1999 Audi A4

1999 AUDI A4 1.8T QUATTRO, VIN: [XXX] TIMING BELT FAILED WHILE DRIVING. MAINTENANCE SCHEDULE RECOMMENDS REPLACEMENT OF THIS BELT AT THE INTERVAL OF 105,000 MILES. THIS FAILURE OCCURRED AT 67,600 MILES ONE MONTH AFTER WARRANTY RAN OUT (PER AUDI, CARFAX INDICATES CAR STILL UNDER WARRANTY). THIS EXTREMELY EARLY FAILURE SUGGESTS A MANUFACTURER DEFECT EXISTS WITH THIS ENGINE. AUDI ADVOCATE INVESTIGATING AT THIS TIME, BUT HAS SUGGESTED THAT THIS MANUFACTURER DEFECT WILL NOT BE COVERED BY AUDI. I DISAGREE, THIS SHOULD BE COVERED AS AN UNACCEPTABLE FAILURE, IMPOSSIBLE TO AVOID BY CONSUMER, AS I WOULD NEVER HAVE GUESSED TO REPLACE AT AN EARLIER TIME, LET ALONE, AT 50% OF MANUFACTURER"S RECOMMENDED INTERVAL. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6). *TR

TIME BELT FAILURE AT 65K MILES WHILE DRIVING 65 MPH ON HIGHWAY CAUSED OVER $5K IN REPAIRS. DEALER RECOMMENDED LOOKING AT OTHER REPAIR CENTERS BECAUSE IT COULD NOT LOOK AT THE CAR FOR 7 DAYS BECAUSE THE BACKLOG OF OTHER AUDI'S WITH SAME PROBLEM. INTERNET SEARCH FOUND 10 OTHER TIMING BELT FAILURES RANGING FROM 45K TO 98K ON SIMILAR MODELS. KNOWN ISSUE WITH AUDI CORP OF AMERICA. *JB

AT APPROXIMATELY 68,800 MILES THE TIMING BELT ON MY AUDI A4 1.8T QUATTRO BROKE AS I WAS PULLING INTO TRAFFIC. THIS OCCURED APPROXIMATELY 6 WEEKS AFTER THE EXPIRATION OF THE MANUFACTURERS EXTENDED WARRANTY. THE AUTO HAS BEEN METICULOUSLY MAINTAINED SINCE ITS PURCHASE AND HAS ALL THE PERTINENT SERVICE RECORDS. THE CURRENT REPAIR ESTIMATE IS $4,000 TO $5,000. THE CURRENT RECOMMENDED REPLACEMENT INTERVAL FOR THE TIMING BELT BY AUDI IS 90,000 TO 105,000 MILES. AUDI USA CURRENTLY WILL NOT PROVIDE ANY ASSISTANCE IN THE REPAIR OF THIS VEHICLE. I HAVE PERFORMED SOME INTERNET RESEARCH AND ASIDE FROM THE 2 COMPLAINTS ON THE NHTSA WEBSITE I HAVE FOUND NUMEROUS SIMILAR COMPLAINTS OF AUD A4 AND VW PASSAT 1.8T TIMING BELTS BREAKING WELL IN ADVANCE OF THE 90,000 MILES SERVICE INTERVAL. THIS APPEARS TO BE A MANUFACTURERS DEFECT AND THE VW AUDI SHOULD BE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE REPAIR OF THIS PROBLEM I BELIEVE. FORTUNATELY FOR ME I WAS NOT HIT AS MY CAR FAILED PULLING INTO TRAFFIC. I BELIEVE THIS DEFECT POSES A SIGNIFICANT RISK SHOULD IT FAIL AT AN INOPPORTUNE MOMENT.

RAPID AND CATASTROPHIC FAILURE OF WATER PUMP DISRUPTED TIMING CHAIN AND LED TO SEVERE DAMAGE TO ENGINE, REQUIRING ITS REPLACEMENT. THIS INCIDENT OCCURRED WHILE I WAS DRIVING AT NIGHT ON A LIMITED ACCESS ROAD WITHOUT SHOULDERS. I NEEDED TO GO SEVERAL HUNDRED YARDS, AT MOST, TO PULL OFF ROAD FOR SAFETY. AUDI'S 3-YEAR WARRANTY HAD EXPIRED, AND SO IT OFFERED NO HELP, DESPITE LOW MILEAGE AND REGULAR MAINTENANCE OF THE CAR.

MY TIMING BELT FAILED AT 69000 MILES AND CAUSED ENGINE DAMAGE (REPLACEMENT OF HEADS). TOTAL REPAIR COST CAME TO $4000. SEEMS TO BE A COMMON FAILURE PRIOR TO THE RECOMMENDED 90K CHANGE INTERVAL. I TRIED SCHEDULING THE CHANGING OF THE TIMING BELT AT 6800 MILES BUT WAS TOLD TO WAIT BY AN AUDI SERVICE DEPARTMENT. CURRENTLY WORKING WITH AUDI FOR REPAYMENT.*AK

THE VW/AUDI 1.8T ENGINE HAS BEEN EXPERIENCING AN ALARMING NUMBER OF PREMATURE TIMING BELT FAILURES, CAUSING INSTANTANEOUS POWER FAILURE AND CATASTROPHIC VALVE TRAIN DAMAGE. (SEARCH AUDIWORLD.COM FOR TIMING BELT FAILURE.) FAILURES HAVE OCCURRED AS LOW AS 45K MILES. MINE WENT AT 90K MILES ALTHOUGH THE SERVICE MANUAL MAKES NO MENTION OF SCHEDULED REPLACEMENT. IF THIS HAD HAPPENED WHILE PASSING OR ON THE INTERSTATE, A SERIOUS ACCIDENT COULD HAVE OCCURRED. THESE VEHILCLES SHOULD BE RECALLED OR AT LEAST AUDI SHOULD NOTIFY THE OWNERS OF THE PROBLEM. THE TIMING BELTS SHOULD BE REPLACED TO AVOID A POTENTIAL FATAL ACCIDENT. THERE IS ALSO A KNOWN TIMING BELT TENSIONER PROBLEM IN PRE-2000 MODEL YEAR CARS THAT CAUSES FAILURE. *AK