I finally got my A4 2.8 back from the shop after waiting three long weeks. The really scary bit is how much this would have cost me if the car were not under warranty. They put in a new coil pack, an electronic control unit for the coil pack (not, I don't believe, the ECU that you 1.8ers discuss) and two catalytic converters. Total cost if the car was not under warranty, are you ready for this, $10,000. Yep that's right 10 grand. Hard to believe. One third the cost of the car. Each catalytic converter is worth $4,500. The 10 grand figure is not including what I would have had to spend on a rental car for three weeks. They did say that if I had this problem out of warranty that would have worked with me on the rental car. Gezz, I hope so. It took them two weeks just to get the converters. Scary. I think I'll buy a new one before I run out of warranty.

We've heard about $4,500 catalytic converters (that probably cost Audi $100) and $10,000 transmissions. The A4 sounds like a multi-million dollar car if built from retail parts. I have a theory that these prices will come down drastically when the cars start coming off warranty and these parts are needed by average owners. If they don't, Audi's reputation will suffer greatly, and people faced with these kinds of charges (basically a totalled car for what should be a minor repair) will NEVER buy a VW/Audi product again. Maybe the reason for these high prices is to somehow keep people from buying parts to experiment with, modify, etc. for as long as possible. With the cars under warranty, Audi is only shuffling play money around internally. (The dealers might have to pay a lot for the parts, but Audi reimburses them in full).<p>Extended warranties are available on A4s, and their prices are similar to competitive cars. If the warranty providers thought that a $200 repair was going to cost them $10,000, the warranties either wouldn't be available or would be very high in price. (Or, maybe the high parts prices are Audis way of encouraging owners to buy their extended warranty).<p>Does anyone have a better answer? Does anyone have a contact within Audi that they could ask about this pricing structure?

$4500 for a cat is unreal. A new cat for my 90Q would be around $300, and I think that is outrageous. As Dale mentioned, these inflated prices will probably not last once people start needing them out of warranty. They will also be widely available, most likely.<p>Chuck<br>

One thing though...<p>Audi isn't in the Extended warranty business. Other warranty firms not associated with Audi handle them. Heck when I took the loan out for my A4 the *Credit Union* was offering extended warranties.<p>When my A4 comes of warranty here in a few years I'll let the mechanic that worked on my 5000 and my 9000 work on it.<p>$4500 for a cat. At that price you might as well put a new 3rd party exhaust system on it.<p>-randy<br>