Hello everyone, I need some help/advice on this situation regarding my 2010 Q5 3.2 Premium (This is going to be a long post, TLDR is at the bottom).

I dropped the car off at the dealership for scheduled servicing almost two months ago and it has been there ever since.
The servicing was done in a day, which is great, so I go pick up the car the next day. This is when the car takes a dump - or tries to, lol - the engine shook really badly on first startup and shut off. I immediately went to get a service advisor to take a look at it. The car shook violently when they tried to start it up as well, so they suggest I leave it there to have them check it out.

After a few days I get a call saying that piston and rings needs to be replaced (quoted at $13k) with possibilities of other issues "along the way" that can only be seen as they take the engine apart, which will cost $20k+ to do. Those numbers hurt...

Before agreeing to any of that, we talked some more and they offered to test the (base?) timing to see if that was the cause. Supposedly, if that was the cause, replacing the timing chain and tensioner would have fixed the car. Sadly test results show that the timing was not the problem.The service advisor mentioned a few times that the car is old and that he does not think repairs are worth it, but was not forceful about it and gave us time to think. We had no plans of getting a new car at this time so we decided to contact Audi of Canada (AoC) in hopes that they can help with the repairs. A case was opened and AoC instructed the dealership to do more tests on the car.

After a few weeks the dealership says that they have taken apart the engine, confirmed that piston and rings do indeed have to be replaced and that Audi Canada will not be helping out - stating that the car is too old/out of warranty. The dealership offered to cover the labour costs but we have to pay for the parts (~$3500).

I called AoC again hoping to change their mind but they said that the decision was final, and this is where we currently stand. The $3500 bill is a lot more easier to swallow but I am still pissed that we have to pay for some engine (internal) defect that killed our car without warning.

TLDR:
- 2010 Q5 3.2 Premium with ~115k km mileage, always dealership serviced, bought new/one owner, located in Ontario, Canada
- car suddenly dies after regular servicing at dealership
- piston and rings need replacement, with initial quotes of $13k to $20k+ repair bills
- contacted Audi of Canada (AoC) to start a case, their final decision is to not help because car is too old
- dealership offered to cover labour costs, while we pay for parts at ~$3500

Obviously I would like for AoC to pay this bill, but I don't know how to get them to change their "final decision". So I am turning to everyone here in hopes of learning new information that I can use when negotiating with AoC again.So please, any suggestions/comments would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance!
BTW: how did I do in handling the situation so far? I have never been a strong negotiator tbh, maybe I should have posted this when the whole thing started, to ask for advice...

Note: I've cross posted this on a few forums that I know of/visit sometimes/lurk on to cover more ground, not sure if I can list them here. I don't know if I chose the best sites for posting, so if anyone has suggestions on where else I should post this, please let me know! Thanks again.

Your Q5 is 9 years old and way out of warranty why should Audi pay for anything?

So let's look at this, you drive into the dealership without any problems for service. Mysterously yor Q5 develops piston/ring issues instantly. The dealer says he will eat the about $10K labor to replace the parts. Now why would he do that labor intensive job for free unless that he feels guilty about something.

Something seems very questionable about what has happened here......…

How did the Q5 perform going up hills, loss of power, etc? Did you consume oil at a high rate, smoke coming out of the tailpipe?


What did the dealer actually perform during the service? Change plugs, etc?