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.

 

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)

 

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.