hirev

you should buy this car because you want an intimate and financial relationship with a repair facility. if you want something that costs less to keep up and is reliable in the electrics dept go honda or acura or toyota, etc....

yes the audi is fun and a relative bargain for what you get, a luxury performance car with all wheel drive.

Palmateer

The auto trans failed on our 2002 Audi A4 Avant. Took the dealer 13 days to replace it, after several botched attempts. It seems the car was always in the shop for some little annoyance, so when they moved the dealershp away from our neighborhood, we dumped the car.

Umrswimr

My mother has a '00 2.8Q and she loves it. So far it's had a few minor problems (radiator sprung a leak), but nothing substantial. I would be sure to pick up an extended warrantly, just that case.

smapzy

Just get an old Lexus IS300. Tons of modded parts, looks great, bullet proof engine

sam_spider

My '99 2.8Q was a great car, only problem experienced was a bad alternator which was fixed under warranty at 64k miles. My 04 A4 1.8TQ has had no problems whatsoever, scheduled maintenance only.
I personally don't think anyone who has not had a personal experience about the car being discussed in a thread should be making comments about reliabilty or other matters since it always seems to be the "my girlfriend's sister's mother in-law had one that was always in the shop" kind of crap.

Just my $.01 worth

jasonw

If we followed that rule, we'd never learn from others' mistakes...

sam_spider

"personal experience"... I think that means people will learn from other's who have actually owned the car in question, not from heresay.

g60racer

Avoid the 1.8t A4 if reliability is a concern.

Get the 2.8 A4, if you're going to get one. The naturally aspirated V6 is very low maintenance, low problem. You can get a FWD 2.8, or AWD 2.8Quattro. I'd also recommend staying away from the Tiptronic tranny... that generation of it was problematic.

rai

Of course, any used car ca be a head-ache. There is no way of telling if this or that used car will last another 10 years or will last another 10 days.

My friend bought a used Jeep and the next day the tranny went bad. Fortunatly he was able to get out of it, but who is to say if it had happened any later maybe he'd have had to fix it out of pocket.

However there are ways to find out what cars are more trouble prone. I for one think Audi/VW/BMW etc. basically any German car is more likely and/or more costly to fix. That does not mean don't buy a German car, but be prepared to pay more and more often.

This is not to say every Japanese car will be trouble free. I have read about Lexus RX300 that have needed more than one tranny in the first year, I have read about Camrys with engine sluge problems. I'm sure there are Honda accords that spend a lot of time in for service, but in general maybe from first hand and second hand and CR data etc.. it's my opinion that Japanese cars are less trouble.

Now, maybe the Audi has 'built in' savings, by maybe a lower re-sale value. So lets say a 6 year old Audi may cost as little as a 6 year old Honda. Maybe the Audi cost $10K or more than the Honda to start. So if the Audi needs extra repairs at least you are getting it for cheap used price (in a sense).

Da Hapa

I think you meant "hearsay" and if so, hearsay, as defined by Webster's as rumor.

If you know someone who has personal experience that hardly qualifies as a rumor or hearsay.