Took my 2003 A4 1.8T Quattro with 23,400 miles into the dealer due to an occasional burning oil smell; they diagnosed it as needing camshaft adjuster seal, valve cover gasket, & all the crankcase breather pcv valves & hoses & elbows with check valves for a cost of $2,200 -- even tho I have low mileage, they said the hoses collapsed due to deterioration over time; does this have to be fixed right away or can I keep driving the car? should I get rid of the car - is this just the beginning of problems to come? should the dealer have been checking for this and found it before - I only have the car serviced there (once a year for recommended maintenance) and they supposedly inspect the vehicle and make repair recommendations as needed; nothing was found in the past and in May 2009 they removed/replaced leaking shift seal rod when I took it in after seeing oil on the garage floor. If it needs to be done, should I check somewhere other than the dealer - is it a difficult repair that only the dealer shop can do? I'm worried that my favorite car is going to start costing me a fortune. Thanks!!

 

The cam adjuster seals cost $5, but the book labor says you have to remove the camshafts and timing belt to change them. Of course you don't really have to do that so dealer techs get excited when they see cam seals leaking, we call them gravy money. Its a very easy repair for most euro shops that can do it for half that price. Just change out the valve cover gasket and cam adjuster seal, common maintenance on an A4.

P.S. If you're worried about repairs like that you WILL see many repair bills like that in the near future, if that bothers you its time to move onto japanese or newer american car manufactures with 4 cylinder engines.