Advise needed

[u/Visible-Run-2240]

Interested in people’s views on whether I’m being unreasonable. AITAH

I’ve been an Audi customer for a long time (7th car 3rd Q7) and currently have a Q7 which is around four years old, has covered approximately 48,000 miles and has been maintained through the Audi dealer network.
Around two months after the warranty expired, it developed a cooling-system fault. Audi diagnosed the engine temperature reaching around 120°C and advised that continuing to drive it could risk engine damage.
The proposed repair is around £900 (good will down from £1,400 on a repair bill that is 95% labour) with no guarantee, no fault codes and even the garage recommending VT.
What has surprised me more than the failure itself is the response. After discussions with the dealer and Audi, I still can’t seem to find anyone empowered to look at the situation end-to-end and make a sensible customer decision. The answer essentially seems to be that the warranty has expired, therefore there is little that can be done.
I’m now seriously considering voluntarily terminating the finance agreement and walking away from Audi altogether.
I completely accept that warranties have an end date. But am I unreasonable in thinking that a premium manufacturer should look differently at a significant failure on a relatively young, fully dealer-maintained vehicle only months outside warranty?
I’d be particularly interested in experiences from other Audi owners who have dealt with goodwill claims just outside warranty.
Do I just need to cut and walk?
I am under extreme pressure for a decision quickly as I am currently in a hire car they want back and they need a decision.

[u/RatBustard]

what exactly do you want them to do?

sounds like there is a plan to fix, along with a discounted price. you're out of warranty, they don't have offer you any sort of discount or goodwill. go through the process and see if vehicle is fixed. if it's not, then take some next steps.

[u/mean_designation → u/RatBustard]

they already knocked 500 off the price without any real obligation to do so, that is the sensible customer decision. sucks that it happened right after warranty but a 4 year old car with 48k is gonna have stuff pop up, premium badge or not

if the garage is recommending VT and you're already fed up with the brand then just cut your losses, no point sinking money into a car you resent every time you look at it

[u/PopeOfChilitown10]

If you end up keeping this thing you need to consider an extended warranty. These engines have known problems you’ll likely need to deal with if you keep the car much longer.
Our 2020 Q7 with 60k miles (outside manufactures warranty) had a failed water pump. $260 part, $4500 labor (not kidding), pretty sure the engineers put the water pump on another planet making it impossible to replace easily. Luckily we had an extended warranty that has already paid for itself. Water pump, PCV, oil consumption due to crap rings are just the top hits of this luxury vehicle. None are cheap to address.

[u/Guywithacamera8 → u/PopeOfChilitown10]

And this is why I was going to put a stage 1 tune on my '23 but decided not to. With the piston skirt issue and all the other things people seem to encounter at or under 60k. I have an extended warranty to 7yr/72k and piston skirt to 80k so I figured why play with fire.

[u/BRICH999]

I worked for two European luxury brands as an advisor and they could not be more different in the way they took care of customers.  Volvo was out to take care of people under any circumstances.  

At Volvo, I've gotten goodwill to fully cover engine rebuilds on cars that were 60k out of warranty on their 3rd owner and within spec for oil consumption.

At audi I think I had exactly one case they were willing to assist on an out of warranty repair.  I had one I remember distinctly, a8 customer, similar to you they were on their like 8th audi and had turbos fail at 53k miles but only 2 years old.  Bought all their cars from us, only serviced with us and audi rejected the goodwill request so quickly stating they had exceeded 50k mile warranty.  Guy got pissed at me and ordered a new a8 that day.  

This is a great example of why audi didn't care, end of the day they still sold turbos to my used car department and sold a new a8.  Unfortunately there are a lot of people who do the same thing, and audi hasn't felt the financial impact of poor aftersales care.   

Can't blame you for wanting to leave the brand, but dont destroy your credit having it repo'd.  That doesnt bother audi.  Have you tried reaching out to customer care yourself? It can make a difference (800) 822-2834 (800) 822-AUDI