9,200 trouble-free miles, and this morning my Avant QMS confounds me by refusing to even turn over. I tried at least a dozen times to start it (yes, the clutch was all the way in) but the starter motor didn't make even a pretense of trying to start the engine. All electricals on the dash seemed in order. I had driven it yesterday without any problems.<p>I called the dealership and Audi Mobility who dispatched a truck to pick up the car. After I hung up, I tried to start it again. On the third try, it started as normal. I let it run for about five minutes, cut it off for 10 minutes, and then started it again. No problem. I called Audi and cancelled the pickup (had to get to work.)<p>I'd earlier scheduled the car for installation of a new cargo cover tomorrow morning, so I've got my fingers crossed that my baby will start on command for at least the next 24 hours.<p>Anyone else out there experience anything like this? I've heard that the 30V can develop starting problems if run for less than a minute while cold and then shut off (it has something to do with flooding and the car's computer.)<p>J.Russ.

My '97 1.8T is starting to turn a little slower. It really seems to be related to cold weather, although even in my nice warm garage, it sometimes sounds a little less than peppy until the engine turns. Maybe my starter motor is a little tired.<p>Anyway...never had your behavior. Yours sounds very black-and-white. My behavior was definitely more in the grey area...

I haven't had this problem (yet?) on my Avant, although am concerned about it. On my father's old '91 Honda Prelude, however, he had a similar cutoff/interlock switch in the clutch as on the Audi. LIke you, one time car failed to start - turned out to be this stupdi switch failing. This is probably what happened to you.<p>My old '90 Coupe Quattro did not have this switch; as I remember, my '95 Porsche doesn't either Is this some sort of gummint mandate to protect us from our own stupid mistakes?<p>One problm I see with this stupid setup is that it prevents you from doing a "bump" start if the battery is low. I had to do this once on the old Coupe - start the car rolling down a hill, put in 3rd of 4th, then pop the clutch as you're getting up to about 10-15 MPH. Is this progress?

The cargo cover itself is fine. I was showing the schportvagen to a buddy, who grabbed the cover's handle incorrectly and broke the flip-cover off in his hand. I was able to replace it, but the spring-loading was shot, and it now hangs limp and lifeless.<p>A tiny flaw, but hey, it's under warranty!

It must be my French roots...<p>%^)