somebody I know is looking at an 00-02 A4 for sale that has 76k miles on it and a broken front control arm. It is a 1.8t automatic and they are asking $8k for it. This person seems to be enamored by the car and i'm trying to convince him that this car is going to turn into a money pit as it gets closer to 100k miles. What are some of the big things to look out for on A4's with 75-100k miles on the clock?
Ugh, run away. Maintaince is difficult and expensive, the timing belt is a huge job, suspension parts arent cheap, the transmissions in the automatic ones suck. Unless you get a well maintainde example and keep it well maintained they are a nightmare (even people who like them will say that).
Dunno if they're still have the same pricey parts issues, but I looked at a Audi 90 once and passed on it, because it needed a power steering pump. For that model and year, there were three possible different pumps, and they all needed some insanely expensive mineral oil fluid. If they're still doing things like that, I wouldn't touch any Audi with a ten foot pole.
My mechanical mentor was a fellow born in Belgium. When he graduated school, he went straight to the Bentley factory school, and then to the British Leyland Jaguar factory. He enjoyed racing cars, and for a time co-drove a Cortina in rally cross with Jackie Ickx. Then he moved to the USA. He opened a shop in Macon and called it Eurotech. He only worked on European cars. He is a driver's instucter for the Porsche Club of America, and a seriously good mechanic.
He refuses to work on an Audi
That's all I've got.
It's been four and one half years since we sold our A4. I'm still mad at it.
$8k for a car with a broken control arm !?! F that.
IIRC this platform had a funky suspension setup that caused you to frequently have to replace many parts as a set on both wheels.
The 1.8 is a good engine if taken care of (IE timing belts), otherwise it is an expensive fix
8K is 2x as much as it is worth.
According to VW freaks, the audi front suspension is one of the best designs in the world, but it does look rather complicated. i seem to remember someone posting on here some tips about how to assemble it to it will last longer though.
The dependability of a complicated late-model Volkswagen, with the affordable parts of a BMW or Porsche.
ddavidv wrote: R-rated threade on VAG engineering
WOW. No S4 for me. I've never cursed, swore and bad mouthed about any car until I met my VW. The worst is the ridiculous funny shaped hardware they insist on using everywhere and the meticulously engineered placement so you need more tools to reach them.
ddavidv wrote: R-rated threade on VAG engineering
wow
hmm.. Audi's are off the list. Same with 928's...
My parent's neighbor is an Audi mechanic. You should see his house, his boat, his RV, his 4-wheelers, his motorcycles, and his jet skis. Rumor has it he bought the house cash. His DD a Chevy Silverado.
One of my friends brother is an Audi tech. We met him a while ago driving a brand new S5. He'd been driving it for a week trying to datalog a shutdown condition that happened randomly. Apparently the car, brand new, would just shut down when it felt like it. Noone could diagnose it so they had to give the owner a new car and he got to drive this one to try and figure out what was wrong.
His daily is a Tacoma.
I've had multiple Audi's, including 2 B5 S4's, 2 B5 A4's and currently a B6 A4. They're wonderful cars that are reliable if properly cared for.
We ran one of the A4's since new till 95k miles with no maintenance save a timing belt/water pump, 1 set of tires, 1 set of brakes and 1 MAF.
All the others just needed typical maintenance. The timing belt is actually pretty easy once you realize Audi engineered the car for you to take stuff off to get at what you want.
In reply to btp76:
It's about the same for me. It's been about 3 years since selling both our our A4 turbos. They still aggravate me. They were great when everything was working correctly, but that was rare.
I have a friend who has a 200k mile late 90s S4. He loves it and it has never given him a reason not to. He is the only person on earth who has owned an Audi/VW of that vintage that has had that experience. It is unlikely your friend will be another one.
FWIW; I was given a 90's A4 with a bad auto tranny. Junkyard tranny of unknown heritage and no guarantee other than "you can bring it back and get another" was $900. Cheapest around.
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