I have a friend with a German vehicle (2015 Audi S3) with <100,000 miles and an extended warranty through Audi. He had a check engine light come on recently (he says it was some misfire codes); anyways, Audi during their troubleshooting found out the backs of the intake valves on the engine (2.0L TFSI, which is direct injection-only) was gunked up (due to carbon buildup) and wants $1,000-$2,000 to clean it up (via walnut blasting). My friend had done research on the Audi forums and found the carbon buildup was a known issue and also caused some of people’s misfire issue. His vehicle was meticulously maintained with oil changes every 5,000 miles.
Anyways, Audi will not admit to it and will not cover the whole cost of cleaning the back of the intake valves. What’s confusing to me is if their troubleshooting led them to conclude the carbon buildup caused the misfire, then that’s a design issue but yet they won’t cover it. My friend is taking it up with Audi Corporate now.
So much for an extended warranty.
Is there anything else he can do?
PS: I guess the other lesson here is don’t own a vehicle with direct-injection only long term (high mileage).
The position that car companies are starting to take is that design flaws are not covered by warranty. (GM is notorious for this.) Additionally Audi is probably claiming that periodic carbon cleanup of the valves is "normal maintenance" which also would not be covered.
Direct injection can be a problem. Some cars such as VW/Audi are more prone to carbon buildup than others. An oil catch can and using GF-6 oil can help minimize the problem. (Toyota addresses this issue by also including a port injection system that helps keep the valves clean. More complexity but the components are reliable.)
About all your friend can do is see if a good independent mechanic will do the job for less than the stealership.
Thanks for sharing this. It reinforces my personal position never to buy the extended warranty, and the notion that dealerships are stealerships.
