KOAN

I'm on my 4th. The last one ran well until I sold it at 138k. ( hear it is still running strong) I even tracked it a few times. Up here in the snowy North, there is nothing I'd rather drive.

docwyte

I've had 2 A4's, a passat, 3 S4's, an allroad and several VW's. I've put 100's of thousands of miles on them with little to no problems.

I've been very happy with my Audi's.

Laker

A few randoms thoughts:

whenever a car company offers "Free scheduled Maintenance" you know they are going to bump out the maintenance intervals to save themselves money at the expense of the engine's lifespan at the higher end of the odometer. Have you ever seen the oil that comes out a "Free scheduled maintenance" BMW after 15,000 miles? I would never buy one used for this reason.

You need to make sure the car has had full synthetic it's entire life to prevent sludge. This may be difficult since dealerships rarely use synthetic for the "Free Maintenance" Audi/VW dealerships were still doing oil changes with dino oil when it was clear this was the cause of sludge failures in the 1.8T & 2.0T engines.

The benefit of CPO isn't the dealership inspection, it's the nationwide warranty bump to 6yr/100k miles or whatever. The dealership has to buy the CPO coverage at $1000+ per car for the nationwide warranty.

The weakest link of any European car is the OEM components. The build quality and ride of my old 89 Saab 900S '82 Audi 4000S Quattro, 98 A4Q and 2002 S4 were excellent. The achilles hill always seemed to be some expensive Bosch component stamped with a Audi/Saab part number and 300% markup.

I had a couple of minor issues with the Audi's but nothing major. I did sell both before 75k miles.

When these cars get up there in mileage and things start going wrong, it doesn't take long before you drop more into the car, than the car is actually worth.

One of Twenty

timing belt in about 10k. . .on the RSSex. . .

69gaugeman

This is because people have differing opinion on what a problem is. Some say there is a rattle so it is the biggest piece of crap, others (like my father) do almost no maintenance and almost nothing works except heat and it runs, and he loves the car. Put 400k km on a 86 5000T that would not die.

They are. The 2.8 is next. Even when the belt breaks just bends valves....Have rebuilt five or six now. Super easy after doing it once. Doing a 99 A4 with the 2.8 right now.

You would be very wrong here. The dealer and manufacturer are two separate entities. The dealer gets paid by the manufacturer for warranty. They want you to bring the car in as much as possible, as there is never a complaint about paying for warranty work from the customer. The problem is people cannot be bothered to take it in.

Toreador

Well I for one will never complain about Audi build quality.
Their ownership of Lamborghini has yielded the most reliable Lambos ever!!

Baptizo

I wouldn't mind finding a nice Avant A4.

perfectlap

I wish I would have known this in 2009 when Lambo was closing showrooms and you could get a barely used one for a song.

Laker

And how was my post wrong? Are the scheduled maintenance intervals not a little extreme when "Free Scheduled Maintenance" is involved?
Is there ever a major maintenance required in the during the "Free" Period? No, it's always seems to be the next interval after the Free period ends. The only thing required to check during the first and second intervals are the belts, and change the oil.

Won't "Free Scheduled maintenance" bring customers in the door, (corporate is happy) and 15k oil sludge change intervals ensure they have to keep coming back once the warranty is over? (Dealer is Happy) Everyone wins except the first or second owner at 80K miles.

Please let me know how I am "very wrong"?

H2

My wife had a 2002 Audi TT turbo and I did not like it. Too much plastic and it felt like it was going to roll on corners, etc. We opted to keep my '94 968 Porsche instead, although older it is a much better car. Porsche does not scrimp on quality. My son in law bought an A4. It had nice acceleration and was comfortable but reliability wasn't so great. I'm not an Audi or a VW fan. There's not a lot of difference anymore. Hopefully, VW having a controlling interest in Porsche doesn't result in cheapening of the P-cars. If we ever got another Audi, we'd lease it.

Jon996

Still thinking S5 convertible. Looked at one today--might be kind of a fun change.

Darwantae951

Laker, you obviously have a grudge, as well as a unique dealer experience.

Laker

No grudge and good Audi dealers. I had 4 of them starting in college. (still kicking myself for letting the S4 go due to the kid) I just see free scheduled maintenance as a marketing gimmick that may not be in the best interest of the longevity of the engine. When you get all excited about scheduled free maintenance and see it covers only a couple of oil changes, spaced 10-15k miles apart, it kinda all makes sense.


A good friend does hold a grudge. Her A4 1.8T engine blew due to sludge and she had to fight tooth and nail to get it fixed under CPO warranty. Audi noticed she was overdue 3 oil changes prior by 170 miles, and tried to deny the claim. She had the car serviced exclusively by Audi who exclusively used dino oil. I love the marque, but you have to look out for #1, since the dealer and corporate most certainly are. You can call me crusty, but I hold no grudge.

Frank 993 C4S

I loved my '00 S4 and my '01 RS4 and they were reliable cars. I'd buy another Audi if they still built the RS4 or made the RS6 available in the US. They make great all season cars for colder climates.

Fixn2xlr8

Huh? U live in NY.