I ran into a buddy of mine started telling him about my car. It is a 98 Audi A4 quattro 2.8. He knows alot about cars and he told me it's not even worth putting money into this car because half the parts are going to be the 97 year the other half 98. Plus the 2.8 engine is just a piece of crap. Really can't sell it has a transmission problem. Is it worth putting money into. I really just want a car that i can mess around with

 

Keep in mind you're asking a group of Audi enthusiasts. That said, the 2.8 is a reliable motor. As with any older car, there are a number of things that would cause it to lack overall reliability. You could fix the tranny and it not be a problem car, or you could end up having to put money into it every month as it falls apart. More background would help here.

I wouldn't say the 2.8 is a piece of crap, but it's not a mod-friendly engine and it isn't going to beat an STi or Mazdaspeed3. It comes down to what you want to do when messing around with it. It's..just a car that's considerably fun to drive when it's in running order. I miss my 1999 2.8 dearly.

I had a lot of car savvy guys tell me Audi sucks and AWD was dumb. Then they started fawning over the R8 and bought WRX's while drooling over AWD. Be you, and do what you want. It's your choice.

 

No offense, but your friend doesn't know much. Actually, aside from the motor, I'd guess about 98% of the 97 and 98 are identical. That doesn't make it different than any other car. Did your Cliff Clavin friend explain why that's an issue?

Make up your own mind about the tranny versus the cost of the car. If you go to someone for advice, don't go to Cliff Clavin again.

 

Thanks guys, appreciate the advice. I like the car so i figured an Audi forum would talk up the car lol

 

for the record, my 97 2.8 12v has just over 201k on it and its i havent had an issue with the motor as of yet and ive owned the car for over a year. more issues with the aging drive.

 

I'll direct you to this thread, coincidentally started the other day.

https://www.audiforums.com/forum/b5-...ummary-202486/

Audi's are VERY good cars if you take care of them. They're more expensive to keep, but to those of us that own them, it's worth it.

 

I have just one of those cars you are talking about...98 2.8 30V with some parts being 97...my mileage is now over 294,000+....you tell me if it's a crap car? LOL

 

The Ford F-150's at my job have like 976,000k ++ on them. They are used as construction vehicles.

I didn't even think that would be possible but I guess it is.

Most cars are good if you take care of them.

 

I have to wonder what your buddy really knows. The 2.8 V6 is likely one of the, if not the, most reliable VAG engines. Mine has over 240,000 miles, and is almost boring how little attention it wants, plus I redline that thing to 6,200 a few times every day. The other night I took a plug out just to look at it, but it was perfect so that was the engine work for the month.

 

The only bad thing about the 12V 2.8's is the EGR passage in the manifold plugs up with carbon and gives you the dreaded CEL for low egr flow. That and the tendency for the thermostat to fail open and not let the car heatup. Suppose that's better than failing closed and overheating the engine.