Wow, when i search up Audi's and there reliability all i hear about is how bad they are and how people have to bring them in every thousand kms to get them worked on. I was looking forward to possible picking up a 1999 Audi A4 2.8L Quattro and now since i hear about all this stuff stating there unreliable and so on... i don't know anymore if i want it. I loved driving it and it looks real nice, but are they seriously that bad of cars? Like common, German engineering isn't that bad...is it?

 

A good friend of mine has a 1999 A6 2.8L - the same engine and perhaps the same tranny as the one you are looking to buy. The car now has 298,000 miles. The only major problem he had was a bad heater core (major pain but he did it himself at about 250k miles). He was meticulous about maintenance.

I just sold a 1995 S6. It was running great at 143k miles. Sure, some parts failed and there were two things I had to bring the car to a shop to have repaired for a total of $1,500 over 4 years. The other problems were minor. Most parts I replaced proactively by talking to the people on these forums and finding out where the problems were.

My comment to someone purchasing a 10 year old or older Audi is that you have to be prepared to fix stuff, the car is old, things wear out. If you do it yourself the repair costs are reasonable. If you go to the dealer you will be screwed. If you have a good local mechanic that is great but the repairs will still cost you. Be prepared to replace rubber suspension bits, perhaps a fuel pump, shocks, brakes etc. because they wear out.

 

I don't think they're that unreliable... It depends also where you're doing your reading. Most people who post "scary" stories with issues that would scream "unreliability" (including in this forum) are either people who buy the cars second/third hand being atracted by the "prestige" of this brand name, yet they know squat about what they purchased, or people who purchase them new and don't care to read the manual about preventive or required maintenance, expecting that a $ 40-50 k car does its own maintenance. Typically both categories run the cars into the ground before adressing a problem issue.
When someone starts the story with "I have an Audi X; my wife drives it", or you read a "complaint" type of post somewhere that's linked to "wiki answers", etc and the author has a woman's name, you can pretty much predict is about a serious issue...
Also, lots of people buy them modded by the previous owners and run into trouble since they have no idea what's in the car. "I purchased an Audi and it runs like ****. I'll never buy an Audi again..blah...blah"
These cars have powerful engines that build a lot of pressure in the crankcase. Lack of appropriate maintenance can spur all sorts of leaks and internal parts failure, especially when driven like there's no tomorrow.
They have their own issues, no doubt about it. However, and I can bet on it all my money that I don't have, most of the issues start with lack of adequate care upon first symptoms - just like with any other car.
If I were to believe all that's read, I would never step foot in a Mercedes or Jaguar

 

Thanks guys for the replies. Just felt kind of sick to my stomach because on this one website, people were just naming things like crazy that are always needing a fix on the car. I love getting my hands dirty when it comes to fixing things, but not that many things a once. The only real thing that could be an issue is the timing belt; blowing up on me when I'm doing 100km down the highway and than cooking the motor. Do you really have to replace these belts every 3-5 years? What could I do to keep these belts from doing that? Another thing too is the car I'm looking at has 151,000 kms on it. Sounds like a lot?

 

Stop and think a minute. The posts you are reading are from people who have trouble with their car and are usually looking to save money by doing the repair themselves.

How many posts do you see from people who are totally happy with their car?
Do they post how many trouble-free miles they have driven, or how low-cost their car has been on maintance? Not usually. Sometimes, but these posts are few and far between.

A car is a machine. Parts wear out and need maintance. I just purchased a 2000 A6 4.2L V-8 with 100,000 miles on it. This replaced a 1998 A4 2.8 L V-6
as my wife's daily driver. The A4 we purchased with 89,000 miles and it now has over 180,000. Yes, I did a timing belt service with all the included items. Other than that, the only problem we had was the plastic vacume hoses needed to be replaced, brake pads & tires. If I were to figure out cost per mile over the 5 years she drove it, and the purchase price vs. what the car will sell for now, it's been really cheap driving for the past 5 years, and she has been in a very safe, quality car with AWD.

If you are able to turn a wrench, and read, buy the car!

460

 

the forums are here to help people with there cars so about 85% of what you see is someone wanting help with there car, and these are people all over the world so lets say there are 500,000 audi all over the world,(not true) you come on the forums and there are 5 post a day of something gone wrong (also not true) minor to serious or looking for advise thats not bad but im just guesstimating but you just have to keep in mind that these forums are world wide and there are alot of audis out there. ived had mine for a year and just had to sceduled maentence (oil changes, plugs,) the only thing that has failed is a wheel bearing that i am doing Friday i would recommend an audi to anybody great ride, performance, looks and potential performance upgrades for cheap if you have a turbo or 2, the n/a audi is quite a bit more for bang for your buck in terms of cost per horsepower anyways good luck
2001 audi a6 2.7t

 

SnowX51,

One could argue that reported failures on turbos, transmissions, endless work on front ends and cv joints might be excluded from the definition of reliability, or considered as preventive maintenance items - cured by preemptive actions, but unless you are die hard car enthusiast with a lot of spare time to entertain and deep pockets to finance your hobby you might end up with sleepless nights and more thinkings about your car than your family.
Gambling is what you are going to get into...

 

I think "maintanence-intensive" is probably a more accurate term is describing Audi ownership. IMO, most of the people that believe that Audis are 'unreliable' are expecting the standard maintanence regiment of a Toyota Camry. In reality, our maintanence requirements are closer to that of Porsche...therein lies the potential for disappointment.

UberTeile

 

First, an Audi has a heck of a lot of bells and whistles compared to most cars, and there is more little stuff to go wrong. My daughter has my old 2002 Saturn Vue with over 195k miles vs my A6 with 186k, and she has had fewer problems. But dual power heated seats, Bose stereo, ABS, ESP, turbo, auto-leving headlights -- none of the above. Secondly, anyone who buys a used car with 100k miles better expect some parts to fail and regular maintenance to be required. I have a good buddy who buys a new Audi every couple years (currently a 2010 A5 cabriolet), takes them to the dealer, and that's about it. Then he gets rid of them before maintenance and repair issues kick in. These cars get sold used, and someone has to do the work. I bought my A6 with 37k miles from a private owner who I could tell was a car fanatic. I over do the maintenance and still have original shocks, battery, and suspension. Yes - replaced alternator, clutch and flywheel, and front axle boots. Also replace all power train fluids every 60k, brake fluid every two years, Mobil 1 0W-40 every 7-8k, rotate tires regularly, etc. I did rear rotors and all brakes at 105k and all rotors and brakes again at 185. Parts and labor is a little more than some cars, but less than my parents pay at the Buick dealer for similar work. I love my Audi and will continue to throw maintenance money at it and hope to go well over a quarter million miles, even if that requires an eventual turbo replacement.

 

AND... The performance is WELL above other typical foriegn and domestic cars!!
I have spent much $$ and many hours on both my Audi's but not as much as the daily driving experience......Priceless!