'03 VIII. Started flipping out of 4th after hour of driving. Now trouble downshifting intermittently & has high pitched metalloc grinding sound. This was all last nite at the end of a 300 mile drive. Need advice please. Not home & don't want to get ripped off by an out of town dealer.

 

Try posting in the correct section if you want help. You posted this in the X secton. For what it's worth, I think that your synchros on a couple of gears might have gone out and/or you might have some kind of shifter fork malfunction. I know what causes grinding, but not sure on what causes a car to pop out of gear. Just take it to the dealer and get them to diagnose it.