I have a used 2011 Audi A4 Quattro with roughly 135,000 miles on it. While driving to work this morning the check engine light came on and the car seemed to shake some while idle. While in motion it seemed to run fine. I came to a stop and the car stalled and the engine would not start. I had to get it towed by AAA to a service center that they use. They called and told me that the car gets no compression at all and there seems to be an issue with the timing in the engine and suggested that the timing chain may be damaged. They said that they would not have the tools to do a rebuild and the only thing that they could do for me is to do a total engine replacement, which they said would cost over $7,000.00 for just the replacement but that if I did that I should also have the clutch redone and the total work done would come out to around $10,000.00. Given that I assume my car is not worth $10,000.00 total anymore given the year and milage of the car, this is obviously not a reasonable option for me.

They said when they did some research this seems to be a somewhat common problem with these engines. Is there anything I could have done to prevent this from happening? Do I have any other options for repairing the engine? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

 

Did your car burn off a lot of oil in-between oil changes? The only thing you could have done to prevent this was do the oil consumption quick fix... and then the timing belt tensioner upgrade.
I didn't even know about the timing tensioner issue until after mine failed.

Look for a reputable shop that is willing to swap the motor for CPMA/CPMB engine. I know this is unconventional, the labor should be a lot cheaper since they are simply swapping motors and bolting things up from the old motor. No tear-down or machine work should be necessary.

As far as the clutch, were there any indications that suggested the clutch needed to be replaced? Is your car an automatic or manual?