hi all,
first post!
thinking of buying an a4 cabrio, B6, and tryin to decide on a 1.8t or 3.0 motor...any suggestions, reliability, fuel efficiency, special problems for each, etc.
any help would be greatly appreciated.
thanks, malaka14

PS - also any buying advice, or what to look out for in the B6 buying procedure....

 

Do NOT buy a 3.0..... 1.8t require more maintenace and care but will last you. You can care for that 3.0 but nothing will keep that motor from destroying itself.

 

I bought a 2003 A4 3.0 MT6 for my daughter two years ago with 69k miles and it is currently around 85k. When it went in for the ignition recall we found bad cat converters and they were (luckily) replaced under warranty. I'm still not convinced that it was cats and not sensors, but why argue when the dealer gives ya free cats. The only other issue is a CEL that won't go away for the clutch pedal sensor. Otherwise it's been a solid car and enjoyable to drive. We looked at both 1.8Ts and 3.0s before buying it, and I found the 3.0s to be better appointed than the turbo. I also did not want to worry about my daughter with a turbo engine at college. The 3.0 is more linear in acceleration than a turbo, also a good thing when that college is in upstate NY with lots of snow. BTW, I'm not afraid of turbos and have 187k on my A6 with very few problems.