surphace

Hi,

I am new to the forum, but a long time lurker. Please help me figure out what might have happened or how this was possible? (Possible legal battle pending)

Here is the deal. While waiting to privately sell my 2010 A5 premium plus - automatic - 2.0 TFSI - Quattro (had to get a sedan due to baby on the way), I rented it out on Turo.

Car Background
I took great pride in the car, always did preventive maintenance, It was not a part of the oil consumption recall but apparently had the work done anyways by the previous owner. I bought the car about a year ago with ~62K miles. The used car dealership had a good reputation and decided to replace the exhaust manifold and turbo with an OEM unit with roughly 35K miles on it. I had replaced the coil packs and bought nicer plugs about 6 months ago. I also installed a RaceChip piggyback tune. That I often left on the mid setting "Sport" which gave me better gas mileage and less turbo lag. But, it since it is a piggyback tune and not a flash all of the OEM ECU safeguards will still in place. Typically I'd turn off the tune and return it to stock if I rented it out on Turo, but it honestly seemed to run smoother with the mid-level power tune (that didn't activate until the car was up to operating temp)(ps wasn't sure if it was on stock or Sport when I rented it out). 500 watt amp and subs (that he cranked all the way up to 11/obnoxious).
I did a pre-purchase inspection at the premier german race shop here in town, and they said it was a solid Audi, worth a buy, everything looked good. Again, always replaced filters and oil before it was time, always bought the expensive stuff recommended on here.

The Event / I need a hypothesis / Similiar case studies / Opinions
The kid rented the car, loved the hell out of it, extended the rental, we hit it off as gearheads and computer nerds. He invites me in fora beer.
Fast forward to 4am, I get a text from him saying that he launched the car and it died at the light, couldn't get it started, CEL, pushed it to a 7-11. He said he didn't have it in sport, touch traction control, or have it in manual (although the manual part changed in a later convo, now he may or may not have had it in manual)
In the morning I and a mechanic friend show up with OBD scanners and tools in hand, the fault codes were miss-fire on cylinders 2,3,4 (never happened before). Indeed, it wouldn't even try and to turn over/ start at all (but battery, fuses, and relays fine.
I tow it to a german mechanic down the road. And he returned the bad news that there were giant chunks of metal in the oil pan, and the starter gear was unable to turn the flywheel (i think that gear might have been broken too).
He manually tried to turn the crank shaft and he heard crunching metal, and it then stopped at about 3/4 of a turn.
Hist synopsis was that the engine was toast, done for, deader than disco. $9500 estimated repair with a used engine replacement. And that only abuse or severe negligence could cause this level of damage on such a well-maintained car @ 68K miles.
Side note- he also put a good amount of curb rash on one of my rims. AND removed the battery from the fob (but denied doing so even though I used it 12 hrs prior).

The dilemma -
Turo is refusing to honor the insurance claim because their inspector wasn't convinced that there were signs of abuse and normal wear and tear / typical breakdown stuff isn't covered.
I respond back with, the kid said he launched the car @ 4am after drinking, (he doesn't know how to properly launch the car), and german expert mechanic said that this had to be 100% abuse related. I sent in the texts of him admitting the launch at 4 am.
The claim is being escalated, they said the room was split on if they should honor the claim but, they are currently refusing to. And I have a feeling unless I put together a good case or lawyer up hard i might be hosed.

My question
How would someone even trash an engine in good working order? Like Rev it up to redline in neutral and push it into gear? Possible act of god? Did he hold down the ignition while driving? Tried to do a burnout? Manually downshifting back into first while redlining? sugar in the tank? Can you think of a way to blow an engine that otherwise ran just fine days prior, no noises, rattles, CELs, error codes, etc. Or, is it just **** luck that seems really suspicious?

Moving Forward -
Any advice to prove to Turo that he did indeed abuse my car or was negligent? Has anyone else had an engine fill with shrapnel at around 65-70K miles and not attempt to start? Did my racechip go haywire and turn the boost up and blow my valves?

I think he abused the car, I just don't know how this could be physically possible. I need to be able to prove it was abuse, otherwise I will owe 11k on car that doesn't work, and can't reapir out of pocket at the moment, that I could have probably sold for 15k or more. If they fix it, I lose equity and will be upside down. If I total it, I have a chance of staying in the black.

I loved that car... This sucks. Any comments thoughts hypothesis, suggestions, are welcomed.

Thanks for reading this long *** post. Let me know if you'd like any more info.

PS - The 25% host turo insurance is worth nothing if someone blows your engine.

surphace

TL;DR

Ever heard of a B8 2.0TFSI engine with less than 70K miles, blow up under normal driving conditions? If so, how might one achieve this?

If you were trying to ruin a 2010 Audi A5 2.0 TFSI, and destroy the engine, how might it be possible?

Also, everything above.

Thanks

surphace

Here is the car, prior to blown engine and curb rash. Thanks Turo

surphace

This is my baby, that now has a worthless engine filled with shrapnel. (the paint was eventually cleaned up, i just like this photo)

There we go, still getting used to this forum.