General non-MG related discussions. No politics here please!!
My wife and i are looking at getting a second car, it was a nissan maxima, but i have got her to think about an Audi A4 Quattro. I have always loved Audi's, so we are looking in the 1999 to 2003 range, with about 150,000 km (90,000 miles).
Anyone have any experiences with these cars?
Thanks
Ken
never mind. spent a lot of time online looking at reviews and almost 3/4 of them say great car but always in the shop. now i do take all online reviews with a grain of aspirin, but when you get that many saying the exact same thing, and pointing to the same problems you have to pay attention
Funny you would mention them. We were looking at a used one for a winter all wheel drive car and from what I found it is best to avoid them as they have issues with the oil pressure. From what I can tell they use synthetic oil but most owners seem to disregard this which causes the sludge to build up. The problem was so bad Audi extended the warranty on the engine beyond the original time period but if you don't have full documentation on where the oil changes were made showing the mileage and type of oil the warranty is invalid. The repair cost is fairly substantial, it seems to be mainly with the 1.8L engines and some articles I read had comments from various Audi garages saying if you don't want this problem buy the 2.8L or larger engines. But I do so love the Audi Allroad and keep looking at it. Everything says the A6 is ok though due to the larger engine.
We were looking at a 2008 brand new Audi 4 Q before we bought the Mazda 6 a few months ago. (Had the funds available, ready to sign on the spot, but the salesman wouldn't give us the time of day) So we walked.
But... Glad we didn't after hearing the horror stories. $120.00 oil changes every 5,000 km... Everything had to be done at the dealer... no parts available at any other place.. NO thanks. Could be worse though... my buddy has a 2008 BMW and it costs him $140.00 for an oil change....
Ken.. Get a Mazda 3 or 6.
Paul
I had a 1996 Audi A4 Quattro. It was by far the best vehicle I or my family has ever owned. (I know this is blasphemy, but I would probably even trade my MG if I could get it back) Everything was top notch quality, to the point where when I drove my uncles Lincoln Mark III I was a bit disgusted. Before then I thought Lincoln was on the same level..
Anyway, part of the time I owned it was when I lived in Minnesota. It was a beast in the snow, I was even passing up trucks.
The only reason I don't still have it is because it had just under 200k miles on it when I was driving from central MN to central KY (for the 2nd time in 3 months haha) and the rear main seal started leaking. I sold it shortly after when I decided I wanted the MGB I have now. The rear main seal was the only repair I had to do on it in 3 years.
Dominic
Michelle, that is exactly why we are looking a tthe audi's. for the winter. I also love the looks of them, but i think we are going to go with Subaru, if we decide on all wheel drive, or the Maxima for sportiness.
Paul, we already have a mazda6, and want something different
Dominic, the good reviews i read were just like your's but there were just too many talking about bad stuff. It was the first car i had been reviewing where the bad almost doubled the good
I used to have an Audi 5000S and had none of the problems with it that I had been warned about. However, I did have other problems, mostly all minor (water pump, alternator,window lifts and switches, A/C, etc.) The car had over 150K when we sold it, engine/trans solid, powerful, and smooth, handled extremely well, and quiet. Amazingly good and long lived inline 5 cyl engine.
What I noticed was that if you bought your parts from the dealership or their service, they were ALWAYS much more expensive than anywhere else. A for instance ~ controller switch for A/C (Harrison A/C, same as same year Cad DeVille) cost $125 at Audi, $18 across the street at the Caddy dealer. And most other parts were like that. Pretty well ruined my experience with the car to have to pay 3-5X the cost for many parts (often exotic, often simple) as for other decent cars like my son's BMW or my ex-wife's Honda Accord. That was back in the 90s, but I have not heard that it is any different today.
Otherwise, as said, by far the very nicest car we've ever owned ~ for driving.
the 1.8L engine does have issues with oil/sludge...can't treat them like a 87 chevy. i have a TT Quatro Coupe with the 1.8L engine and have not any big issues except the glove box door breaking (a plague in TTs) but it was under warrenty. my mech says if the miles don't add up to 5000 and most of the driving has been on the highway only need to change the oil once per year. I have two other audis, one 1988 Quatro with 220,000 miles and it has been a great car. I also have 1990 Coupe Quatro, one of 1734 imported, and it has been very good.....154,000 miles. I believe the A4s also have a problem with instruments going south (the TTs do) and that is a big buck fix altho there are now several places that you can send your cluster to and they will fix and guarentee for a reasonable amount.
that said, i have heard that Subbies are bullet proof so you can't go wrong with either.
I finally had some Tim Hortons coffee last year....it was good.
FWIW - if you want to save some $$ for same / similar driving experience, try a VW. Many of the drive trains and components are identical, even if the leather is slightly less comfy. When I bought my '03 Passat GLX, I went to the Audi dealer to ask why I should spend $10-15K more for a similarly equipped A6, and he quietly told me that all his kids had VW's - the 2.8L V6 with 5-speed manual in the car I wanted was identical in both cars....
That said, with 3 VW's each with between 110-130K miles, the repair bills - dealer or not - are getting way out of hand. IAuotmatic transmission for my wife's Jetta was $8K at 75K miles (fortunately had extra warranty). Radiator went in my daughter's beetle - local mechanic wanted $950. I did do it myself for $200 (including hoses), but took me 10 hours....
Not easy to work on - either in time or by wallet....
