Another example of ridiculous repair costs:

Someone nailed my side view mirror and took off, which means I have to fork over my $500 deductible.

The side view mirror costs $1,050 unpainted and uninstalled. That's just stupid.

 

First of all, you didn't replace all 4 cv joints, 2nd, it is an almost $50,000 car with 250 hp going through those cv joints. I agree, they should not break but if the cv boot was caught earlier then most likely that's all you would have needed replaced. The TC issue sounds like a common problem but IMO the technology wasn't there in 2001 to have a auto that handles that power and Audi did not make the tranny, maybe they should pay for replacement that's why real euro car drivers buy a manual. My point was that these cars get bashed by people who shouldn't own them or really don't understand high perf. cars, Audi parts have ALWAYS been exspensive well before the ar.
Peace!!

 

all I have to say is that you should have searched craigslist recently...... $300-

 

$660 online

 

Ok, so you found a single CL ad for a used mirror of the wrong color for $330 and your reply is that I obviously hadn't searched CL. The absurdity of that post should be obvious, so I'll leave it.

Next up, we supposedly have a $660 mirror online that is also unpainted, uninstalled. With a $500 deductible, why on earth would I buy that? I can get it installed with the correct color for less.

But... I think you're all missing the point! The factory part is obscenely priced, as if everything with these cars. This is the fundamental problem. Everything on the car is hard to service (try taking your axle out) and WAY OVER PRICED. Wheels are hard to find because of the offsets. I've wasted hours of my life arguing with dealers to get synthetic oil changes... and paid dearly for them (when they actually used synthetic, that is ... "...you didn't ask for synthetic..."). I have nightmares that ECU or, god forbid, the dashboard dies. I can only imagine how much that would be! Consumer Reports has accumulated so many complaints against Audi in general that they literally recommend against purchasing them.

But the feeling in this thread seems to be that I'm from Mars, didn't maintain my vehicle, must have abused it, can easily find cheap parts on a moment's notice from CL and shouldn't be concerned that "normal wear and tear" would cost over $5,000 in a single year ($900 for CV, $1,300 for timing belt, $1,200 for leaking valve cover gaskets, $2,000 for leaking air springs). I get through half that and the brake like comes on. ugh. So now what? take it to the dealer and hand over $1,000 for brake pads and rotors? That's what I'd have to do if I couldn't do it myself, but because of this mess I'm forced to do whatever I can to save money.

I have to go now ... to research rotors and pads and find out what the next tool is that I don't have, trying to avoid yet another aborted repair session 8 minutes into the process.

 

Go buy a Hyundai.10 year warranty.I average 1k a week.Even though I haven't had any major issues I look at it as the price if business.It's very comfortable and has one of the highest crash ratings.Hard to put a price on safety especially with kids.

 

[QUOTE=tbeaulieu;1028461]Ok, so you found a single CL ad for a used mirror of the wrong color for $330 and your reply is that I obviously hadn't searched CL. The absurdity of that post should be obvious, so I'll leave it.

Next up, we supposedly have a $660 mirror online that is also unpainted, uninstalled. With a $500 deductible, why on earth would I buy that? I can get it installed with the correct color for less.

But... I think you're all missing the point! The factory part is obscenely priced, as if everything with these cars. This is the fundamental problem. Everything on the car is hard to service (try taking your axle out) and WAY OVER PRICED. Wheels are hard to find because of the offsets. I've wasted hours of my life arguing with dealers to get synthetic oil changes... and paid dearly for them (when they actually used synthetic, that is ... "...you didn't ask for synthetic..."). I have nightmares that ECU or, god forbid, the dashboard dies. I can only imagine how much that would be! Consumer Reports has accumulated so many complaints against Audi in general that they literally recommend against purchasing them.

But the feeling in this thread seems to be that I'm from Mars, didn't maintain my vehicle, must have abused it, can easily find cheap parts on a moment's notice from CL and shouldn't be concerned that "normal wear and tear" would cost over $5,000 in a single year ($900 for CV, $1,300 for timing belt, $1,200 for leaking valve cover gaskets, $2,000 for leaking air springs). I get through half that and the brake like comes on. ugh. So now what? take it to the dealer and hand over $1,000 for brake pads and rotors? That's what I'd have to do if I couldn't do it myself, but because of this mess I'm forced to do whatever I can to save money.

Ah...first of all, you don't have to go to an Audi dealer, brake job isn't $1000 and I would love to see your invoice for the $1200 valve cover gasket replacement. Also, consumer reports is one of the most conservative publications out there, they almost put more value in # of cup holders over handling of a car and any car with a sports package gets back remarks, doesn't that magazine come free when you sign up for AARP?

Good luck & I hope your car settles down!

Peace!

 

Hey, my two cents time. I had a burned through spot on the seat back (drivers seat) and the heated seat didn't work (seat back only). I called AOA and after wrangling a bit they agreed to pay for the repair. Local Audi dealer did a great job replacing the seatback cover and heater grid. I asked about the cost and was told $1100. I asked about the amount of labor to do this job being so high, why didn't they just bolt in a new seat? The response is that a new seat would cost the dealer $2500!!!! I'm very thankful that AOA took care of this for me. I'm pretty tempted to part the whole thing out for $100,000 and buy a new RS6.

 

Some cars just are not deemed that desirable and therefore don't hold their value. 4.2 A6's are the same way. Real cool car put not worth too much. On the other hand look at what B5 S4 are still worth, some more the v8 s4's. Its hard to predict what cars will hold value. In the allroads case it was pretty evident by the releatively few that Audi sold in the US new. If you enjoy the car that what matters. And yes they may be expensive to repair, but they drive nice in all weather and are extremely safe. Can't make a $50 car with $3 parts.
Just my two cents