Audi owner experiences

I've been an Audi owner for over 18 years so I feel qualified to comment. Audis in general are known for pioneering engineering (quattro) and a good balance of power and handling. Fit and finish are excellent and recent models generally have fairly bold styling. They come with a comprehensive warranty (4 yr/ 50,000 miles in US) which is a good thing because their reliability is pretty middle-of-the-pack and repairs are costly. While quattro is very reliable, mundane items like door handles falling off (old models), coil failure, control arm failure, and oil leaks plague the owner. In 73,000 miles I have had a defective clutch throwout bearing, failure of ventilation fan motor, radiator replacement and will soon be getting the V6 "external lubrication system" rectified. Brake pads and rotors have been replaced front and rear and I expect the fronts will need it again within

10,000 miles. To sum up, Audis are fun to drive but if you want the ultimate in reliability, plan to keep the car beyond the warranty period and want outstanding trade-in value, you should look elsewhere.

I've owned 2 Audis now, a B5 A4 and a B6 A4 and I must say they are the most reliable cars i have owned, they have the best build quality in a car I have owned, they are the cheapest to repair as well, companies like GSF / Eurocarparts make owning Audi's a cheap car to run, I now have a 1.8T quattro and will be putting 180k miles on this one before i trade it in, and am not worried at all.

My last V6 Audi went to 161k miles, and still drove like new, it was quiet, fast, rust free, and as long as you look after the car it will last as long as you want it too

hth

Ronny

I've just bought a 1996 A6 2.6 V6 with 192,000 miles on the clock. There aren't many makes I'd even consider with that kind of mileage.

My family has owned Audis since a 1975 Fox. That was a good running vehicle that lasted many years with no major problems except rust.

previously owned Audis:

1975 Fox auto 1973 Fox stick (bought with dead engine) 1978 Fox stick (had to repair rusted gas tank) 1980 4000 stick 4 speed 1884 4000 auto 1985 Coupe/GT auto

current Audi vehicles:

1983 4000S stick 5 speed (owned since 1991) still running very well after 226K miles. Needs a new steering rack since it is leaking. I had installed a VW GTi engine in it when I bought it back in 1991 since the original engine had a wrist pin knock. Both vehicle and engine had 85K on them in 1991 Rust is starting to appear.

1985 5000S (owned since 1985) currently only has 90K miles has needed calipers, window regulators, transmission resealed and sunroof repaired. Headliner is starting to fall down but is running very well with no rust.

I have not owned any recent Audis, but the ones that I have owned have been very good and reliable vehicles. Living in the "rust-zone" usually start to kill most of the early ones. :-( One exception is that Coupe. It was only purchased for the wheels and tires and then sold with it's bad transmission. That transmission seemed to keep working for the new owner though. :-)

I like my 83 Audi 4000S more than the 91 VW Passat that I own even though the Passat looks newer.

later, dave Reminder........ Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you criticize them, you are a mile away from them, and you have their shoes. Frieda Norris

The most popular audi A4's are 1.8T / 2.8 30v 1.9 tdi

quattro is more desirable as its 4wd, quattro doesnt mean the model comes with any extra bells, its just the drive train, 2wd or quattro.

Someone else will advise you on other models

ronny

John you havnt just bought my old Audi have you ? :)

But then I sold it with 162k miles, it was a quattro though, 2.6 v6 12valve

Thank you for the input. Which models of Audi in particular are successful? There seem to be 4 different configurations for each of these models A4, A6, A8, S4 and RS6. Each model has submodels like 1.8,

1.8 quattro and more. Which model is most popular with consumers for reliability?

Thank you once again.

I've owned Audis since 1984. They are *very* reliable and have taken me through many rough roads during rallies, and deep snows in the winter.

My son-in-law gets my "hand downs" and keeps them until I am ready to buy another Audi. He kept my 1990 200 Quattro Turbo Wagon for several years before he traded it at 150K miles. We still see it occasionally - still running well from what we hear. One of my grandsons is driving my 94 S4 and it has 150K miles on it. Still going strong. My 2000 A6 4.2 has more than 100K on it, still being driven by my daughter. My current 03 RS6 is the most fun car I've ever driven. It goes like stink and handles superbly. I can not see myself ever selling this car. Wellllllll, perhaps for another RS6..... d;o)

Repairs *can* be a bit pricey if you stay with a dealer. However, if you shop around and find a good mechanic, the repairs are more reasonable. The Quattro system is bullet proiof and rarely needs repairs. The same goes for engines. If you give everything routine maintenance, these cars should last a long time.

