What do you guys think of late 90's into 2000 and 2001 A4's and A6's. I'm shopping around for a new car and I've heard mixed reviews on these cars. I'm also looking at Volvo S70's from the same years.
Reliability, cost to repair, difficulty of DIY? Any help is appreciated.

5/10/2006 3:19:42 PM

Reliability - Thumbs down
Repair costs - Thumbs down
Difficulty of DIY - Thumbs down


you don't want an Audi

5/10/2006 3:21:24 PM

Quote :

"Difficulty of DIY - Thumbs down"

Are you qualified to make that comment?

[Edited on May 10, 2006 at 3:32 PM. Reason : .]

5/10/2006 3:31:59 PM

if you go for an a4, get the 1.8t.. much better than the 2.8 v6...

[Edited on May 10, 2006 at 3:35 PM. Reason : difficulty of diy depends on skill level... obviously gargs give it a thumbs down b/c he's a moron]

5/10/2006 3:34:47 PM

But I guess I agree, if your primary concerns are reliability, cost to repair, and diy difficulty, there are probably better cars out there that better suit you.

5/10/2006 3:42:25 PM

Fords win hands down if DIY is considered.

and you can call me names all you want...I have driven like 50 different cars since the age of 7.

I just don't like to work on cars cuz I prefer getting warranties and shit done.

5/10/2006 3:44:33 PM

Why is this moron allowed to post in here?

5/10/2006 3:47:14 PM

Like all cars, the reliability depends on how well you take care of it.
DIY will depend on what you are trying to do. Some things are easy, some aren't.

never listen to anything that esgargs ever says.

5/10/2006 3:56:34 PM

Didn't the Audi bomb at the Consumer Reports reliability ratings?

If what MaximaDrvr says is true, then all the people who call Fords unreliable are idiots.

5/10/2006 3:58:39 PM

Quote :

"If what MaximaDrvr says is true, then all the people who call Fords unreliable are idiots."

he didn't say what you said was false - he said don't listen to it - as in pretend it never happened - you can't have a negative to something that never existed

5/10/2006 4:01:49 PM

^awsome.

5/10/2006 4:11:07 PM

hmmmmm

5/10/2006 4:15:39 PM

cost to repair will be higher than most american and jap brands. I doubt many will argue with that. fucking volkswagon catalytic converters for instance are $Texas. friend of mine had the cat go out on her VR6 jetta and the dealer wanted $1300. Henry's charged her $550 for an aftermarket. I don't know how much that relates to an Audi A4 but go in with your eyes open.

They'll definately outperform an Acura or Lexus though

5/10/2006 5:15:49 PM

Quote :

"Fords win hands down if DIY is considered."

thats just because with fords you get a lot more practice at fixing things

5/10/2006 5:21:48 PM

Quote :

"They'll definately outperform an Acura or Lexus though"

That's a very broad claim that you'll never be able to support, might want to reconsider.

5/10/2006 7:36:27 PM

i have an 05 a4 cabriolet 1.8t, got the 100k warranty, i love it, dont know much about the earlier models though

5/10/2006 7:56:35 PM

My dad's 03 A4 has had no problems so far
Besides the lady that hit him and cause 16k in damage, two months after he got it.

5/10/2006 8:01:20 PM

Quote :

"Reliability - Thumbs down Repair costs - Thumbs down Difficulty of DIY - Thumbs down "

ive gotta pretty much agree with that. reliability is a crapshoot, most european car owners, audi owners typically overlook that fact becuse the overall fit/finish and performance of the vehicle make up for it. parts arent typically much more expensive than say, a VW. higher than a toyota and lower than a benz. DIY? forget about anything complicated other than an oil change without some $ spent on a program designed to interface with your car such as a VAG-COM.

5/10/2006 8:03:16 PM

Quote :

"you don't want an Audi"

5/10/2006 9:00:46 PM

how many people have own/ed an audi?

how many of you own/ed the audi's he is considering?

None of you faggots, so don't give advice if you don't know what you are talking about.

5/10/2006 9:42:23 PM

and again by the time this thread is done someone else will have learned not to ask an opinion question in the garage...

5/10/2006 9:50:01 PM

^^how long did you own that audi?

[Edited on May 10, 2006 at 9:57 PM. Reason : 31]

5/10/2006 9:57:01 PM

audis are very nice cars for the price

it just takes alot of work and money to maintain them

if you have the money and the time to have it worked on then yeah

i own a audi and its been a bitch to work on

german engineers pride themselves on making things overly complicated

5/10/2006 10:02:18 PM

I cant believe I am agreeing with Scottyc but Audi's 1.8t motor has held up very well to abuse and high mileage for many years now. The quattro system is equally bullet proof. The B5 chassis is a very well put together car and while they are not the cheapest car to maintain they most definitely will last a very long time with normal maintenance.Oh and just for the record Fords are unreliable pieces of shit. After 5 years of working at a dealership and Ford factory training I can give you examples of how bad almost every car they have on the market is total crap.Once they got rid of the 7.3 powerstroke their vehicles for the most part are not going to last any length of time.

5/10/2006 10:17:48 PM

yes the chassis, engines and such are great.

trouble is, secondary air pipes and such arent cheap and break on their own (quick example)

5/10/2006 10:21:04 PM

true but I would rather have to fix small SAI tubing(pricey from the dealer, but can be found cheap with a little research) than replace an engine with almost a 1/2 inch end play on the crank on a maintained 140K mile 8 year old vehicle like the Ford escort I had in the shop a few weeks ago. 4246.59 for a long block is a little worse than the SAI pipe wouldn't you say. And that figure doesn't include the stealerships assrape labor charge. I need to find a new shop.

5/10/2006 10:28:15 PM

wtf are you talking about? i never mentioned anything about a ford at all.

for the record, I would own an audi before a ford.

5/10/2006 10:33:21 PM

My point was SAI pipes are an easy fix and SAI problems won't leave you stranded. My example was just to point out that the major components of an Audi are what I feel are important factors in a car purchase. Trust me I wasn't suggesting you buy a Ford.

5/10/2006 10:41:43 PM

it is pointless to discuss this. first off, people have very different experiences and backgrounds that it becomes relative what is hard and what is easy. you could say that vw/audi 1.8T engines are relatively easy to work on due to abundant information on the web either through vortex or audiworld sites, but if person is not aware of the community repair is bound to be hard. obviously if you dont read shit and you are not interested in shit, you wont know shit on maintainance/repair. thats old news.

5/10/2006 10:46:28 PM

Bojan you make a damn good point I will shut up now

5/10/2006 10:48:30 PM

i had my audi for 20k, from 100-120k. Only problem i had was a CV boot (7 bucks).
It was a 99.5 A4 1.8t quattro 5 speed.

5/11/2006 12:02:53 AM

Quote :

"That's a very broad claim that you'll never be able to support, might want to reconsider."

yeah it was, but I'd take an A4 over a GS or a TL, although those two might be a little bit bigger cars... Acuras are all FWD except the new RL and the only thing remotely sporty that Lexus has is an IS300

5/11/2006 12:40:19 AM

Quote :

"Bojan you make a damn good point I will shut up now "

haha whats up man. wasnt aware that was you. username makes sense now too

5/11/2006 10:13:46 AM