hi, well im completley new to audi's and european cars in general. i used to have a turbo charged civic Si until someone decided that they deserved it more than me and stole it. well ive been in the market for another car for the last 2 months or so and living in colorado i was looking for something AWD. My first initial thought was to go with a subaru and i almost bought 3 of them but for each one the seller backed out on me. i didnt even think about an audi until about 15 minutes ago but since it was on my mind i thought i would ask some questions. i would probably be looking at a 1.8t quattro. what are the major differences between the 96-99 from the 01- and up models? the cars i am looking at have fairly high mileage like 90k+ miles. what are some things that i should be looking out for at that mileage? i have heard from random places that audi's are not very reliable, something about electronics being extremely finicky leading to hefty repair bills. true or false? any people coming from hondas to audis? how was the transistion for you in the aspect of being able to work on your car? well i think i have some more questions but i cant think them right now so ill post as they come to mind. thanks for youre time!

 

never heard of electrical problems with an audi, 96-99 are pretty much all the same, give or take a few interior changes and tailight changes + the 96 has that cool *** euro trunk, in 99.5 audi put one piece headlights cleaner looking tailights, and changed a few other things in 2000 they made the car dbw drive by wire electronically controlling the throttle i can almost always rely on my car to get me to school work or whatever else i need, the repair costs are about the same as every other foreign car minus honda and toyata due to their production in the us if your looking for a car with 90+ thousand, make sure the timing belt has been changed they should be done ever 70-80 thousand, other common problems controll arms, ignition control modual, coil packs, make sure the oil was changed every 3-5 thousand with ful synthetic or you will probably have a sludge problem all of that goes for the b5 model, 96-2001.5 in 02 the newer body style (b6) came out, they have many of the same problems b6 ran from 02-last year 2005 model, just some food for thought, if you are looking for reliability and wont be modding your can aside from looks you might want to look into a 2.8 v6, but the 1.8 is a great little motor, make sure the car is "quattro" and 5 speeds are always more fun, again if you just want reliability 2.8 and probably the auto tiptronic transmission. good luck in your search and hope you join the audi family

damn if i dont sound like a cooperate spokesperson

 

yea what he said...... or just look for a 99.5 they are the best

 

ya go with a 99.5 they got all the upgrades the newest b5's do but are still nDBW so they take better to modding. after 02's are b6's. personally i dont like them and think driving the b5's are the funnest. just make sure the car u get, since ur lookin at 90k mileage range, that it has the timing belt already done. they gota be changed every 80k or so and can cost anywhere from 700-1200 depending on where u get it done. unless you DIY for around 300-400.

 

yea thanks for the input, yea ive just found some of these for so cheap.... its kinda weird. 2003 1.8t quattro with 102,000miles for $7900... and a 2001 with 92,000 miles for 4995 both from dealerships... and then some various others on craigslist that go for well under $8000 (basically how much i want to spend) i probably wont do too much modding until i get more comfortable with the audi in general. all i know is the honda b-series haha. but just curious what are some basic mods to get some decent power gains? you guys keep saying to get the 99.5 is that different than just the 99? i found http://denver.craigslist.org/car/231041718.html does that seem like a decent deal? oh and would you consider this car expensive to insure?

 

oh yea this is just a car that i plan on using to get me through college and just have a little fun with

 

ya the 99.5 is dif. from the 99. its got one piece headlights, clear sidemarker, new taillights, and a bunch of stuff under the hood that were common problems were upgraded. heres a link showing the dif. between the years: http://ctny.audiworld.com/mark/a4/diff/

best mod for the 1.8T is a chip. if u end up getting a b5 (96-01) go with GIAC and if you go with a b6 (02-05) go with REVO or APR (whichever is closer to you). with a b5 you'll get aroun 40-50 hp and 70-80 tq. chips runs 500 bux unless you get one from the classifieds section either here or audizine which is a good idea since it doens't really matter how many miles are on a chip and you can get it for quite a bit cheaper. at the same time you'll have to upgrade the diverter valve cause the stock one cant handle the added boost. you need at least a 710n but preferably a forge 007. after that people usually do intake, test pipe(if u dont have emissions), and exhaust. after that its up to u where u wana go with the car. u can go all out and go BT, or just go k04 if u want more reliability w/ decent power. check out the stickies at the top of the page and do a search for "what should i do first". it'll turn up a crap load of threads. the question gets asked A LOT.

 

def look into that one. windshield shouldn't be too much. u can get one cheap from shokan or from a local junkyard. air bag light is a common problem and i think is a pretty easy fix. dont know bout the door locks tho. i would haggle him down to 7 grand. buyers always list their price high. just go low on your first bid and start negotiating. its good he just got that stuff replaced but remind him audi's aren't cheap to work on and gettin the stuff fixed in the car wont be cheap. if he doesn't accept 7 say 7500 is your final offer and leave him with that to think about. after a little while he should give you a call back with some good news

as for insurance mine actually dropped fomr my last car. granted it was a 5.0 mustang but i pay 2200 a year for the best insurance you can get with the lowest deductible and im a 19 yo guy with quite a few speeding tickets and i live in a not so great area. quattro and an alarm really lower the rates. some guys on here only pay like 700 a year for theirs. insurance depends on a lot of things. just go on progressive's website and get a free quote.

hope all this helps

later

 

1996 - 2000 1.8t has 150hp
2001 1.8t has 170hp


You can chip the 150 engine for $500, and get around 200 hp.

 

Damn this is the most (best) info I have seen packed into one thread!!!!



I wish I was a noob