Audi owner questions why a simple repair ended up needing a new engine. Then he finds out about a mysterious 38-mile ‘test drive’

An Audi owner says a minor service appointment escalated into a $38,000 engine-replacement estimate after his vehicle allegedly accumulated nearly 40 miles driven while the engine was overheating. But he says he’s not responsible.

In his TikTok post, Nickkomodina begins, “Y’all ready for the craziest car story ever?” before explaining he brought his Audi to the dealership after a simple warning light appeared. According to him, Audi reached out with reassuring news: He says the dealership texted him, “Everything’s good to go. It was just a hose leak, the coolant’s fine. You can come pick it up. No big deal.” But the next day, when he messaged to ask whether he could pick up the car, the message changed.

The ruptured head gasket

According to Nickko, when he asked if he could pick up the Audio, the service advisor replied, “Do you have time for a call?” The advisor told him that when the car returned from the technician, the warning light lit up again. The advisor said that “the head gasket had ruptured, and it was driven over 50 miles while it was overheating,” according to the computer, “and the engine is now failing.” Nickko pushed back immediately, noting he hadn’t had possession of the car, so how did that happen, or in his words: “Okay, well, I haven’t had the car, so I didn’t drive it.”

He retraced his last trip before dropping off the Audi — from his gym to the dealership — and says it totaled 12 miles, not the 50 the advisor quoted him. How did the dealership explain the additional 38? That made the reported mileage even more confusing. “Those 38 miles didn’t come from me,” he says in the video, so the dealership must be responsible.

The “extended test drive”

Possibly explaining what happened, Nickk0 also says he received a text the previous day from a dealership employee stating he planned to take the vehicle on an “extended test drive,” and that the car had supposedly been “fine yesterday.” By the time he was told to collect it, though, the engine was allegedly failing.

Then came the estimate. He says the dealership informed him he would need a full engine replacement. When he asked what the repair would cost, he recalls being told: “It’ll be $38,000.” His response was immediate: “No, it won’t. I’m telling you right now, it’s not gonna be $38,000, ’cause I ain’t gonna do that.” He ends the TikTok with: “I’m getting a new car.”

Audi did the right thing

In a follow-up post, Nickko says the situation escalated as the dealership tried to tell him he should have towed the car in, rather than drive it as he did. “I was like, nah, that’s not how that works,” Niccko said, so he contacted his lawyer. Finally, the dealership called and agreed to do the right thing. “You know what, man?” Nickko was told. “We’re just gonna order you the engine.” That act of integrity “just made me an even bigger Audi Stan,” he added.