Hey,

I am new to this forum. I hope this post is in the right place?.....


mkay.

I am young, fresh out of college, new job, all that stuff.


I will be buying a car in the next few months and I would really like to get a 1998-2001 Audi A4 (pref 1.8). The A4 is def. in my price range, Why are they so cheap used, compared to Mercedes and BMW?


I have a friend who has owned 2 A4's and loved them, his words "the most reliable car ever". On the other hand my older brother tells me, "They are the worst car you can buy at your age, they need lots of maintenance and cost tons to fix, and aren't reliable".

I live in the DC metro, and there are TONS of A4's here. So obviously there is a market to have them repaired here.

The other cars I have considered getting are like...ahh ..the Mazda Protege6 heatchback or just a regular Honda Accord (yuck...have one now).

OK so my question is....as a young guy, with not a TON of money, but enough to get buy.....is the Audi A4 a good buy?...considering maintenace?...

thanks everyone.

John

 

yes i think so. if you take good care of the audi it will take good care of you. its when people put off the regular maintance that things break and become expensive. im in college and i owen my a4 all threw hs and my first year of college. only had a few problmes with it but im sure you wont encounter what i had

 

yeah, ....

is maintenance problems a LOT more then on a regular lets say..honda?


can someone maybe tell me some of their maintenance problems and costs of fixing?...like a brake job?



I will not be fixing up the car, or doing anything wild with it...just driving it to work...and on a few road trips...So there will be no stress on the vehicle.

 

Basically, NOTHING will have better maintenance or repair costs than a Honda.
They're one of the cheapest to repair and widely driven vehicles in the world.

Having said that, if you Audi is looked after properly, it should be there for you when you need it.
Around 80k miles (so the rumor says) you will start needing to replace some of the key components, but this theory is hit or miss depending on the car and the driver.

The A4 is a great car. I'd feel comfortable recommending it to anyone that was shopping for a vehicle.

 

An A4 under 100k should not have any major maintenance issues. It's after the 100k mark things MIGHT become faulty, like any other car. The most common things are the control arms, after 100k they tend to wear badly and begin to squeak or crunch...a good set will cost $450+. The ABS controller is also notorious, at the dealership its a $1500 fix but you can have it rebuilt somewhere else for $250. Most importantly is the timing belt and its associated parts...they should be replaced atleast every 70k. Stealerships charge $1600 but you can do it yourself or find an independent mechanic for WAY less. Other than that these cars are pretty reliable. Like Jeff said, as long as you keep up the scheduled maintenance you shouldn't have any problems. Most of the guys here avoid the stealerships and do most of the work themselves, so if you have "how to" questions they'll answer. If your mechanically inclined you can save alot of money. Trust me won't be disappointed with an A4.

 

I got my 99.5 A4 at 45k miles. The money I have spent on repairs is about $550. The car is now 97k miles. This is not counting routine maintance like oil changes, filters, bulbs and such. Now this is accually rather cheap compaired to most people but it shows it is not always expensive to keep one of these cars running.

The timing belt as mentioned before is very important.

So a good thing to ask when buying the car is if the timing belt has been changed.

 

If you don't work on the car yourself forget it. I'm in college right now and depending on your degree your job volatility might be high. I do all my own work, and I've saved hundreds already (bought the car in june). If you don;'t like to work on cars, I suggest get a Honda, toyota or Nissan. If they're well maintained they'll run forever.

An Audi is a different beast than a Honda or Toyota. Audis are far more intricate. When they've been treated well they'll run long, but many neglect their cars no matter what the brand. Wait a few years and once you've got some dough saved up buy the Audi of your dreams. Search for a while too. There are perfectly maintained gems out there if you look.

 

I drive highway miles and am at 160K in my 1.8T quattro APR chipped.

The follwing things have broken in my car in the last 80K miles

Vacuum hoses
front tie rod (145K)
MAF (120K)
Transmission control unit (tiptronic), replaced with tip chip (130K)
Front wheel bearing (130K)
Widnshield washer fluid pumpz, both to the windshield and to the headlights

The following were problems when I bought the car with 75K:

Electric fan broken
Front control arms
oil leak (still there)
Rear differential seal (left it alone)
Faded pixels on the display (left it)
Coolant leak

The following has been maintenance:

Transmission fluid, front center and rear idfferential fluid changes
power steering fluid changes
front and read pads and rotors
timing belt, front cam seals, water pump (due for second change asap
Battery
Pre cat oxygen sensor
Rusted flex pipe on the exhaust
Air/cabin/fuel filters
Tires
Oil and filter changes

 

You should! Just get an A4! lol......do it man jus take care of it like everyone has said and you'll be good......you will love the way it handles,rides and performs! Def. a good commuter car....

 

yeah, not very good adbvice...