hey guys hows it goin, 2001 2.8 qtro with 87,xxx miles on it, ik timing belt and such is coming up, but what i want to know is what is the overall reliability of these cars, like how often is maitenance needed, and what are the little things that go wrong? im looking for somthing really reliable that i am not going to have to be dumping money into all the time. i dont mind maintaining the cars, i just dont want to have to dump money into it every 5 thousand miles or what ever... anything would be appreciated!! thanks guys

 

search...

 

well i figured id ask the people who have them to give me their input because for one its quicker and for two its a PITA to try to find things in the search column

 

dude, if the picture in your sig is of your car....then you have a B6..this is the b5 forum

fyi-

our cars need alot of attention, you should plan on fixing/replacing something every other month or so...

the problem people have is letting all of the little things pile up...then you end up with a bunch of little things that = one big price

I would say, that as long as you perform all preventative maintenance, you should never have to dump any major $ into the car

one of the problems is that when the cars hit 100k, they need alot of parts replaced...

so far this month I have spent $1500 (on parts) and did the labor myself...all of the parts were bad, but you could still drive the car...over the next month i plan to replace the entire suspension/motor mounts/axles....If you take care of the car it will take care of you

when you have the timing belt done, have them write you a list of needed maintenece...

gl!

 

A few of my friends work at audi stealerships and they tell me the early model b6 is the least reliable of all generations.

 

i agree with 99% of this. the 100K part i find a bit far fetched, if the preventative maint. was in check. every time you do a oil change, check the car over, spot little probs before that become big probs. and address accordingly. i work for Volvo [:'(]and almost every person drives for 60K and then come in for a 'check over' and usually get a list the length of my arm. if you put a ton of miles on between services, expect big 'repair' bills~ i call them repair bills because there was -0- preventative maint. performed. i bought mt 2001 1.8TQ with 49k on it, and have had -0- problems in the 45K i put on it. did a t-belt at 70K and just did a cam tensioner gasket at 94K (just starting to seep) a 6.00 part and a hour and a half of my time is well worth it to me, but i am fussy as hell, and you can eat off any part under the hood. IMHO, it's all in preventative maint.

 

yeah i know mine is a b6, i am looking into b5's for future reference... and i do have a question, now dont get me wrong i like the audi its a nice car interior is nice and quiet not to mention the overall stance and look of the car, but if you or i constantly have to dump money into the car then why are these cars considered to be so great?... i dont mind puttin money into a car here n there for brakes and suspension, gaskets once in a while but having to do things to the car as you stated every month do it doesnt expand into a bigger problem kinda takes the fun out of owning the vehicle IMO... now dont go taking huge amouts of offense to what i have said because i know people get touchy about the cars they love, all i am doing is asking a curious question... thanks guys

 

typo****SOit doesnt expand into bigger problems****

 

I look at it this way. The more you put into a car, the more things can go wrong with it. I hear all the time how well Camrys and Accords do in vehical repair bills, but they don't have as much crap in the car that can go wrong. Some of the new ones have alot more it, so time will tell if that will change. I guess if you really love the car, you can see past its trouble spots and see the car that is great to drive.

 

CoBra03TerminAtoR I'll answer your pm here so if anyone disagrees with me they can chime in...For starters you're looking for a 2.8 30v, the most reliable of the b5 engines. Unlike the 1.8T, its far less likely to give you problems. . Overall a WELL MAINTAINED late year b5 with sub 100k should be trouble free. There are some issues with worn control arm bushings, wheel bearing, bad pixels in the gauge cluster, and the ever popular faulty abs module. All of which won't burn a whole through your wallet, unless you go to the stealerships. My car has 135k and the biggest things I've changed was an alternator and leaky radiator. The only money I spend every month is at the gas pump, thats it. The b6 gets better fuel economy and has more interior room but you have your reasons for getting a b5. Generally, going from a newer to older the reliability will decrease, but like I said before a well maintained 30v under 100k shouldn't be a hassle.