Would be interesting to see statistics of the sort of repairs that actually get approved on these useless policies. The fact that they make you pay for a strip down before they turn up and give you the pre-meditated NO is nothing short of criminal. It wouldn't surprise me if the engineers they send out to inspect were in some way incentivised to find reasons to say NO! After my saga with Tesco, they sent me a letter saying they would cancel my policy and give me a full refund......However, since then they have continued to debit my account rather than refund my money!!!!

I'd be keen to see what outcome you are able to achieve. Please keep us posted.

Sadly, I ended up footing the bill Warranty company (Tesco) were a BIG BIG waste of time!

Well after kicking up a fuss and writing a strongly worded letter making it clear that I am not just going to disappear without a very public fight, they have sent me 2 letters. The most recent one has asked for evidence of the recent service and MOT that was carried out prior to the warranty being purchased so that they can investigate the matter further??!! I am getting really frustrated by the whole saga....alternative transportation is starting to cost me a small fortune and on top of it the garage where my car is are chasing me everyday!

yes it has!

They have quoted £1350 to do the repairs!

No they did not give me a reason. I am obviously disappointed with what they are trying to do but I did half expect it......they make you pay to have the engine stripped down (£350) then turn up and say 'NO' giving you some lame excuse that the garage have advised me to challenge seriously as they don't buy what the engineer is saying at all.

Just had a call from the garage saying that the engineer Tesco sent out is claiming that because one of the cylinders is so clean and I have only driven the car less than 200 miles since taking out the warranty that they will not cover it. His assumption is that the problem must have existed before the warranty was taken out. I had feared this is what they would say......But the mechanic at the garage has said that it could easily have happened (got that clean) in less than 10 miles if you were driving at high speed and that he doesn't go along with what the Tesco engineer is claiming. What a nightmare!

Touche....I am keeping my fingers crossed!

I too questioned it straight away but was told that my V6 Engine was more involved than a normal engine?!?!.....they seem fairly honest and confident about my claim.

Had a call from the garage I elected for repairs (Sanspeed) this morning who have confirmed that one of the cylinder heads looks to have failed. They have been in touch with my warranty provider (Tesco) who have agreed in principle to pay for the repairs as long as I agree to cover the cost of labour of stripping the engine down should it not turn out to be the head gasket that needs fixing. So basically what they will do is send an engineer out to assess the damage and confirm that it is indeed the head gasket in which case they will cover all costs for. If it turns out to be something else then I will have to pay for the cost of striping the engine down which is 5 to 6 hrs labour. Sanspeed are fairly confident that it is the head gasket although they cannot discount a cracked cylinder head. I would imagine that this kind of damage will also be covered under the warranty Ultimately Sanspeed seem fairly confident that this is a straightforward warranty job. I really do hope so!!!

Can't really seeing them trying to go down that route on a car that's only 4 yrs old with less than 20k on the clock.

Hi Riget, thx for asking. I have decided to go down the warranty route and see what happens as Audi as expected are denying any liability. The car went in to my chosen specialist today......they will contact the warranty company (Tesco) to get approval for repairs once they have completed diagnostics. I will keep you posted.....just keeping my fingers crossed now that Tesco don't try and wriggle out of it!

thx Jonnie..... I too was suspicious so checked the history with the main dealer and seems to be fine....nothing came up to suggest otherwise. This problem is uncommon according to Audi, However, the wheel bearing issue is less uncommon.

This is exactly what I am thinking

that's my guess too as to what may have caused this although I am quite aware of the fact that I could be wrong.

The facts are this: My car has very low mileage and ran fine (never overheated or low on coolant) prior to the service. 4 days after it was serviced by Audi, the coolant level is extremely low (well below min) and I have a blown head gasket therefore I can not rule out the fact that they may have been responsible for my current plight! However, I am not certain that they had anything to do with it either.

I too have the check button which I use frequently. Even when I press it now it tells me everything is ok.......whereas the cloud of white smoke coming out the exhaust suggests otherwise! Also I take those electronic checks with a pinch of salt as they rely on the fact that the electronics are working correctly.....if one of the sensors go....you wouldn't know until something went wrong unless of course you check things manually too.

thx for all your help!

Yes. No temp issues before the service....in fact the car ran totally fine. When I picked it up after the service, it felt no different. I really don't think I can discount the fact that the coolant change by Audi mechanic could have caused this....... Another thing that was odd was how much pressure there was in the cooler tank when I opened it to top it up.....I had to do it gently as it felt like the cap was going to fly off!

thx Riget.......the thing is no warning lights have come on since it was serviced and the coolant temp has gradually rose to 90 and stayed there both times I have driven it since the service. if the blower fan was the culprit then would it not have affected the coolant temp? There was a full diagnostic check as part of the service......would this not have been picked up by diagnostics?

£500 for a V6 Engine? What about the Catalytic converter etc? So as far as you're concerned, there is no way Audi could have been responsible other than through an overzealous test drive? Would the check they perform for leaks not have flagged up a problem? thx

Update: Spoke to Audi Dealer in Stafford that serviced my car and explained what they guy from the RAc said. The guy I spoke to in the Service department advised me that the car would need to have a pressure test to diagnose if it is indeed the head gasket as suspected. Given that I am in London and they are in Stafford, he is going to speak to his manager and see if they can get this done at a dealership closer to me. I am waiting for them to call me back but am not at all optimistic about what they can do for me!

it says they changed Antifreeze on the receipt and I checked all levels before leaving the Dealership to make sure. But I am worried that it might not have been changed correctly hence my problem. Head gaskets don't tend to just fail on cars like this.....there is usually a reason!

How much would it cost to have an independent inspection? Not too familiar with them.