leak update, no good

[bakos4]

http://www.audizine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=212679

They got the new engine in last Friday and started working on my car monday. They pulled the tranny and engine and were ready to install the new one when there Audi Rep showed up again to look at the car. I recieved a call Tuesday afternoon from the rep and he said that it would not be covered under warranty. They found a very small crack in the lower crank case that was causing the leak. They stated that I have an aftermarket snub mount that caused the stress and ultimately the crack so my warranty is voided. Now my car is in pieces and they want me to either pay for the reinstall of my engine or pay for the new one ($21000 plus labor). I am screwed. Any ideas?

[VR2V8]

Holy shit! That sucks.

I'm not sure I buy into the snub being the cause, but they needed to find some reason to void your warranty. How long has the snub been in there anyway?

I'm guessing there's no way they're going to compensate you for all the time they've had your car?

1) I think your best bet is to find a used motor. I think I've seen them for around $5,000 but I'm not sure. Still expensive, but much better than $21k. Maybe insurance can buy your used (or new) motor and raise your rates accordingly.

2) Take all your parts, take the loss on selling your car with no motor, and find another car.


Not too many options here, but if it were me, I'd try to find a used motor. I think it would be the cheapest option taking into account the amount of money you'd lose if you get another car.


Good luck.

[Tek4ever]

I'm really sorry to read what you're going through. My head is filled with evil thoughts for that Audi rep. That would be such a crushing blow to me and Audi wouldn't even feel the money he feels he saved them.

Good luck with whatever happens.

[nimski62]

http://www.audizine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=212679

They got the new engine in last Friday and started working on my car monday. They pulled the tranny and engine and were ready to install the new one when there Audi Rep showed up again to look at the car. I recieved a call Tuesday afternoon from the rep and he said that it would not be covered under warranty. They found a very small crack in the lower crank case that was causing the leak. They stated that I have an aftermarket snub mount that caused the stress and ultimately the crack so my warranty is voided. Now my car is in pieces and they want me to either pay for the reinstall of my engine or pay for the new one ($21000 plus labor). I am screwed. Any ideas?

What a shit dealership... the least they could do is return the car to you in the way you gave it to them... is this even legal?!

[Race Shooter]

What a shit dealership... the least they could do is return the car to you in the way you gave it to them... is this even legal?!

Absolutely. If they find a problem that is not warranty, why should they be out all the money and time to put the car back together? Its basic business. If you have someone do some work and they find its not their fault, someone has to pay for the work and its not going to be them that eats it.

That sucks man, start looking for that used engine. Unfortunately, when we start to mod our cars, we have to be prepared to pay the piper is something goes wrong.

[ant7701]

NO.....thats fuckin bullshit!!!!!!! excuse the language but it is. There is no way your lower crank case is gonna crack due to a snub mount. It should be 100% covered due to the fact that they attempted to fix this issue 3 times allready. How is this possible......we warranty everything at my dealer (it sucks for me) but its the truth. Shit....we gave some asshole in an RSX a new motor because he forgot to change his oil. Now...this car was heavily modded not too mention the fact that he had a turbo sitting in the trunk....absolute bullshit. They can warranty it for you....they're just being assholes.

yo...if they attempted to fix your car 3 times then they could have caused the crack, and it was supposidly mis-diagnosed 3 times allready which isnt your fault. Shit....lemon the car. call AOA...get a lawyer. Threaten to fight this til the death......21,000 dollars....are they fuckin kidding. They know no human in the world would ever pay that. They're just being pricks cause they can. Do not get screwed!!!!!

AND....if they did not have authorization to tear everything down without consulting you....meaning that it was to be covered under warranty......then you should have to pay shit to have everything re-installed. THATS THEIR MISTAKE BECAUSE THEY COULDNT PROPERLY DIAGNOSE YOUR CAR!!!!!!!! if you fight to the end and they still dont budge...have them re-install your engine....FREE!!!!! and try another dealership.

Shit....even have a specialty shop weld the small crack.

