Would you buy a Audi again?
 

I want to hear the other side now. All owners of Audi vehicals please give your input. Ltes be OBJECTIVE. What is it about Audi that you would NOT BUY again, nor will you RECOMMEND to perspective / future buyers? A few things may be, the car stays in the shop more than on the road. Not enough FACTORY TRAINED TECH's. Reliability was not what you expected. Performance was only good in rain or snow. You guys know what you dislike. Now lets hear you side PLEASE. Oh Please NO FLAMING!!!

Forgot to add, please give model year, miles and how long you've owned the car.

Yes I would and yes I did.
 

I have owned 2 (A6 2.8 2001, and now a A8 L 2004). The A6 I owned for 2 1/2 years. Which the only problem that I ran into owning was the gaskets failure. Which is normal for Vegas heat to wear out since it was always outside. My Father owns the car now and the only thing he has done is replace the radiator fans. The A8 I have owned for little over a year and the only problems I have had is the Driver and Driver Passenger window control replaced (driver window was under warranty), Fuel door states its open (which now has stopped on its own for now), and I bought it before the timing belt needed replacing.

Although those are small things that I have seen with others out there. My only wish is that the timing belt change did not cost so much. The service department is not bad here in Vegas and also I have another shop here that only does Audi/VW's which is nice to have a second opinion.

Absolutely ( '01 A8 SWB, 6 years, 101K miles). Reliability is better than expected...horror stories are worst case scenarios and do not apply to everyone's A8. All the normal "sore spots" , some rare and some common, are discussed heavily in threads here and everywhere...easy to find. ALL cars have their own. As I've stated before, the pleasure of driving this car far outweighs the worst problems I've had...less problems than past cars I've owned at ANY price.
The car drives beautifully in all conditions. I've driven the same roads for years in many different cars...the A8 takes the same corners in dry weather just as fast as past Porsches I've owned and MUCH faster in wet conditions (AWD, ESP, balance, etc..). In heavy snow (and you'd have to see the roads I drive...the last 1/3 mile to my house rises hundreds of feet in elevation, one lane, shear drop-offs and no guard rails) I pass by Japanese and American 4x4 trucks with mud tires and other brands of AWD cars (ditched and lying on their sides) on my regular worn down all season tires...without wheel spin or drama. Best AWD system on the planet...except maybe an M1 tank :)

Problems would include Audi's disjointed and seemingly unpoliced network of dealers, which are too few and far between. It's "hit or miss" whether you have an honest and qualified dealer in your area ( mine is one of the bad ones). A good suggestion for even Audi (or any brand) owners that do none of their own work, is to invest in a workshop manual for your model. It can often help you analyze a problem or at least understand a repair said to be needed by the dealer or independent mechanic...a little knowledge can go a long way toward getting you more respect and may save you some money or unnecessary repairs. In the past, schooling my wife in advance, if I could not be with her on a trip to the dealer or mechanic, made all the difference.

The only inexcusable problem I've found on all the D2's is the much discussed and inexplicably PLASTIC (should be alumunum) water pipe that connects between the oil cooler and engine block. It doesn't go bad early, but always seems to go bad at higher mileage...mine at about 95K. There's usually plenty of warning before it becomes a disabling problem...usually starts with a very slow coolant loss, but usually does get worse with time...look for drips of coolant near your oil filter. It's an expensive dealer repair, when needed, because of the labor involved to get to it. According to the supplier where I bought my replacement pipe, the same one fits A8's through at least 2006 (?)...don't know about beyond that or if a similar pipe is used in any other Audi models (non-V8's?). I repaired mine myself for less than $40 (plus coolant), a bunch of bloody knuckles, a sore back and profane words never before uttered in combinations I used :)
These links talk about that plastic pipe and repair procedure in detail:

http://www.audipages.com/Tech_Articl...reinstall.html

http://www.ltooz.com/ltooz341/item/2...pe-replacement

Post #'s 8 & 9 in this thread : http://forums.audiworld.com/showthread.php?t=2786415

But, back to the original question...My A8 is the most reliable, easiest car to drive I've ever owned and I have never felt safer in a automobile. I would most definitely buy another one.

Audis owned:

- 1996 A4 2.8L FWD ... Nice interior, but utter POS otherwise
- 1997 A8 ... very nice car. Unfortunately I owned this one before I started working on my own cars, so maintenance was $$$
- 2000 A4 1.8T Quattro ... Ok interior (this one had cloth seats, not leather), but drives so much nicer than the FWD 2.8L, and sooo much easier to work on.
- 2004 A8L ... super nice, not too bad to work on so far.

As long as I continue to live in an area that sees snow and salt in the winter, I will most likely continue to own an Audi. Quattro AWD, 10-12 year guarantee against corrosion, among the nicest interiors around. My only gripe with Audi is that not only do they have a tendency to be way over engineered, the different engineering teams apparently don't talk much amongst themselves and certainly never seem to ask any of their mechanics for input. DIY maintenance can be a real PITA.

l8r)

not sure yet
 

i just picked mine up yesterday its a 2000 s4 twin turbo but i think ther might be a prob the power just is not ther maybe the tranny slipping or somthing or needs a new tork converter the dealership said thay replaced the tork converter but i work at a dealership and i know thay LIE>> any ideas what might be wrong? it runs like a dream but its laggin hardcore..

