A4 1.8 vs 2.8

Considering an A4 quatro - wondering about recommendations for the 1.8 motor versus the 2.8. I put on a lot of miles (25k+/yr) and want something that will be fairly bulletproof into the high miles. Now driving a VW Jetta w/140k on it. I had a terrible experience with a Passat (with the 1.8 motor) which blew up twice in 40k miles (broken cam shafts, valves, etc........). The 4-link also seems to be a weak spot. Any thoughts?

hi 4caster, welcome to the forum. Are you more concerned about builitproof reliability or performance? The audi 1.8t is pretty reliable, but has the greatest tuning potential. With a few mods (chip +turbo), you can have the horsepower higher than the 2.8. If you just want decent performance out of the box and fewer worries than the 2.8 is the way to go.

Thanks - yes, I'm more concerned about reliability - any particular years/variants I should look out for as problems; also wondering about any weak spots to check when going over a potential 2.8 purchase?

If the car is anywhere near 60-70k miles, make sure the timing belt, water pump, idle pully, and tensioner have been changed. It is an expensive operation.