U. S. Audi A4 1.8T owners have recently gotten a class-action lawsuit communication that includes the information that Audi of North America has revised its maintenance procedures to require timing-belt inspection at 40,000 and 60,000 miles, as well as the normal replacement at 105.000 miles.

Question: is this simply a CYA procedure or something that is really necessary? I could inspect the belt myself if I still had the car, but my daughter now owns it, and she's on the other side of the continent (San Fran). I'd hate to tell a 28-year-old that she needs to pay to take the car to a dealer to have an unnecessary procedure performed.

Advice?

Stephan Wilkinson

 

Timing belt replacement $ < engine replacement $.
It's simple to inspect the belt on B5 1.8Ts.

 

It's kind of a boar to get the upper TB cover back in place if you've never done it before, so unless she has some idea of what she's doing, best off going to the dealer or a specialist.

Be safe. Do the belt, rollers, etc a minimum of every 80K miles regardless of it's condition.

Funny, I didn't get the memo on class-action lawsuit... I did get the one on "smart keys."

 

I got the one on the belt. They say it's free of charge and should take a 1/2 hour to complete. I got the one on smart keys as well. The verbage on the timing belt lawsuit is difficult to understand. I'm not sure if you have to have normal maintenance checkups that you have to pay for out of pocket to keep the new warranty to 105k or if you just need to get the timing belt alone checked. Anyone know?

 

i would deffinetely check it. my timing belt broke and cost me $3200. worth the inspection !!!

 

So I got the letter. From what I understand, Audi wants you to take your car to the dealer so they can look at your timing belt. If it needs replacement, they will recommend it and you will pay for the service if you choose to have it done. If your t.b. snaps, despite regular inspection, Audi will pay for the damages.

It's worded so nobody gets it... but I'm sure Audi dealers will see a slight surge in timing belt jobs.

I'm guessing this is retro-active for those who've had damages due to snapped timing belts...?

 

All it is is Audi covering their a$$. I took my car to get the inspection and surprise suprise I need it replaced. Of course their going to tell everyone to replace their timing belts because its a $1600 job. The only thing they will pay for is if your belt blew before the inspection. They gave me a loaner car for the day though so that was nice.