Finally got my gearbox sorted after months of putting it off
Just wanted to share a bit of a positive update since I was the one posting on here panicking like six weeks ago about my Q7 slipping between third and fourth. Ended up taking it to a specialist rather than the dealership and honestly the whole experience was way less painful than I expected, they diagnosed it as a valve body issue and had it rebuilt within a few days. The difference in driving now is night and day, shifts are butter smooth again and that nagging worry in the back of my mind every time I accelerated hard is finally gone. It wasn't cheap obviously, nothing involving Audi transmission repair ever is, but compared to the dealer quote I saved a decent chunk and the warranty they gave actually gives me some peace of mind. Main reason I'm posting though is to say thanks to whoever recommended getting it looked at sooner rather than later because apparently letting it drag on just causes more damage to the clutch packs and doubles the bill, so lesson learned the hard way I guess.