cliffcoggin

A loose or broken exhaust mounting is a good candidate. Give the tail pipe a firm shake to confirm.

I would expect the DMF to last rather longer than that in careful hands; however if the previous owner enjoyed traffic light grand prix then it is not surprising the DMF springs have died. I think you would be lucky to successfully claim wear and tear. You might have a claim against the vendor if he was a dealer, but then you would know about that aspect already having taken legal advice.

It certainly sounds like the 1/3/5/7th gear clutch has expired, in which case the 2/4/6th gear clutch will likely also be in its death throes. I hope you have deep pockets. What exactly was done in the gearbox service?

Returning to Jonathon's original question, I have to wonder how such a low mileage car required so much expensive repair work. If the cause was abuse or mistreatment there may well be other undiscoved problems to solve. Frankly it sounds like a money pit that I would avoid like the plague. All of which is academic as Jonathon has made no further comments, despite looking at the forum at least twice since his original query six days ago.

So it is not your car after all, it's a friends; and only now do you mention it has been modified. Is there anything else you have not revealed about the car regarding condition and service history?

I have no idea, but I am a great believer in the saying that if something looks to good to be true it generally is too good to be true. £5 for a wired connector is ludicrously cheap.

Broken wires are a common problem with A3 doors, and possibly other Audis as well. The fractures are usually in the rubber bellows between doors and frames. A search of this forum will reveal many occurances.

Thank you Gary. I appreciate you trying to help, but as I mentioned earlier I do not download anything from unknown sources. Youtube is an alternative presentation that I have suggested when this difficulty has cropped up previously.

In your position George, I would want the head removed to check for damage to the valves and piston crowns. And if the pistons prove to be damaged I would also want the sump and crankshaft removed to check for damage to the conrods. This could prove to be a very expensive repair, which is why the recommendation is to change cambelts and water pumps before such catastrophic failures occur.

Have you had the car on a diagnostic tester? Have you done a compression test?

It comes up as a download for me, which I refuse to do.

I am not sure if you can buy new barrels to match existing barrels. As far as I know you need to get a full set if you want them all to operate with one key.

Sorry, but I will not download anything from untrusted sources. Can you describe the noise instead? Rattle, rumble, squeak, knock, ring, grind, for example. Weird tells us nothing.

Why did the battery go flat? How old is it? Has the alternator been tested? I ask because a defective battery can not be restored simply by charging it.

One of the lock barrels has been changed in the past, hence two keys and no central locking. You will need four or six identical new barrels depending on the number of doors, and a couple of matching keys. As Steve said, an auto locksmith will be cheaper than Audi.

1/ Audi. 2/ Car breakers. 3/ Third party manufacturers. An internet search will reveal lots of choices.

I don't believe it can be done without the valves being moved by the timing belt.

Surrey is not my area but an internet search revealed several such places.

It could be a bad earth connection at one of the light units. Such faults can be difficult to find and correct unless you have experience of car electrical systems.

Who can say? Superscub has not bothered to update us with the outcome despite last looking at the forum on 25th March.

If, and I stress if, this whole problem is a safety issue, (I am not knowledgeable enough to judge if that is so,) then to emphasise the luxury aspect of the brand is to imply that cheap brands are not not worthy of such safety considerations. I doubt that is anybody's intention, hence my suggestion to ignore that aspect of the argument.

Like many I am appalled at Audi's attitude to this problem and have every sympathy for the sufferers. However sympathy will get you nowhere so may I make a few suggestions in the way the claim is pursued? Concentrate on the essential heart of the matter, which from what I have read seems to be a design or manufacturing flaw leading to unsafe operation. Don't add red herrings such as whether Audi is a luxury brand, or damage during recovery, or the legality of recovery with an occupant in the car. Such distractions only give the parties involved ideal opportunities for prevarication and avoidance of the central issue. Stick to your guns and stick to the central issue. I wish you the best of luck.

Did you have the new battery coded to the car, and did it solve the problem?

Which is why I am locking this topic.

Well that rules out a battery problem. Others here will have more knowledge about the rest of the electronics.