If it was mine, I'd spend the dough. You're not going to get anything decent to replace it for less than a couple of grand - and the chances are you will have ended up spending much more than the cost of the repair by the time you've gotten the replacement sorted out and running for a few months.
Provided there are no other obvious issues looming, it's gotta be worth it.
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Current: 2003 A8 D3 3.7 Quattro
Gone but not forgotten: 1996 A8 D2 4.2 Quattro
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