Hello all

My first post of what I hope to be a long relationship to this forum :-)

I have been looking at 1998-1999 A4 quattro avants for a while trying to do my DD (due diligence) before I buy one. I REALLY love the look and feel of audis but am a bit tentative because of all the bad feedback they get for reliability (for example carsurvey.org), especially concerning timing belt issues. I am not sure how much of this is the result of only the people with negative experiences who post their problems or what? Reliability is certainly something I am concerned with, especially since I have two small children. I am not so interested in upgrading an 1.8 engine (as I see many do here) and, yes, I have read the stickys on 1.8 vs 2.8 motors. But I do still have lingering questions:

Is the 2.8 motor that much more reliable than the 1.8? Do the same timing belt issues occur with them?

Are there huge differences between the 98-99 A6 and A4 quattro avants? especially concerning reliability? Should I consider an A6?

The Audis I am considering mostly are at dealerships where the service record is not know as they were purchased at auction. What can a dealer tell me with a prepurchase inspection?

Finally, and most difficult to answer: what's up with all the bashing that you see about audi reliability (or at least what I see to be bashing as it is pretty negative)?

thanks in advance for any insights you can share...
jim

 

The audi reliability bashing come from people who bring their cars to the dealer to get serviced and then get hosed on labor rates, usually the same people to neglect their cars and not do routine maintenance. If you routinely maintain your car, it will be reliable, and shouldn't have any major issues. If you buy one with over 65K on it, negotiate timing belt replacement into the cost of the car, unless they can provide proof of it being replaced.

 

excellent idea!! thanks that was worth the price of admission alone
jim

 

and do remember, timing belt replacement can run anywhere from $800 to $1200 if you have it done at a shop.

 

I call the bashers ( white gloves ) because they don't look after the car ( you only get out what you put in ) some don't even know where the battery is and how to remove it lol

 

..... Thats a burn towards someone.....

 

yeah i cannot complain, they are not as tuff as people say they are to work on, i mean prolly were the worst belst i replaced, but everything that is supposedly tuff on them isn't, i would say buy one just beware of the timing belt situation and like pro said work it in on the sale price, i did notice if you beat them to death, bad thigns can happen but i was low on power steering so it was also a maintence thing i didn't keep up with, so truth is maintain it and you will like it better than any other car

 

aww you don't say lol nothing personal though just a pointer as to what people should know

 

Agreeing with the majority of people responding, if you take care of it, it will bring you joy...however the timing belts do suck, and usually need some maintenace around 90k or above. but thats small beans in the grand sceme of how cool these cars are, and btw, you should expect some upkeep on any car with that many miles.

 

as a mechanic I would throw some light on the timing belt issue, the belt is made by Gates ( not bill Gates lol ) a very reputable company and make the belts for 99% of cars and are the best quality you will ever see ( gates owes me a new belt for that ), when people change the belt the tensioner should be checked out for bearing ware which is the biggest cause for snapped belts even though they have been upgraded, you can check the condition of the belt and lots of information on how to on the net but the one thing that missed out ( and I have yet to see this information ) is the rubber/dust build up near the bottom pull, this is an area of thought on maintenance though not that simple on the A4 because of space ( worth a thought )