Local independant shop told me that the coil packs are being replaced for free at the dealer....

 

true...its been going on for quite some time

 

i learned this the hard way: my coil packs failed on my while i was going at about 80 on the highway. there was a loud noise and my car just lost alllll of it's power. i was able to limp off the freeway (on christmas eve, mind you) and one tow truck call and trip to the dealer later and the packs were replaced for free. there's a big recall out on them.

 

Received TSB letter for my A6 and 2003 A4 3.0 MT6. Brought them both in to the dealer and neither qualified for new coilpacks. Of course, neither of them were having problems either. But they did address the occasional CEL on the A4 by replacing the cats under warranty, so it worked out.

 

Agreed. The coils were recalled after having to replace them and pay for them myself a few prior to the recall. Thankfully, my local Audi Dealer performed the replacement so I just needed to submit a claim form (http://www.audiusa.com/us/brand/en/o...tion_coil.html) along with a copy of the receipt and they sent me a refund check for the full amount about 4 weeks later.

 

are they still doing the free replacements? if so i think i need to bring in my car...what are some symptoms to know when the coil packs are bad

 

you should try a different dealer. your 2003 A4 is definitely included in the recall.

 

The main symptom of a failed coil is that the engine bucks and barely runs so believe me, you'll know when a coil fails. I suggest if you car is included in the recall then you bring it in soon since you do not receive an advanced warning of a coil failure. Good luck.

 

well im the 3rd owner, i would have to track down the original owner (who lives in mass somewhere) to see if they have the letter from audi in order to bring it in...or do i even need to do that? is it possible for them to just look up the vin or something to be eligable?

 

My local dealership was able to look up my VIN, so I would imagine yours would be the same. Turned out I already had updated coils and thus didn't need anything changed, but peace of mind was nice. (I later looked back through the somewhat spotty maintenance records I have for it from before I owned it and saw that there was at least one instance where coils were replaced and there was a flashing CEL, so I guess one of the POs had them fail.)