"the different engineering teams apparently don't talk much amongst themselves and certainly never seem to ask any of their mechanics for input."
-- ludikraut

AMEN to that! Example was my complaint about the stupid plastic pipe for the oil cooler that was (is?) used for years. These things had to be failing well before they continued to put them in newer cars. Without this item, oil coolers would likely be maintenance free and last the life of the car. No communication or an evil intended oversight. Even a simpleton like me could have seen this design on paper and laughed at it, before it went into production.
I emailed Audi about this and actually got a phone call from the international A8/R8 division... a waste of time. Got a PR man reading from a script and had to explain to him where the oil cooler was mounted and how it worked! He promised that someone more knowledgeable would get back to me...never happened.
On the good side, I've seen rolling production changes on other troubled systems and maintenance on certain items actually made easier by design as new models came out.
So not all bad, but disorganized for sure.

Not really enough info there to guess. Does the S4 have a boost gauge for the turbos...it could seem to run great without boost getting to the right place. Would become more apparent under load. Just one of many possible wild guesses.

i just hooked a boost gauge up in it like 20 mins ago it says its pushing only like 7 or 8 pounds? you know anything i can look at to see if theres a prob somewhere?

What? Lets rewind here for a minute. You're in the A8 forum, which has no forced induction BTW. 7-8 lbs of boost is normal for the 1.8T, and 2.7T engines, so if thats what you're worried about, its normal.

ya i know but i have a 2000 s4 and couldint find the topic on it so i was looking for some help.

If I was generously wealthy and not as young as I am Yes.
But I am neither of those things so I'm afraid not.

I am not wealthy, by any stretch and don't even get the age correlation.
I love cars, so I buy used exotics and do the work myself....otherwise I'd simply have access to boring "transportation". Including original purchase price (with 2.5 yrs of warranty remaining), costs me less than owning a Ford Taurus and takin it to the dealership for service.
Aged beef or fresh spam.

would you buy it again?
 

I've owned Audi's since 1987. They are the best winter car out there. I have never been stuck and have seen many cars off the road or spinning their wheels. My 1996 A6 held up very well. But, my 2004 A6Q is another story. I have replaced one of the catalytic converters (there are 2!!), the power steering pump, and the radiator between miles 80 and 86K. I have never had to replace these parts on any of my other Audi's. Any thoughts?

Yes...Get an A8 :) ...completely different animal. After driving/owning an A8, A6's are a huge disappointment.

I've owned a 2001 A8 for about a year and a half now, and I strongly suspect I might never own anything other than an A8 again. I drive over 500 miles a week to work, half of the year through snow and ice and this car has amazed me by some of the crap that it has bulldozed it's way through.
Some may be put off by maintenance costs, but I'm reasonably handy with a wrench and have found any work that I've done on this car to be surprisingly simple and straight forward. Having owned and worked on a couple of Euro cars I don't ever want to have to work on a Japanese car again, and obviously the longer I own an A8 the better I'll get to know my way around it.
Every so often I start to think about my next car, I research my options and weigh up all the pros and cons, and I just keep on ending up back at the A8.

Now that alot of the country is in the middle of a snow storm I look foward to hearing more about these cars and would you buy Audi again?

I have a 2000 2.7 that I've had for 5 years. I've probably spent as much money on maintenance and repair as I spent for the car since I've had it. I love the car and the quattro, but I would never buy another audi again, especially for an everyday driver.

That's the issue. Should use by a used A6Q at 50K and hope the next 50K will have reasonable costs. I think the A8 is out of site for working people who do not do their own work. I think the A6 from 1998-2004 may have maintenance issues and might be very VW like.

Not sure
 

99 A8. Car is incredible in all conditions. I have smelled oil when I put the car away hot and yesterday I was 225 miles out of town and something bad happened. I punched it in traffic and at the next light I smelled oil and saw smoke. It's leaking oil at the rear of the motor, it seems. I checked the oil after it cooled and it was fine. I drove it home, stopping to check the oil periodically. Oil on dipstick never dropped but bottom of car is covered. Also, started leaking water at rear of motor on each side, slow drips. Temp stayed in range and reservoir was normal.

After some reading, it sounded like it could be the camshaft position sensor cover gaskets, but the water leak contradicts that, or at least doesn't support it. I did have the climate control set to 'auto' and I'm wondering if the AC could have kicked on and caused the dripping, but it was 2 sources of dripping. Could it be a head gasket? Any other ideas out there?

I am brand new to AudiForums.

If not losing engine oil, the oil you see could be ATF coming from front seal (behind torque converter)...no easy way to check ATF level (involved and NO dipstick for it). Also could be gear oil dripping from center differential onto left cat converter...common problem with leaking output flange seal where drive shaft connects to trans...actually center diff attached the rear of trans.

AC runs as part of climate control air mixture if set to Auto, any time temp is above 40 F...has 2 drains, one on each side of center console.

If you don't seem to losing engine oil or coolant, the above are more likely sources.

Thanks. I'm bringing it to my mechanic tomorrow. These notes will help. The oil didn't look like ATF, what color is the ZF ATF? It looks like motor oil, but I guess it could be gear oil.

Both are similar color to motor oil...light (darker if old) yellowish brown.