THIS IS A TIME SENSITIVE MATTER, SO ANY INPUT WOULD BE HELPFUL - I AM EXPECTED TO PAY TOMORROW (08/27)

My friend bought a certified pre-owned 2008 RS4 only 2 weeks ago with 44,000 miles. He is a car junkie and thrill junkie, and I know he at least drives the car pretty hard (he definitely told me the other day he raced and beat another random car on the road). The other day I asked him if he minded if I drove it and he said no.

For a background on me, my manual skills are above average, but not GREAT. I'd definitely say I'm pretty good at stick, though (and I have 3 friends who agree because I've driven their manual with them in the car).

I drove the car out of the parking lot and onto the road, just getting a "feel" for the car and how it drives. I went down the street, turned around in a side street, and drove back to the parking lot (total of 1/4 mile max). I maxed out at about MAYBE 40 mph, mind you, I do not know how to drive a car "hard" and race around.

After I came back, I talked to my friend for a second because I wanted him to take a movie or picture of me driving the car. He said, "definitely." I then stalled and we laughed. I pulled out again to do a very similar "run." I pulled to the same stop sign and here is where the problem happened.

I was turning right and a car was coming my way with it's blinker on, so I started to pull out slightly. The car ended up not turning and went straight, so I had to push the clutch back in and switch to the brake. Once it passed, I started up again. Unbeknown to me, this is where my friend heard a "pop" and saw a bunch of blue smoke shooting out the bottom of the car. Personally, I didn't even know anything happened (I didn't see, feel, or hear anything).

I drove the car up the road, turned around, came back past the lot, turned around in the same spot as before, and back to the lot (1/2 mile MAX). The car was definitely acting funny and not shifting properly. I would shift into 2nd, but it would act like it was still in 1st (my guess is that it still was). Still, I guess I didn't realize that anything was necessarily wrong - I thought I may have just been driving it incorrectly, so I just eased up a bit and drove it back to the lot since I did not want to mess anything up.

When I got back, I started smelling something awful and when I parked it, I saw smoke pouring out the right side of the car. This is when I ran inside and talked to my friend who proceeded to tell me that "it's bad" and that I "jacked up the car."

Naturally I felt AWFUL and I pleaded to him that I'd pay for it and that I was completely sorry.

Long story medium, after he brought the car in to the Audi service center, the clutch and flywheel needed fixing costing $6,100 ($1,700 in parts - and we ended up getting the total down to $4,500). I was devastated and proceeded to tell people about my woes. They all started telling me that there's NO way I could have done that and that something else must have been going on... So I decided to investigate.

I called the Audi service center where he brought his car to find some things out. The same technician (22 years as Audi mechanic) that did the presale inspection was working on the repairs, as well. He, along with 2 other technicians, looked at the car and immediately asked my friend if he had it at the racetrack. They said that the brand new rotors were a bit warped ("stress NOT from normal, daily driving" which he explained to me meant "racing" or "hard driving") and the clutch was completely loose, as well as some other tell-tale signs of "hard driving."

I asked the service manager if I could have done what was done by doing what I did and he assured me that I couldn't have. I said to him that with my knowledge of cars, the car should have just stalled, and he agreed.

My new outlook on the situation is that I should pay maybe 1/3 of the cost ($1,500) TOPS. I think this because I don't think most of the problem was from me. I think that I probably was the straw that broke the camel's back, but that something like this was BOUND to happen at some point in the near future (especially with the way he drives). Some people think I am stupid for paying anything at all, but I feel that it'd save our friendship (and coworking relationship) as well as make me feel better that I DEFINITELY covered any issues I caused (in my mind, obviously... but your opinions are welcome).

My QUESTION is basically something in the realm of:

1. Do you think I should pay anything?
2. Do you think my $1,500 is too much / too little / enough?
3. Do you think this WAS, in fact, my fault?
4. What is your opinion on anything in this situation?

 

Sounds to me like the slave blew and dumped fuild around and made it smoke. If the clutch plate blew, it would still shift like normal, just be chattery and possibly slip under load or not grip at all.

The slave will make it not want to go into gear and when the car is at a stop and in gear, the engine would die. Everytime you would come to a stop the engine would stall if in gear because the blown slave would not release the clutch.

Does this sound like what it was? Was there fluid under the car? If so, all it needed was a $100 slave. If not then it was the clutch. But I dont see how it would be smoking if running and not moving at all.

 

If the car only has 44K and is less than 3 yrs old, the factory warranty should cover the repair, less the deductible of course.

 

Not for a clutch buddy... You drive it off the dealer lot and smoke the clutch. You pay for it.

Its driver error........