Hello,

I have never owned and Audi. I am typically a Saab and Volvo guy but am considering a 98'-00' A6 Avant Quattro. I have heard that Audi's run fine but will nickel and dime you to death with little stuff like failures in the seat motors, windows, stereo etc.

Can someone tell me what are the common trouble spots are on this model? Can they be repaired by a shade tree mechanic? What should I look for when inspecting a possible one to be purchased? What questions should I ask the owner/dealer?

Thanks,
Zack

 

Valve cover gaskets and cam seals. Run it hard and if you smell burning oil under the hood, they need to be fixed. You can do that yourself, pretty simple. Front suspension: the control arms, tie rod ends etc. They will make noise and will probably go before 100000mi. Kit is about $500, if you buy the parts through Audi, more like $900. Flasher relay can go, like $35 and def. a DIY. If your used to SAAB, especially the classic 900s and such, an Audi is no worse. Ive never had seat motor issues, rear windo came off track, but didnt fail. O AND VERY IMPORTANT, MAKE SURE THE TIMING BELT HAS BEEN DONE, IF YOU DONT KEEP ON THAT, YOU WILL BE SCREWED! Supposed to be done by around 80000 I think. Probably should be done every 70000 just to be safe.

 

and the 98 avant is the old body style

 

o, wow, and I didnt even think about that... now I feel dumb but o well, that still covers 99-00.

 

well technically they made avants in the same body style from 99 to 04, but the 05 allroads are still the older body style thats how all wagons are with most companies, but id rather have a 99-01 because quality was better in those years of any audi. my friend has a 03 a4 and hes having problem after problem and hes only got 45k on the clock and hes only had it like 3 months and hes already put about over a grand into it.. its sad, and i remember driving a 02 a6 2.7t and it was very cheap and had many repairs already and it was 50k miles vs my 99 a6 2.8 with 178k and runs like a dream. quality control needs to get back up to what it was in the good ol' days.