And, no, my feet aren't made out of feathers. Bricks would be a better description.

Dave

Can i be your son for the next "hand me down" :)

That's just what I was thinking :-)

I bought mine last month but no, it's not a quattro. I wish the previous owner had included the adaptor for the anti-theft wheel bolts, but as it turned out the local Audi dealer had one in stock for a tenner (including spare bolt).

Ha! My son keeps trying to persuade me to change my car.

I think he fancies my RS6 in place of the old '93 Corsa he has as my wife's 'hand me down'!

I Part ex'd mine for 2.5k it was a nice one though, was yours cheaper?

A mere GBP 1750 and worth every penny.

I purchased a A4 1.9TDI sport from new in March this year. The only problem I encountered was a rattle from the dash. I took it back and the dealer replaced the whole dashboard. After many troubles with Peugeots and trying to get them fixed, I found this service to be great. I've had no problems with the dealers at all. Economy is great, on a long run recently I got about 66mpg. I think the car is great and love driving it. I would definitely recommend an Audi to anyone.

Hope this helps

Chris.

comprehensive

I'm glad your Audis have been trouble-free but by all surveys, Audis are, at best middle-of-the-pack, as far as reliability goes and my experience bears that out. Has my experience been unusual? Well, the items I mentioned as failing are well known problems with late model Audis (past decade). If you don't believe me, just go to audiworld.com and do a keyword search on things like "oil leak", "control arm", and "coil pack." Granted, the latter was the subject of a recall by VW but good grief, coil failure? I thought the bugs had been worked out of that technology the better part of a century ago. The former two issues each generate nearly 5000 hits when searched at audiworld.com. I haven't had a problem with oil leaks on a car since my British cars of the 1960's and 70's. My 1998 A4 has been leaking oil for nearly two years (started around 55,000 miles) and I will finally take it in to an independent mechanic to get it fixed. I will say that the basic drivetrains are solid especially the old 5 cylinder ones and getting them to go for a couple hundred thousand miles is not hard to do. But I would also assert that most modern cars of reasonable quality will also do that if maintained well.

We have two: 2001 A6 and 2001 A4

The short answer is that they have been fine as long as they have been in the full repair/warranty period. The A4 has been trouble free except for some annoying rattles that a $35000 car should not have. The A6 has basically had the front-end rebuilt at Audi's expense and now that it is out of warranty, has started to have electical problems. We've found an extremely reliable private mechanic who is planning an addition on his house based on the fact that we will be bringing him and Audi A6. Speaking of cost, a shopping cart ding in a parking lot cost $980 to fix. This sort of says it all.

OTOH, the driving experience is great for us. My A4 has some nice Borbet wheels and drives like it is on rails. The A6 is smooth as silk and just got a new set of tires at 50000 miles (and its second new battery). It will need brakes soon, and the dreaded timing belt replacement is not far off, though.

But, when next summer rolls around, the A4 is being replaced by a non-Audi. I just can't justify that kind of cost to operate a car. We're keeping the A6 only because the mileage is so high, we would take a big hit on getting rid of it.

They are cars we really want to love, but sometimes wish we had something else.

And how many people complain there versus the number of people driving Audis? The folks that drive the troublefree one for xxx1000 km never do write. It's just plain normal.

Regards

Wolfgang

My 1987 Audi 5000 runs and handles like a brand new car.

The are some weak spots, like doorhandles, window power switches.

The timing belt, a maintenance item, broke after after 17 years. Blame myself on that one!

The car body has no rust whatsover. (it is galvanized)

The handling and driving is smooth. Very enjoyable!

I bought the car when 60 minutes ran a special about the so called "un-intended acceleration"

I figured that was a hate campaign against an upcoming success of the Audi 5000 in the domestic car market.

Many dealers went out out business due to this massive propraganda.

I figured that was a good opportunity to make the purchase, took advantage of a $5000 discount.

And, guess what, the whole thing was a hoax, but surely caused a lot of collateral damage.

I had a ding but went to one of these paintless dent repair places and was amazed at how they were able to remove the dent completely. I could not tell where it had been. It's worth a try in many cases.

IIRC, the 1998 A4 owners' manual stated that the TB should be replaced at

90,000 miles but that was subsequently reduced to 60,000 miles. It's also an expensive job compared to most TB replacements, I believe.

I still think my 98 A4 sport is the best looking sedan out there. I like the balanced performance of the car but Audi has a lot of competition now and since I'm not fond of the new Audi styling, I'll be looking elsewhere for a replacement

. > --