Hey guys whats up.... I have had thoughts about buyin an Audi. I live in jersey and i need a practical car but i dont want to get rid of the car i have now, which is a Mazdaspeed MX-5 that has work done to it and quite a bit of it. this is my first car that is truely mine and i bought it almost 2 years ago when i was 19. Unfortunetly i wasnt thinking about pracitcality at the time and i recently lost both my parents from cancer and my world has come to reality. Now i do have my mothers car which is a 97' Mitsubishi Diamante (3.5L V6) and i only get maybe 180 to 200 miles to a tank of gas... the thing is a hog. the car just doesnt have the milage i want and my MX-5 doesnt have the drivability i want, because it has about 210 at the wheels and 4.10 gear ratio.

So my questions are

1. how reliable is audi? ( i have heard about rumors that after 50-60k miles they start getting heavy on maintainence)

2. does the 1.8T get decent gas milage

3. and are there any particular models that i should steer away from? ( ones that have issues)

any additional info would be great

Thanks
Jay

 

1. Audi's are reliable but they're going to require more attention than other cars would (esp. the 1.8t's) Also when things go wrong, its going to be more money than a typical car. As long as you treat it right (preventative maintenance, syn oil every 3k etc.) it will treat you right as well.

2. My 1.8t gets ok gas mileage. Maybe around 250mi a tank..depends on how its driven.

3. I can speak of the B5 models, (1996-2001 A4) I've had both a 1998 and a 2001. Obviously the 98 had more issues. My 2001 doesn't have too many problems because it was the last year of the B5 model and a lot of the kinks and problems were worked out. Only problems I had with my 01 was that I had to replace my MAF, and had oil sludge issues due to the previous owner not changing the oil enough. Now that its all worked out, everything is fine.

A major thing you want to remember is that the timing belt change is a must on these cars and that should be done around 80-90k miles. That could set you back anywhere from $700-1000 if you have someone do it for you, obviously less if you can do it yourself.

Welcome to the forums!

 

I get anywhere from 325-400 miles to a tank depending on how drive my car. They are definitely reliable if you take care of them. I have seen 1.8t's go in excess of 200,000 miles.

 

Thanks for the insight on these cars, yea timing belts are a b*tch... i suppose if i could find a decent one for a price i like im going to hop on it, i always like the styl/luxury feel of the audi, and flip that is very attrative milage a tank.

Ill be trolling around the boards a while, if and when i get one ill let ya guys know

Thanks again

Jay