Hey, i'm looking at picking up a late 90's A4 for a daily commuter, and leaving my 10mpg truck in the garage until I need to do something that requires it.

In my search, dominantly with craigslist, I'm seeing countless A4's with leaky trans and no reverse. I'm guessing that the reverse going out is the result of the trans fluid leaking out and cooking the reverse clutch on the auto's.

Can anyone tell me if this problem is more with auto than manual, manual than auto, or both? Does anyone happen to know the source of the problem? I'm fairly mechanically apt, have rebuilt countless subaru's, but haven't worked on an audi before.

Thanks.

 

Get a manual. They are more fun and less common to see broken because of there simpler more reliable design.