1999 Audi A4

1999 AUDI A4 2.8. THIRD TIME THE CAR NEEDS TO REPLACE LEAKING CAM SEALS ON ENGINE. ALL CAM SEAL REPAIRS COMPLETED BY ORIGINAL DEALER REPAIR DEPT. FIRST REPAIR WAS ONLY AT 39,000 MILES AND 6 MONTHS OFF OF WARRANTY, IN NOVEMBER 2003. 2ND REPAIR WAS ONLY TWO YEARS AND 30,000 MILES LATER, AT 69,000 MILES, IN FEBRUARY 2005. 3RD REPAIR NOW NEEDED, ONLY AFTER 35,000 MILES LATER, AT 105,000 MILES. I HAVE READ THAT THIS IS AN ONGOING PROBLEM WITH THE A4 MODEL MANUFACTURED OVER THE COURSE OF SEVERAL YEARS, INCLUDING 1999, AND THAT THE CAM SEALS SHOULD LAST MUCH LONGER THAN 35,000 MILES. AUDI CORPORATE REFUSED TO ASSIST WITH EXPENSES WITH THE 2ND REPAIR. I AM IN DISCUSSIONS WITH AUDI CORPORATE ABOUT THE EXPENSES FOR THE 3RD REPAIR. SINCE THIS IS A PERSISTENT PROBLEM WITH MY VEHICLE, AND AS I'VE READ, MANY OTHER 1999 A4S, I ENCOURAGE THE NHTSA TO RESEARCH THIS CAM SEAL ENGINE DEFECT, AND ISSUE A DEFECT RECALL. I HAD SUBMITTED THE SAME REQUEST SEVERAL YEARS AGO, WHEN THE FIRST INCIDENT OCCURRED. THANK YOU. KAREN BLUMENFELD *TR

AT 51,000 MILES I HAD THE CATALYTIC CONVERTER REPLACED ON MY AUDI UNDER WARRANTY DUE TO A BROKEN PIPE FLANGE. I NOW HAVE 102,000 ON THE AUDI AND THE SAME PART IS BROKEN. AUDI USA WILL NOT REPLACE OR REPAIR THIS PART. I FEEL IT MUST BE A DEFECT IN THE WORKMANSHIP OR MATERIALS SINCE A CATALYTIC CONVERTER SHOULD NOT BE REPLACED UNTIL IT IS WORN OUT AND NOT BEFORE THEN. THIS IS PART OF THE EMISSIONS SYSTEM AND THE EPA SHOULD ALSO KNOW ABOUT THIS. *JB

TIMING BELT FAILED AT 64000 MILES AND CAUSED ENGINE DAMAGE (REPLACEMENT OF HEADS). TOTAL REPAIR COST CAME TO $4000. TWO WEEKS BEFORE THE ACCIDENT I HAD A FULL INSPECTION BY AUDI AND SPECIFICALLY ASKED AUDI SERVICE REP IF I NEEDED TO CHANGE THE BELT. I WAS TOLD NOT WORRY SINCE AUDI RECOMMENDS 90K CHANGE INTERVAL (AND EVEN 105K ON THE NEWER MODELS). CAR WAS A FEW MONTHS OUT OF WARRANTY. AUDI USA AND THE LOCAL AUDI DEALER WHO RECOMMENDED NOT TO CHANGE THE BELT REFUSED TO PAY FOR THE REPAIR. *NM

I OWN AN 1999 AUDI A4 1.8T. ON NOVEMBER 19, 2005, I TOOK MY AUDI TO TYSON'S CORNER AUDI DEALER IN TYSON'S CORNER, VA. AT THE TIME, MY CAR HAD 79,000 MILES AND THE DEALER CASUALLY MENTIONED THAT I NEED TO HAVE MY TIMING BELT REPLACED AT 90,000 MILES. THE DEALER DID NOT INFORM ME OF ANY OTHER PROBLEMS WITH MY CAR. SUBSEQUENTLY, I DROVE MY CAR. THEN A FEW WEEKS LATER WHEN I WAS DRIVING MY CAR AT 65 MPH ON THE HIGHWAY, THE TIMING BELT SUDDENLY GAVE OUT AND THE CAR ENGINE DIED ON THE SPOT. I COULD HAVE ALSO BEEN KILLED ON THE SPOT. AT THIS TIME, MY CAR HAD 80,000 MILES, NO WHERE NEAR 90,000 MILES THAT THE DEALER CASUALLY MENTIONED. I AM WRITING TO YOU TO INFORM YOU OF THIS MALFUNCTIONING TIMING BELT PROBLEM. THE TIMING BELT DAMAGED THE ENGINE AND THE DEALER IS QUOTING ME $7,700 FIXED MY CAR. WHEN I ASKED ABOUT THE WARRANTY WITH THE TIMING BELT, THE DEALER DENIED ANY WRONG DOING, FALSELY INFORMED ME THAT THERE IS NO WARRANTY ASSOCIATED WITH TIMING BELT, AND ABOVE ALL ASKED ME TOW MY CAR IF I WAS NOT GOING TO HAVE IT REPAIRED AT THE DEALER. I AM FULLY AWARE OF THE CLASS ACTION LAW SUIT ON 1997-99 AUDI A4 FOR THE MALFUNCTIONING TIMING BELT. YET, THE DEALER DENIES ANY WRONGDOING AND EVEN FALSELY INFORMED ME THAT THERE ARE NO WARRANTY ASSOCIATED WITH TIMING BELT. WHEN I CALLED AUDI USA CUSTOMER SERVICE, THE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE ALSO FAILED TO MENTION ANY WARRANTY BUT RATHER INFORMED ME THAT THEY CANNOT DO MUCH. THEY CALLED THE DEALER ON MY BEHALF, BUT AUDI USA WAS NOT WILLING TO DO ANYTHING FURTHER ONCE THE DEALER DENIED ANY RESPONSIBILITY. MY CAR IS STILL DAMAGED WITH NO ENGINE. DUE TO THE CLASS ACTION SUIT, I BELIEVE THAT AUDI USA NOT ONLY NEEDS TO FIX MY CAR AT NO COST BUT ALSO PLACE A RECALL ON ALL 1997-99 AUDI A4 TO PREVENT POTENTIAL LETHAL CAR ACCIDENTS. HENCE, I AM CONTACTING THE NATIONAL HIGHWAY TRAFFIC ASSOCIATION, WHICH OVERSEES ALL RECALLS AND HAS BEEN DOCUMENTING THIS TIMING BELT ISSUE WITH AUDI. *NM

THE TIMING CHAIN ON MY 1999 AUDI A-4 1.8 TURBO WITH 76,000 MILES BROKE AS I WAS DRIVING ON A BUSY FREEWAY DURING RUSH HOUR, LEAVING ME A A POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS SITUATION. FORTUNATELY, MY CAR WAS NOT HIT BY OTHER CARS. AS A RESULT, HOWEVER, THE ENGINE AND TRANSMISSION AS WELL AS THE TIMING CHAIN WERE ALL TRASHED. THE MANUFACTURER RECOMMENDS REPLACING THE TIMING CHAIN AT 90,000 MILES, BUT AUDI OF NORTH AMERICA TOLD ME THAT THEY NOIW RECOMMEND REPLACEMENT AT 70,000 OR 75,000. THEY DID NOT RECOMMEND IT TO ME OR TO THE DEALER WHERE MY CAR HAS BEEN SERVICED (FOLLOWING ALL THE MANUFACTURERS RECOMMENDATIONS) AND THE LOCAL AUDI DEALER SAID THAT SINCE THE WARRANTY HAD EXPIRED THEY WOULD DO NOTHING.*AK