I have a 03 A4 1.8T with Tiptronic transmission break down with only 56,000 miles on it.
Checked with the Audi dealer who said I was out of warranty. The car was towed to an
AAA Car care center who said the transmission was toast.

What are my options? Should I get a 2nd opinion? I saw only unfavorable reviews on
the AAA Car center in Raleigh, NC.

Before it broke down, the PRND lights were flashing intermittently and the car would hesitate when fully stopped position and then lurge.

Any suggestions where I should bring my beloved Audi?

fwd??

Yes!!

Cvt is notorious for failure. Do a search for it. There's really not a good fix, it will break again.

The very same thing happened to my tip. The dealership at first told me that I needed a new transmission, but through further research I found that it was in fact the transmission position computer located INSIDE the transmission that was fried. The dealership will need to drop the transmission, crack the case, get inside and replace the computer. Why they would even put the computer on the INSIDE of the transmission case I do not know, but I had this done about 40k miles ago and my tranny has worked fine ever since (knock on wood) It'll cost you around 4 grand but it's better than the 8k it would cost for a new transmission. One more thing to note: This generally happens because someone grounded their arc welder to your chassis. My A4 needed a bunch of body work after getting hit while parked on the side of the road so I've guessed that when that work was being done someone incorrectly grounded their welder and fried my transmission. VERY IMPORTANT: IF YOU'RE HAVING BODY WORK DONE TO YOUR A4 CVT MAKE SURE YOU TELL THE SHOP NOT TO GROUND THEIR WELDER TO YOUR CHASSIS. THIS WILL FRY THE COMPUTER.

Sorry I couldn't be the bearer of better news, but I suppose this is better than a complete tranny replacement.