Did I buy a LEMON? I bought a CPO 2004 A4 3.0 Auto that now has 59K. The certified warranty expires this November. Here are the problems/repairs, replacement and services I have performed over the past 4 years of my ownership:

Warranty Covered
1. Rattling instrument cluster - fixed
2. Driver side wiper arm and motor replaced
3. Fuel sender replaced
4. Rear brake pads and rotors replaced at 30K
5. Ignition coil - replaced at 32K
6. Rt headlight adjusted and motor replaced
7. Fuel filter replaced twice
8. Cylinder head coolant pipe leak and replaced; radiator leak repaired
9. Torque converter failed and replaced
10. Various parking, brake and rear lights replaced

Not Covered
11. 3-4 brake and rear lights replaced
12. wiper blades replaced
13. New tires at 32K (I bought car at 21k)

All scheduled services were performed
55K service plus brake fluid flush cost me $400

I have a $2000+ 75K service due in a few years and 8K left on the car. I'm not sure if it's worth holding onto and taking the risk of sinking more money into the car.

I'd like to hear what others think. TO KEEP or NOT TO KEEP?

 

It doesn't seem like you've had very good luck with it so it's hard to say whether or not it will change from here on out. FWIW, I have an 2003 3.0 Q and have done nothing to it other than regular service after 50,000 miles. I had some problems during the warranty period, not as much as you though.

What is the $2000 75K service? The timing belt on my 03 was not due till 105,000 and that charge from the dealer was about $1250. There is a 80K service that includes spark plugs and things that I think was about $500.

My dealer follows the service schedule in the manual and doesn't offer anything earlier or in addition to. I have no problems with the car doing it that way. It now has about 125,000 miles and looks and drives like new.

 

ive pretty much had the same experience. How is the warranty out though? I cant make the math add up...

 

Car was produced in July 03 and purchased November 03. I purchased in August 05 with a certified warranty, which added a 2 year certified warranty ontop of the 4 years. So that would be 6 total years from November 03.

Audi changed recommended timing belt replacement to 75K because of the numerous complaints of early belt failure.

The dealer wants around $2,500-$2,700 for the 75K service that includes replacement of timing belt, spark plugs, water pump.

Here is the link to the maintenance intervals: http://microsites.audiusa.com/my09/l...enance2004.pdf

 

sounds like you have a lemon to me...never heard of so many problems on an audi especially not under 100,000 miles.

 

I think your dealer is charging about $1000 more than that servcie should cost (timing belt service always includes water pump, thermostat, tensioners, etc.), but if that's what you have to deal with, I'd probably sell it while it still has low miles and value.

 

Alot of that list looks like regular wear and tear to me. Tires, wipers, light bulbs, fuel filter, coil pack and brakes.

While you've had some discouraging items like the torque converter, headlight motor and wiper arm I don't see anything really ludicrous.

The price your dealer has quoted you for the 75k service seems ludicrous to me. I had my 2002 3.0's timing belt done at just under 60k (it started slipping on me, caught it before it grenaded my motor) by a dealer and it was about $1100. Water pump should be done at the same time but since its already disassembled to get the belt off, its really just the cost of the part...maybe $100. Plugs are cheap and you can change them yourself in maybe an hour if you don't know what you're doing...20 minutes if you do. It sounds like the dealer is quoting you a timing belt job and a water pump job as two separate services, but really they're one service with two parts...most of the cost is labor, so they're basically trying to soak you for an extra 5-6 hours of labor here.

Find a reputable third party to take care of your maintenance and use the dealer for warranty work only.

 

I have '04 3.0 q with 72000 miles right now and had no problems except replaced the headlight washing pump once under warranty. Other than that, just regular maintenance (oil change, filters change, brakes, tires... etc). I did most of maintenance by myself and a friend of mine.

About 2 weeks aog I did the timing belt / water pump job at an indy shop (Edge Motors) which is specialized in Audi/VW. I paid $975 parts and labor.

I say keep it. You already repaired/repalced most of the stuff so the car should be good to go. Just find an indy shop to do the timing belt job. Dealer charges waaay too much for it.

 

What's included in a timing belt/water pump and 75K service? I've been told timing belt, tensioners, rollers, water pump and acc belt also, a coolant flush fill, spark plugs, air and cabin filter, full diagnostic check out, scan for codes were all included.

What should be included in thorough timing belt, water pump and 75K service?

I heard thermostat and valve gasket covers and other items should be included.

 

There's a few threads talking about the timing belt for the 3.0, I got mine done for 1200 USD in northern California, the dealer wanted 1700.