RedCarJohn

Many thanks. I'll contact them on Monday.

Reply to Steve Q: Thanks for your further comment. I clicked "Latest Club Discounts (See All Discounts)" but got "Sorry, you cannot view this discount code or offer details because you are not a premium member."

Thanks for your interesting comments. I have bought very little on eBay and never from a foreign supplier, so I am very wary of doing so. However, I'll investigate further and probably contact the supplier to see if I get a professional response. I'll also have to check on Monday how long the garage is willing to hold the car.

Many thanks for your rapid response. I had seen those eBay items, both in Latvia. However, the owner of a local Audi/VW specialist garage warned me off them as he knows several customers who ordered in Latvia, who never received the parts and lost their money. Bespoke manufacturing might be my only option but probably very expensive. However, I am loathe to scrap a perfectly good car. Another possible issue is how long the garage is prepared to keep it while I am searching.

I have an A4 3.0TDI Quattro (VIN: WAUZZZ8E25A456940) acquired new in February 2005. It’s a superb car, still in fantastic condition (at 184000 miles) and in perfect working order other than the following problem. A coolant hose at the rear of the engine, part no. 8E2819371AD, has split and the car cannot now be driven. It’s at a local garage where a pressure test was conducted to seek a minor leak. I presume that the pressure caused the hose to rupture. The part was declared obsolete only last month (!) by TPS (official VAG parts supplier). My garage can’t spend any more time searching and has passed the problem to me. On Thursday I ordered the part from LLL Parts, whose website initially showed it in stock but yesterday I got an email, saying only that it isn’t available; no indication if they can get one; no response to my email and I can’t reach them by phone as their automated answering system keeps cutting me off. I am now having enormous difficulty finding the part on the Internet, other than from a few expensive, probably dodgy Eastern European sellers on eBay, which I am not willing to risk. If the part can't be found, it seems that I would have to have the car scrapped, which is crazy, given how good it is, and would be emotionally difficult for me. Can anyone please help?