Wanna hear some shit.....a few years ago acura had a service bulletin about coolant leaks. Im not shitting you but the bulletin wanted us to replace a few o-rings and such....but after it wanted us to search for stress cracks in the side of the block and the intake manifold. AND if we found small cracks leaking coolant.....do you want to know what the fix was....ARE YOU READY??????

J.B. WELD

Thats right.....Acura wanted us to J.B. Weld the cracks in the block/manifold cause they were too cheap to replace the block.

Point is....as ghetto as it sounds....it works. Keep that in mind before you end up spending thousands of dollars

And for those that dont know what JB Weld is....you can get it at pep boys and such. Its two small tubes of this stuff (kind of like epoxy) and when you mix them together....youy can repair metals, exhausts, welds, etc....

Do some research on how to fight your claim and you should be fine, call a lawyer if need be, go thru insurance and take the premium increase....weld your block :)

just dont get screwed into corporate bs

...................Anthony

[cam]

NO.....thats fuckin bullshit!!!!!!! excuse the language but it is. There is no way your lower crank case is gonna crack due to a snub mount. It should be 100% covered due to the fact that they attempted to fix this issue 3 times allready. How is this possible......we warranty everything at my dealer (it sucks for me) but its the truth. Shit....we gave some asshole in an RSX a new motor because he forgot to change his oil. Now...this car was heavily modded not too mention the fact that he had a turbo sitting in the trunk....absolute bullshit. They can warranty it for you....they're just being assholes.

yo...if they attempted to fix your car 3 times then they could have caused the crack, and it was supposidly mis-diagnosed 3 times allready which isnt your fault. Shit....lemon the car. call AOA...get a lawyer. Threaten to fight this til the death......21,000 dollars....are they fuckin kidding. They know no human in the world would ever pay that. They're just being pricks cause they can. Do not get screwed!!!!!

AND....if they did not have authorization to tear everything down without consulting you....meaning that it was to be covered under warranty......then you should have to pay shit to have everything re-installed. THATS THEIR MISTAKE BECAUSE THEY COULDNT PROPERLY DIAGNOSE YOUR CAR!!!!!!!! if you fight to the end and they still dont budge...have them re-install your engine....FREE!!!!! and try another dealership.

Shit....even have a specialty shop weld the small crack.

Wanna hear some shit.....a few years ago acura had a service bulletin about coolant leaks. Im not shitting you but the bulletin wanted us to replace a few o-rings and such....but after it wanted us to search for stress cracks in the side of the block and the intake manifold. AND if we found small cracks leaking coolant.....do you want to know what the fix was....ARE YOU READY??????

J.B. WELD

Thats right.....Acura wanted us to J.B. Weld the cracks in the block/manifold cause they were too cheap to replace the block.

Point is....as ghetto as it sounds....it works. Keep that in mind before you end up spending thousands of dollars

And for those that dont know what JB Weld is....you can get it at pep boys and such. Its two small tubes of this stuff (kind of like epoxy) and when you mix them together....youy can repair metals, exhausts, welds, etc....

Do some research on how to fight your claim and you should be fine, call a lawyer if need be, go thru insurance and take the premium increase....weld your block :)

just dont get screwed into corporate bs

...................Anthony

since you didn't authorize the tear down, they have to pay to put the motor back in.

get yourself a good lawyer, and have him draft up a letter to the bbb and aoa with a formal complaint against the dealership, service writer, and service manager along with the company rep that denied your claim. And in your letter make sure you document the 3 prior visits to the dealer to attempt to fix the problem.

There is no way in hell you should have to pay for that, that is the reason you have a warranty. Shit, the car has been to the dealership 3 times for the same problem, and they cant/wont fix it, And as stated above, you should claim lemon law for that.

[2k1s]

wow. Sounds similar to my situation with AoA. I had a catastrophic engine failure in my car which caused it to misfire every time it idled and finally every time it ran. They told me that it was normal even though my car sounded like a fork stuck in a garbage disposal every time you started it... It qualified as normal.

