so, to make the story short my brother is currently trying to sell his 1997 mercedes e430 and is thinking about getting some quattro power next he is very disappointed with the merc because of all the problems he had went through with it. driver side mirror was falling off so he glued it back on and the fluid in the mirror was affected by the glue. the mirror is hella dark now lol. he also has problems with the catalytic converters as they are raddling but have passed smog. another problem is the automatic tranny which is shifting weird (sometimes). plus a 20 year old guy isnt meant to drive an old mans car! on the other hand he got rear ended twice and made over 7k from the insurance money that they paid him. he only spent around 2k on fixing the dammage from 1 accident cuz he got rear ended again before he even got to repair the previous damage. he is planning on spending around 6k on his next car and i was wondering what you guys think he should get? he wants AWD and reliability, i was suggesting on either getting an a4 2.8 or an a6 2.8 or 4.2. modding the engine is not his thing thats why i wasnt suggesting any turbo engines.

 

It honestly depends on what his intensions are. You said AWD is a must, so that means quattro. The 2.8 may be more reliable than a 1.8, but thats not to say that a 1.8 can't be reliable. It all depends on the previous owner. If they did scheduled maint. and didn't beat the **** out of it, it'll still be a good car. I like the A6's because of the room...I feel a little crammed sometimes with people in my A4. If modding the engine isn't a big deal, then it really shouldn't matter what kind of engine. Just make sure services have been done and the car itself has the features you want. If you want room and more luxury, go for the A6. The A4 with a 2.8q is probably going to be your safest bet, but don't forget the 1.8 is still good too!

 

Yeah my first thought when I read that he currently drives an E class is space. Even though the E is MB's "mid-size" sedan, I feel like its quite a bit larger than a B5, both inside and out. I always preferred the styling of the B5 A4 to the C5 A6, but you don't want to be cramped either. If it were me, I'd go for a C5 A6 with the 4.2, but either way its a win cause he's buying an Audi lol

 

4rings=good times

 

what about the a6 2.7t. same engine as the s4 if i am correct, there are a couple of those on craigslist right now but i read somewhere that you really need to know your stuff to work on that engine.

 

the 2.7T is a maintenance nightmare. Only reason i didn't buy an S4 lol. Reason I suggested the 4.2 instead is no TB jobs, no turbos, intercoolers, yada yada yada.

 

That's right CCA4, but I think the 4.2 has a belt until '07 when they switched to the chain.

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