the Cost of General Auto Repair

Receive a new clutch and flywheel, installed. 1480 including all taxes and fees, no gratuity required. Was charged $106 by the dealership to reset the computer and restore functionality to the radio (radio becomes disable after the battery is disconnected and requires a code to reactivate).

Shop was not specialized in Audis, and ordered the incorrect parts on the first time around. I had to investigate online to determine why the correct clutch did not fit, then discovered that the previous owner had upgraded the flywheel and clutch to that of a V6 Audi S4. Part came out to exactly $865 shipped via two day air.

Once shop confirmed correct parts, car was repaired as promised.

Shop had to drop both the engine and transmission in order to change out parts. The labor was 10 hours. A4 Quattro is an all wheel drive vehicle with a very cramped engine bay, which makes this job very labor intensive.

Once clutch was installed, drove to dealership and paid $106 for reset. Took approximately 30 minutes and no wait with an appointment.

The work and customer service were excellent. Even though the repairs were delayed, the shop did order incorrect parts first time around due to lack of experience with this particular brand. I was not charged for those parts, but the total repair went up dramatically due to the cost of the correct parts. A new clutch was supposed to cost around $400, but came out to over $850 with the upgraded aftermarket setup required. Everyone in the service department of this shop were very nice and did apologize for the delay. I was not provided a loaner for the time (thankfully I had other transportation to use), but I was provided coupons for free oil changes. Unfortunately, once the repairs were done I noticed that the radio was not working along with some indicator lights flashing. Shop used an OBD2 scanner but it was coming back with no codes. Determined that the car needed a computer reset along with the factory radio code enter. Shop did not have VAGCOM system, so they could not perform that work, and would not pay to have it done. I scheduled an appointment with the dealership. Although I have had bad dealings with dealerships previous, I was not pressured into anything else or anything extremely expensive. Price did seem high for the work performed, but there isn't much competition.

If you have a German car such as an Audi, please be sure to go to a shop that specializes in those particular cars. Although the cost may be much higher, you are paying for the true value of that service. There will be no need to get new tools, decreased chance of part order errors, with no visits to the dealership required afterwards. Everything *should* be done right the first time around by people who specialize in that particular brand of vehicle.

Also, to save yourself some headaches or to increase the fun factor in your Audi or Volkswagen, you can also look around online at various reputable aftermarket sites that specialize in nothing but Audi/VW (also Mercedes and BMW etc), and find a great selection of really good upgrades that still cost less than the comparable OEM part. But stay away from auction sites, as the integrity of some of these parts are questionable. Make sure to try and find what reviews exist for whatever site you are looking at. Parts for these cars are typically more expensive than your comparable Japanese car, and the cars themselves are more finicky on what you can use on them.