Then I had a huge problem with my car getting stolen by someone that worked on it...

Get a lawyer. Chances are you aren't going to have a car for awhile but its either that or fork over 21k for a new engine. Chances are even though AoA has the resources to go to court with you they won't actually want to.

[RAudi Driver]

BakoS4, I come to you with some good news. Since you live in California, you have the Bureau of Automotive Repair on your side. Contact them and they will mediate the case for you for free. They did a great job for me back in the day when i had a real giant brake isue with a Goodyear store. They are like attorneys and every major reapir shop is afraid of them.

I am so sad to hear your bad news. I really hope that eveything turns out in your favor. Talk to PESAPC about finding an attorney for you if the BAR doesn't work out. I think that it will.

http://www.bar.ca.gov/

[benaudia4]

lawyer lawyer lawyer...now days companies are being super cheap because people dont stand up for themselves. Get a lawyer and audi should pay for all if not part of it. Also how could a "rubber" snub mount do that??!! the mount itself would break before the engine. Also audi has to have prof that the mount did the damage. Which would mean that they would have to document it and everything. Fight this thing till the end. Not only should they be paying to have it fixed but they should also be giving you a loaner

[Tek4ever]

Man RAudi, your post gave ME hope! Great info, I hope they help ya bakos.

[ant7701]

listen.....like I said above. There is NO way they expect you to fork over $25000 to have your car fixed. No one would....but they are being assholes and wanna play hardball. SOOO.....that is why you must play back. Its a very very unfortunate situation and it still might cost you a few grand when its over but you should be fine if you go about it the right way. best of luck and keep us informed!!!

[DGS4]

I agree with everyone above me. It seems like the Dealership is trying to give you the shaft. They went through so many motors in your car and on the 5th one they said OH ! Your fault fuck it pick up your pieces and be on your way.

Contact AoA directly, and like R said contact BAR for help also and if necessary get an attorney. The least they can do is put your car back together. Hell, they should be able to do it with their eyes closed with what they did with your car.

[CanuckRS]

Get a lawyer dude, they think you're a sucker.

[RowdyAudi]

Wow what a nightmare!!! Even though it's not my car this story just makes me sick to my stomach... I can't believe how shitty the STEALERSHIP can be... I can relate a little because two days after buying my used audi I had the dreaded 1.8t oil sludge problem... lucky for me i caught it in time and an engine flush and 3k later my car was at east running... but AOA is so full of bullshit... they want loyal customers but then they look for any reason not to help you out or fix your car... I really hope you can fight this and get your car back ASAP... best of luck with everything... I really do hope it all works out in your favor... this is exactly why I'm going to think twice before I ever even think of getting another Audi...

[1145climber]

Though I could be wrong, as I only skimmed through your post, this sounds like a classic case of the Lemon Laws:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lemon_law

[bakos4]

It can only be a lemon if my warranty is intact

[bakos4]

Here is something fishy that I forgot to tell you guys. I had been looking into the lemon laws because I wasn't to thrilled about having to replace the engine. I talked to one lawyer and he suggested just asking Audi to buy it back because it would same me all his fees and you never know. So on the 17th I did just that. I called and made a claim and asked them to look into buying my car back. That afternoon that rep stopped buy and talked about my claim and thats when he looked for my car. I think he was looking for anything to put it on me. With the lemon law, even after my car was fixed with a new motor at there cost they could still have to buy back my car. I am sure they dont want to do that. I might of shot my self in the foot a little here. Seems like to perfect timing on there part in finding the mount as the problem.

[S4B6Dave]

Wow, makes me think twice about getting my snub installed. You do have a ton of mods, if they dig deeper, I think you will lose. I feel for you, though. Good luck with the attorney.

[AudiOso]

Yeah... I don't think I'm going to snub my car after reading this. Can I ask, how hard did you drive your car? Did you do a lot of clutch drop launches and such?

[RAudi Driver]

We should start a thread of everyone who has a snub mount installed. That way we can see like there are 5,000 owners with snub mounts and only one has had a problem. It could help in your predicament.

