I'm writing this from the side of the road because my 2015 Q7 just completely gave up on me and I'm waiting for a tow truck, feeling absolutely devastated and completely lost. I was driving home from work, just cruising along like normal, when suddenly the car made this horrible grinding noise and lost all power. The engine was still running but when I pressed the accelerator, nothing happened, the RPMs just revved up but the car wouldn't move at all. I managed to coast to the shoulder and tried restarting it a few times, but it's the same thing every time, the engine starts fine but the transmission just won't engage. I've had some warning signs over the past few weeks, some rough shifts and a bit of hesitation, but nothing that made me think it was going to fail completely like this. I'm honestly kicking myself for not taking it in sooner because now I'm probably looking at a full replacement or a major rebuild, and I know that's going to be incredibly expensive. I've had this car for about five years and I've taken pretty good care of it, so this feels like a real punch in the gut. I'm sitting here on the shoulder watching cars fly by and I just feel so helpless. I have no idea what I'm going to do because I still owe money on this car and I really can't afford a massive repair bill right now. I've been trying to figure out what my options are while I wait for the tow truck to arrive. I know I could take it to the dealership, but they're going to charge an absolute fortune and I've heard they're not always the best option for older cars anyway. I could also try to find an independent specialist who might be more affordable, but I'm worried about ending up with a shop that doesn't really know what they're doing. I've been doing some quick research on my phone and I've seen some recommendations for a professional gearbox replacement service in Khalifa City that apparently does really good work on Audis. I'm thinking I might have the car towed there instead of the dealership, because at least they specialize in these cars and might be able to offer me a more reasonable solution. But honestly, I'm still in shock and I don't even know if my transmission is repairable or if it needs to be completely replaced. I guess I won't know until a mechanic actually looks at it. Has anyone else had their transmission fail completely like this? What did you end up doing and how much did it cost? I really need some advice because I'm feeling completely overwhelmed right now. Any suggestions or words of encouragement would be so appreciated because I'm honestly at a loss here. Thanks for reading and I hope someone out there can help me figure out what to do next.