I am looking at a 2011 A4 Wagon Premium Plus with the 2.0T. it has 70,000 miles on it. what should I be looking for as far as areas of concern? I have never owned an Audi and looking to the experts here to lead me in the right direction. thanks for all you help.

 

Tyler, good evening. Hadn't been on the forum for a while and saw your post. We bought a 2011 Audi A4 sedan last September...it was a CPO (Certified Pre-owned) and good thing. They put new brake pads and tires on the vehicle before we took it home.

I very strongly suggest you check this and other forums for the "oil consumption" problem associated with the 2.0T. We just went through all 3 stages of testing and it finalized in replacement of the pistons and piston rings (already installed on the pistons). From my involvement I understand this has perpetuated for several model years. The explanation (wiper piston ring) was a group of out of spec rings. Knowing just enough about mechanics to be dangerous I don't see how a "batch" of bad rings gets through QC checks for that period of time (couple of model years).

I'm not saying it's all bad, we love the A4 but it also has had the turbo replaced. I will say however THAT I WOULD NOT BUY THE VEHICLE UNLESS THERE WAS AN EXTENDED WARRANTY. Don't just take my input...check this forum. While it's true that all vehicles have some type of problem this oil consumption ended up in a class suit based in California. So read the posts, check the forum.

The Audi is beautiful, solid, fun to drive, good gas mileage, great handling, quiet, smooth, but the oil consumption is hanging there for the picking.

Sgt Steve

 

I picked up my 2.0T last fall with over 99k miles. Initially it did not use any oil, but I ended up adding 1.5 qts in the first 8k miles before my first oil change. BTW, my indie shop recommends oil changes at 5-6k vs the 8k I was used to with my 2.7T. These are well made vehicles, but there are a lot of features and accessories that can fail over time. Your best bet is to invest the time in checking everything out (windows, lights, heat, a/c, radio controls and speakers, etc.), then make sure the oil is topped off and take it for a 100 mile test drive. If it has a serious oil consumption problem, it will start to drop within that test drive.


Each to his own, but I am not a believer in extended warranty. This is my third Audi and while all have required regular maintenance, none have had any issues serious enough to justify that $2500 or so that the warranty costs. Besides, most dealer warranties go away at 100K and that's when my cars are just getting broken in. I did replace the cats in my daughter's A4 but it was handled under warranty (and I suspect it was a revenue ploy by the dealer) and the cats in my 2.7T failed at 180k, well beyond any warranty. And I could have driven it without wasting the money to replace them, with the standard issue piece of black tape over the CEL.


I agree with the Sgt - the 2.0T gets excellent gas mileage. Better than I expected. I'm calculating 24-25 around town and 28-31 on highway depending on how close to the speed limit I stay. For short stretches at 55-60, the computer indicates 34-35 mpg but I don't have patience to drive those speeds.

 

thanks for the responses. I appreciate them! I did go ahead and purchase the A4. i did take it to a mechanic for a quick once over before purchasing. it had regular service at the local Audi dealer as well. I took it to Audi right away after purchasing to address any oil issues. they did stage 1 (crank case seal replacement and bolt replacement). I have put 1,500 miles on it with no oil consumption according to the info button in the car. so far we really like the car for all the reasons both of you mention above.