend had his A4 at the dealership and one of the things they told him was that he needed new spark plugs and it would cost 90 bucks. Spark plugs is a 10 min job and the good plugs cost less than 10 bucks... just an example

 

Best thing you can do if you don't want to do it yourself, is do what i did! look up the parts on ebay and search around for an euroshop or someone who works on audis and get a quote from them! My car is in the shop as of yesterday! i found this guy did my friends porsche cheap and did a good job, it's costing me 550 for changing the following: Timing belt, Water pump, tensioners and roller, cam seals, crank seal, motor mounts, thermostat, and serpentine belt.ok now for the parts... i paid $180 for a kit that came with the Timing belt, Water pump, tensioners and roller,thermostat, and serpentine belt. then i went to my local parts store and it cost me $4.39 for each cam seal, and $10.92 for the crank seal, then i had to get the mounts and other things aswell.. but anyways man all you need to do is search around for a good shop that wont rape you and buy the parts yourself.. Its always cheaper that way. just dont freak out and sell you car!

here's a link for a used SAI on ebay: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/AUDI-...spagenameZWD1V
and for your seals just do what i did, go to an auto parts store. they should have them, if not they can always order one! ohh and also find out from them how much a secondary air pump is sometimes they have rebuilt ones pretty cheap.