Hello All-

I am mainly a "lurker" and usually get answers and insight from reading all of the great posts by the awesome contributors here.

Bought an 2005 A4 1.8T in Jan w 75K miles from a "reputable" dealer and had it inspected by two Audi mechanics before buying. I knew of a couple issues before buying and had them knock down the price. I didn't get a huge deal or anything. In LA, it's hard to find certain cars....

I'm wondering if I need to cut my losses and move on from this money pit....?
My mechanics told me after I bought it about the CVT and had I done my research, I would have bought a manual. Oh well. Anyway, here's my list of repairs:

-Control Arms (knew about it)
-Timing belt (knew about it) / oil change
-Brake switch
-Headlight (xenon)
-Broken glove box
-Turbo blown (replaced with brand new one)
-Rear brakes
-Some random hoses

All this has totaled about $3600!! Now my FUEL PUMP is bad and that's going to be $400-$500.

I'm getting close to repairs totaling upwards of 40% of what I paid for it and I've only had it for 7 months!

My mechanic is a certified Audi mechanic, BUT I told him several times about the "won't go"/hesitation problems (sorry) and the dentist drill sound months before the turbo blew up and the recent fuel pump diagnosis. Not putting it on them, but all this has been sucky!

Thanks for your advice.

-(Frustrated) Belle

 

if u got a boyfriend put his hands to work! Some of this is diy material. U can save your self some monies!

 

lol. i figured a lot of this was diy for the audi-capable. no one seems to be surprised by any of it.

yes, i have tried to get the hub into it but the problem with that is he's got two other fix cars.

i'm considering going to mechanic school! i'm a girl but both my parents were engineers and i can fix anything electronic!!

i've done a few diy projects on our old 5 series but nothing under the hood. just windows, doors, trunk latch, whatever.

 

yea well for the most part there are alot of great articles for diy for audis. IS your headlight bulb just out or what? You can order a new bulb for a very good price and just replace it. The brake switch shouldnt be to hard either. umm fuel pump can be tricky but defintly doable on your own. You just gotta twist it the right way to get it out of the tank. The glove box is broken on my car too. I just lived with it considering the part is so expensive from audi or ebay for that matter. The REar brakes are pretty simple also. Ill see if i can dig up the diy and pm them to you so you can look them over.

 

Thanks pa4ul! Appreciate the support as my wallet BURNS!

All of my repairs except for fuel issue are already done. You're right the glovebox was so expensive, but I got sick of people opening it and having it fall down!

One good thing I learned is that my mechanics are great and super honest.
I asked them today if they would take me on as an apprentice and they said yes!!

Maybe I'll be contributing some valuable information to these boards in the future.

 

I have an older jeep and I put just as much money into it minus the labor.

There is no cost proof car, ultra reliable. Some of the guys have Nissans and Toyotas and they are in the shop more than some Audis.

You either spend money on repairs or buy a new car and live with a payment.

 

Well it's good to know that - i guess cars are like everything else. some are good, some are not so good. and luck seems to be involved as well!

funny that you mentioned japanese because my last car was a very old infiniti, 99 that had a ton of miles and i got it as a temporary car, it was cheap. it lasted me for nearly 3 years with almost no repairs. i've been comparing this to that experience but my friend's mom had the EXACT same infiniti (year, color, trim, everything!) and he used to tell me that hers' was in the shop CONSTANTLY. That pretty much proves your point.

Time to take my lumps, then! Fuel pump is fixed now and it's driving like a champ. let's hope this laaasts!!

 

And yes, no car payments is definitely my way of life. I'd rather drive a tuk-tuk or ride a bike than owe anyone for 4 or 5 years!