I just think that now nobody want to disclose that they have a snub for fear that they too will lose their warranty.

Also, this is one reason to stick with the black aftermarket snub mount instead of the red one.

[ItzDarrellS4]

Also, this is one reason to stick with the black snub mount.

which company are you referring to?

OP what snub mount do you have?

i was jerked around by AOA with my A4. I filed the lemon law and lost.. i dont know how, nor did the service manager who advised me to go ahead and file, but i did. They brought a team of lawyers to the hearing, while I chose to represent myself (my mistake). if you choose to go any farther, absolutely hire a lawyer.

[Ronin]

That happen exactly to one of my freind with his S4 2005, found a big crack on the tranny , and Audi Canada doent want to pay because they said the car was drop and that cause the problem. Anyway that cost to my freind a new S4 tranny + Labor

Sometime Audi Warranty suck badly

[B18b1ex]

Many of you are blaming the dealership, I've said this before AOA is sending reps out to look at ALL expensive repairs now, the dealer has NO say in if it gets fixed or not! If I were you I would file suit, it is their burden to prove that the snub mount caused the failure. That being said the GIAC and the DP's they will also used against you and void your warranty for the powertrain working beyond specified parameters.
Bottom line is you probably will have to file and hope they don't want to make an example of you.


I know how you are feeling trust me, I got my S back yesterday after it spent 6-7 weeks at the dealer for something AOA was not going to cover. In the end I think the bill was more than $14K and I'm again lucky to have Champion Audi on my side.

Good luck.

[B18b1ex]

That happen exactly to one of my freind with his S4 2005, found a big crack on the tranny , and Audi Canada doent want to pay because they said the car was drop and that cause the problem. Anyway that cost to my freind a new S4 tranny + Labor

Sometime Audi Warranty suck badly

If your friend payed he got suckered, if the tranny did not impact the ground at some point the lowering the car could not possible cause it, remember lowering the car I like driving around with a bunch of fat ass people in the car the car should be able to carry it's max load with no issues at all.

Of course it could have been slammed and the still be carrying 5 fat asses.

J/K

[B18b1ex]

Also, this is one reason to stick with the black aftermarket snub mount instead of the red one.

Audi Snub is white isn't it? So all other will still standout.

[RAudi Driver]

wow, didn't know that. Come on aftermarket snub maker's. Get with the program.

Thanks for the heads up!

[bakos4]

I had my fair share of launches. I still don't see how the mount itself can withstand more strain then the engine block. I actually took the car home before they started tearing down my car so I could demod some stuff. Never even crossed my mind to remove the snub mount.

[Jdubya]

I think they are just grabbing at straws. I don't see how the snub mount could cause a problem.

[s4for5]

Audi Snub is white isn't it? So all other will still standout.

My OEM snub was black, just like the ECS one I had my dealership put in.
No way to tell the difference once it's in the car.
As a matter of fact both the tech and shop forman drive S4's and both of them said the snub is one of the best mods for these cars?

[Meradin]

If the snub mount did have anything to do with the crack it is most likely because of the additional stress that the stiffer mount causes. The stiffer mount doesn't let the engine move around as much, which is the benefit that most people install these for, but that will cause additional stress on the engine itself. If it did play any part in the crack it most likely exacerbated an existing issue which should have been covered under warranty. Either way it is not an invalid concern for the dealership as the snub mount could have added to the problem.

[B18b1ex]

My OEM snub was black, just like the ECS one I had my dealership put in.
No way to tell the difference once it's in the car.
As a matter of fact both the tech and shop forman drive S4's and both of them said the snub is one of the best mods for these cars?

I never saw an oem that was black and don't the mounts do look significantly different? Again the forman can love the way is drives and agree it is great mod but if something breaks AOA will not care if they decide to tie it to that mount.

[AudiOso]

Man that is a rough deal. I'm scared to do anything more to my car now. I did suspension and that's gonna be it until I'm out of warranty and CPO. If something breaks then I'll just deal with it as the cost of ownership.