Calling Audi Owners

[fiveightandten]

like any car its all driver errors. just like all the issues with s54 and s62 engines even our m20's. You take appropriate manufacturer recommended maintenance and you shouldn't find balls of gunk oil in the pan lol.. History shows those engine have been proven to handle whatever.

So, no cars have ever been manufactured with engineering flaws? All cars will remain 100% reliable as long as you follow recommended maintenance, and any failures are user error?

Which company do you design cars for?

[M-technik-3]

I have an 01 B5 A4 Avant 1.8 manual. I LOVE the looks of the newer body you're looking at. I believe they dealt with the sludging disaster of the 1.8 after buying so many engines for customers - I think there was a class action lawsuit against VW after the warranties ran out and engines were failing.

Mine has 130k and of course way out of warranty. I bought it used, one-owner, dealer-maintained. I just finished putting a new used engine in myself after mine ate rod bearings and threw a rod out the bottom of the pan.

The problem with that specific engine was that the pan had to fit around a big cross-member, so they made the capacity smaller. The Passat and sideways Golf configuration were better.

3 1/2 quarts of oil, turbo boost, oil-to-water oil cooler, very tight packaging, and complicated systems meant they were very susceptible to oil sludging. Oil change interval was too long even with synthetic. Filter was tiny.

I took really good care of it, regular synthetic changes, etc, but it let go with no warning. The packaging made it the most complicated car repair I've ever tried. Runs great now, everything except the long block is new. I use the newer huge oil filter that holds an extra half quart, and I'll change it at 3000.

The quattro system is the best bad weather / snow / ice system I've ever used. (Soob is maybe close behind).

SO….buy one with very good service history and receipts, and even then be careful.

[ATTACH]98067[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH]98068[/ATTACH]

Bingo, I see these dead in the bone yard all the time when the HG or Turbo is dead because of oil related issues, Folks drive them short distances and never warm them up properly and so forth common issue here in the US.

Oil line clogs on the turbo and seizes, owner gets a bill for 2.5K+ and freaks and junks the car and then proceeds to buy another car.

Edit: That being said what a but pain to change the serpentine or timing belt on any Avant All Road pulling the front end off. Companies are trying to make cars dealer only serviced to make more money from repairs.

I owned a few Audi's over the years and hated the late 80's and early 90's they had the same issues as the E34/36 and E31's Green Party years....Biodegradeable and disposable.

[nando]

You're going from a Camry (horrid car, but one of the most reliable ever made) to an Audi (one of the least reliable cars ever made).

Keep the Camry..

[EYM3]

I had a B7 A4 2.0T Avant. I bought it when it had 135k miles and sold it with 180k. During that period, I can definitely say it's been the most unreliable car I've ever owned, which includes other VW's, BMW's, and Japanese cars.

In the time I owned it, I had to replace 3 fuel pumps, all the coil packs, diverter valve, purge relay valve, 2 cam followers, window switch, broken glove box, vacuum pump, fuel rail leak,... the list went on and on. This doesn't include what the previous owner replaced which included new turbo, cats, and fuel pump which weren't cheap. The check engine light would come on every couple months that I kept my code reader handy always to find out the next problem was.

I did all the regular maintenance such as regular fluid changes myself which wasn't too bad. You do need special tools for draining and removing the oil filter housing. Yes, the front end needs to be pulled forward to do the timing belt. Also, you need a lift and Vagcom tool to do stuff like trans fluid changes.

The car did have the S-Line package which drove and looked great. Also the Bose stereo was probably one of the best factory radios I heard, even better than the HK one in my e46. However with all the issues I had during ownership, I'm reluctant to ever jump into another Audi that isn't under a factory warranty.

[LateFan]

The last good-looking Soob was 2009, then they wrecked the design and they got huge. They were relatively clean looking and swiped some german influence in some ways. You can find monochrome (all one color) sport versions. Others here could talk about reliability. I've heard about head gasket problems but I think that was a while ago.

[LateFan]

Or get an A3 wagon. Not quite as much room, but great for two + stuff. I like the early ones way better. And they're a essentially Golf underneath, so more reliable. You could get one with an all-glass roof.

[XwalkerX]

if you start looking at a3's you are better off getting an r32 version of the golf

[kway]

VWs suck just as bad as Audis. The materials used are equally shitty, and from a packaging standpoint the design language is largely the same. Unless we're talking 911 Carrera 4 I'd say fuck all to any AWD VAG product.

[Stanley Rockafella]

vws suck just as bad as audis.

qft

[papag1234]

I've owned 4 b5s4's. stock, stage 2, stage3-, and stg3+. 2 of them auto (stg2/stg3-) and the other two were 6 speeds. I lovvvveeddd those cars. Only sold my stg3+ because I wanted to ls swap my e30. Working on them was a pain, and every few weeks I was toying with it. I NEVER got stuck in the snow and I was lowered with low profile summer tires thru all the seasons. The motor is really packed in tight so even spark plugs were annoying. TB/WP jobs are a big PITA. 1-2 gear collars would lock up on a lot of them so you have to make sure you find one with the updated collar or one that's been babied. Boost leaks are common, especially on high hp cars. I never had any real issue with any of the cars besides weeping valve covers (all 4 cars) and small boost leaks. I would def buy one again if I came across a clean stg3. The power just put a smile on my face every time.

"it's a B5 S4 ,it may break down, but its far enough ahead, by the time its fixed, you still haven't caught up."

[nando]

I'd rather have an E90 335xi. Same power or better and way fewer issues.

[papag1234]

That's not a bad choice either. E90 335xi is not without its problems though. High pressure fuel pump?

A full bolt on 335xi 6mt will cost you roughly double what it would cost you to get into a similarly powered b5s4. A friend of mine had a 09 335i (auto) jb4 stage 3 with a downpipe and race gas (supposedly 400+rwhp according to the jb4 site) and I took 10 car lengths on him with ease and I know I had roughly 410awhp. So either the numbers you see online are bs or the bmw just doesn't put the power down like the Audi.

Have you driven the s4 and 335? They are two completely different animals.

(I also own an e90 as of Saturday so I'm not biased. I do like the car)

[nando]

The hpfp have mostly all been replaced by now. Many of them are covered by warranty anyway.

The #s are probably inflated, or its 400bhp, not whp. I'm not a huge fan of piggybacks - the E90 guys are an odd bunch though.

[Revzillia]

My 1998 1.8 A4 just turned over 263,000 miles on it . The best 5k I've ever spent . The car is fun to drive and a tank thru the winter . I do maintain it pretty well . What ever it needs get repaired .

[XwalkerX]

cmon the e90 335 cars with the n54 have a bunch of issues besides the hpfp (which seem to fail more than once)...I read about needing to get the intakes walnut blasted, rattling wastegates, turbo failure, coilpacks, injectors, and oil filter housing leaks.