What small things did your Audi do before the gearbox finally gave up?

[blaiseholden]

My uncle’s Audi died on him last month, and the whole family has been talking about it since. He says looking back there were hints for almost half a year, but nobody paid attention because the car still drove. That story made me want to learn what to watch for in my own car, which is a 2017 Audi A3 with around 88,000 km. I am the type who ignores little things until they become big things, and I do not want to repeat that. While reading, I found a page about the Top Audi transmission warning signs to watch for, and it made me realize some things I brushed off might actually matter, like the small hesitation I feel when I press the pedal after stopping. My friend Saeed says every dual clutch car does that and I should relax. My sister says if it is new behavior, then it is something, and she is usually right about everything, which is annoying. So I wanted to ask people who have lived through it. What was the very first sign you noticed, and how long before the real problem showed up? Was it a noise, a smell, a delay, a light on the dashboard, or just a feeling that something was off? I also wonder about the difference between normal quirks and real warning signs. For example, a slight jerk in slow traffic, a whining sound at certain speeds, or the engine revving higher than it should before the car catches up. How do you tell which ones are harmless? Another question is whether it is smart to scan the car once a year, even with no lights on, just to see if anything is stored in the computer. And if you caught a problem early, did it end up cheaper to fix? I would really like to hear honest stories, including from people who waited too long and wish they had not. Thank you, I will read every reply tonight.