Hello! Just wanted to introduce myself, ask a few questions, and vent a little.

My fiancee (we've been together since July 06) bought a new A4 in 1999. It only has 58K on it because she only uses it for short trips in town; since I've been around we've taken it on longer trips, currently posting from Seattle where I drove to from LA. It needed to stretch it's legs, I reckoned. It also has new all season treads on it, my own car has summer tires and isn't very comfortable on long trips.

Anyway, this car sheds parts like crazy! You name it, it's probably happened, I looked at the receipts. It's on it's THIRD radiator and just developed a brand new coolant leak from somewhere other than the radiator. The thermostat stuck open last winter which can only be accessed by removing everything from the bumper through the timing belt cover (what a horrible design). That was at about 50k. When the shop got in there they gave me a call. Seems the timing belt was also shot, along with the tensioner and water pump bearing. Geez. I went and took a look because I couldn't believe there could be so much wrong with such a low miles car, but there it was - sticky tensioner, torn up belt, and wobbly water pump.

Control arms? Oh ya. The shop I steered her to (no pun intended) is owned and operated by a very capable former dealer tech. Audi's are quite popular in LA, he changes 5 sets a week on average - there's a huge pile of them he keeps to show customers. The Bose CD changer went south years ago and, apparently, to put an aftermarket head in it is not a simple job. Replaments are about $500 - for a unit that sounds like it cost $50. He used to also be a VW shop but he pulled the sign down because he's got more work from broken Audi's than his shop can possibly handle. He drives a 1980's Mercedes S-Class diesel, btw. Best car ever made, in his opinion.

Last time I was there he pointed to an A8 on his lot with 60K on the clock. It needed a new transmission, about $17K in parts and labor. Trade in value on that car is only about $20K (rough cosmetics, high miles for a 2005) so the owner decided to part it out - it's worth more torn to pieces than it is as a car! Crazy.

OK, sorry for that, it's just that since I'm the car guy in the household it's my job to keep the thing running and safe and I'm having trouble just keeping up with constant stream of malfunctions. I've been looking around the archives and note that control arms and radiators are pretty common, but it's coming up on 60K and I have a few questions:

Plugs and wires, and cabin air filter are pretty much it, right? Timing belt and water pump were recently changed but is there anything else I should swap during the service?

Also, please see my posts in the A4 section about two current problems that cropped up on the long drive this week.

Thanks for listening, look forward to learning more about this comfortable and quick but very unreliable car so I can keep it on the road as long as possible - we're saving for a house and don't want to take on a new car loan right now.

Kevin
[align=left] [/align]

 

wow...what a story. [:@]..I'm thinking about buying aused TT but I see many stories like this keeps meaway from Audi for now..

oh ya...Welcome to AF,
NVMYTT

 

Another noob here chiming in. Sorry about your problems, that sucks to have so much go wrong. Kind of scares me since I just bought my first Audi. I heard that reliability has really improved over the past few years though (I hope!).

As far as that A8, 60k in 2 years? That sounds like some hard driving. Makes me wonder if the maintenance schedule was followed properly.

I wouldn't swap anything that's not severly worn orbroken (unless called for in the owner's manual), but itsounds like your mechanic would know more, if you can trust him. Plus, aren't you spending enough $$? [sm=smiley19.gif]

 

He he, ya, she's spending enough money as it is. Post-warranty mechanical repairs and service (dealer rates) are in the $10,000 neighborhood - about what the car's worth now! It's been a problem car since she bought it, and things are constantly going wrong. I'm up here in Seattle now where it's in the 30's at night, and even though the water temp gauge in right in the middle where it should be (as opposed to when the thermostat stuck open), the heater's ouput is modest at best. Cruise control and windshield washer pump failed on the trip up, so when I get back I have a whole new set of problems to deal with. Oh, and the left front outboard CV joint is on the way out too. The boot hasn't teared, it's just ticking under load with modest steering input. The motor has a bit of shake to it at idle so I suspect the motor mounts are pretty beat too.

Sounds like a real hot shoe has been driving it, right? Nope. Mild mannered school teacher, original owner. I have a great relationship with the shop owner I mentioned and he openly admits that fixing Audi's is a growth industry. According to him the new ones are even worse - the Q7 has a huge number of recalls and TSB's already, as does the A3.

One of the main problems he's having now is the declining quality of OEM replacement parts. The package says "made in Germany" but he's not convinced. While I was there an oil pan came in for an S4, who's owner cracked it on a bump. The casting quality of the new part was significantly off compared to the original. They were going to de-bur some areas so bits of metal wouldn't get sucked into the oil pump. He says the worst offenders are plastic interior parts, he sends a lot of them back because the tolerances are so loose they don't even fit! Pretty recent problem he says, only the last 6 months or that he's really had a problem. The rumour among his circle of Audi techs (he still has friends at the dealer he used to work for) suspects that the factory recently started outsourcing replacement parts production to China and are packaging/assembling them in Germany.
[align=left] [/align]

 

Probably not, given the way the exterior looked when I saw it. Long distance commuter car from the desert though, so it's mostly highway miles, and since there isn't any scheduled maintenance on the tranny it wasn't lack of service. The shop owner said it was fairly common for an A8 to have a midlife crisis and puke a transmission. I'm sure we'll hear more about that as the fleet ages, this one example was definitely worn more than it's age would dictate because of it's long, daily trips to from the desert to the sea and back. Lots of miles in harsh conditions from desert heat to LA freeways.

 

That does suck to see that you've had so much trouble, but it seems like the B5 cars are hit or miss. I was lucky in that mine's a "hit" - I've had virtually no problems with it, but to be fair the first two owners were religious on servicing and only used high quality parts. That seems to be key with these cars. Mine has a few faults (cruise control not working, flaky gas gauge, and a bad wheel bearing) but other than that it's great. I hope you're able to sort the car out and just enjoy it - it really is a great car that you'll love for a long time.

 

I'm sorry to hear that your Audi experience has been plagued like this but rest assured Audi's are not all like this. My 96 A4 is happily chugging along with minimal problems at 197K.


welcome to the forums and I'm sure you will find all the help you desire here.