Audis also tend to look dated ultra fast. All the freshening and updates every 2-3 years. nothing to do with reliability though lol. The new A4 is pretty..

 

I have owned many BMWs/Merc/Audis. They all seem to have one thing in common when it comes to reliability issues; small electrical problems here and there. They are not something that you would immediately need to take to dealers but I would expect better quality from $50k+ cars from Germany.

 

That list has to be a load of CRAP!. It shows that honda is worse then BMW when it comes to reliability.

Cmon now......

J. R.

 

The list only shows the number of problems, not the severity.

M3s with engine failure...on that chart there's no way to tell the problems were catastrophic as compared to something dumb like a climate control knob sticking.

 

do you also need to consider the cost of the part?

 

Well, I can't tell about BMW because I owned only one BMW, but many VW and Audi. I think both are great cars.

You just find which one you like more specially the handling and the ride position. I found that the current and the previous 3-series are not comfortable (for me).


Note on JD Power VDS:
I don

 

[QUOTE=ahmad,Jun 8 2009, 12:58 AM] Well, I can't tell about BMW because I owned only one BMW, but many VW and Audi. I think both are great cars.

You just find which one you like more specially the handling and the ride position. I found that the current and the previous 3-series are not comfortable (for me).


Note on JD Power VDS:
I don

 

Have you put any thought into the dealer network in your area? If there were more options with BMW (and I'd figure there would be), that gives you a little more flexibility. I'd hate to be locked down to a single dealer in reasonable driving range.

We had three BMWs (all new) and had a few small issues and got rid of them before the complementary service expired or any out of pocket maintenance like brakes was needed.

It's funny that people carp about interior quality of high[er] end BMW vs. something like a Caddy. While it may be [debatably] prettier, the durability doesn't seem much better. On our X5 4.4i, the black center of the steering wheel wore off (down to pink plastic), and that's the higher end wheel used in sport models. The rubberized material on the door handles wore down/off, the exterior black trim around the windows started flaking off. The lumbar stopped working. We replaced the steering wheel at about 2 years under warranty, ignored the other items as we traded it. The lumbar might have been an electrical gremlin. On the upside, all those problems would have been fixed under warranty - when the car hit the end of it's warranty, extending it was way too expensive (and in Florida it's underwritten by a 3rd party I wasn't hip to).

We left BMW because of limited dealer options (for both sales and service) and probably wouldn't consider Audi for the same reason.

Just wanted to give you some perspective on BMW - the only input I have regarding Audi (other than the dealer concern) is they appear to be really well put together vehicles, but so did/does/do BMW's.

 

good write ups everyone.

I went with BMW, because of the residual value and better then "average" reliability, I ended up getting an extended warranty for dirt cheap too. Hopefully won't need it.

Thanks all for your input

 

I know Audi's have been flaky when it comes to reliability, some would say they were disastrous. Several friends with older A3's, A4's and the like, had many, many teething problems.

But it seems like these things have been sorted out as of late, since both now have newer Audi's, and they've yet to experience a single issue with them.