Patrick Barnes

I just bought a 1997 Audi A4 Quattro 2.8, I did some research before, and the vehicle is in great shape for 125,000 miles. I am going to put it in the shop for it's 120k service; the timing belt has been changed and everything seems to be in great condition. Does anyone else have/0r had the car? Any warnings to look out for? Any feedback would be GREAT

slidinsideways

awesome car thats a blast in the snow... but.. in the last 6 months ive had my ABS go out, turn signal relay go out, leak in the washer fluid reservoir (cracked pump), break wear sensor go bad (spliced wires together), exhaust leak, tail light issues, shift linkage disassembled its self (bolt came off which caused it all to fail), hmmm im trying to make sure im not forgetting anything.. i think thats it, prepare to get hands dirty ...

all this just randomly happened. my car has 96,000 and is in perfect visual shape on the outside and interior. i have to say its been the best learning experience for me and this site has made things alot easier. along with the internet in general as B5's have a pretty big following and you can find a diy on almost anything.

5v/cyl

Get all the fluids changed: front/center/rear diffs and tranny. Control arms are a common replacement, but fairly cheap on the B5 and a easy DIY.

I've had my '99 for 2.5 years now. It was a pig when I got it and just about every warning light was lit up on the dash. One front wheel was almost ready to fall off the wheel bearing was so bad and the CA's were rattling like crazy. DIY fixed all that for about $1k, including TB service, and it has been trouble free ever since. Had 134k miles when I got it and now has 180k and still runs/drives perfect. Knock on wood, but even the CEL light hasn't come on for the last 1.5years/25k miles.

Great cars when you take care of them and keep up with the regular maintenance.

TruthInEngineering97

I've had this car for the last two years and its been great! Keep a close eye on the control arms, if the boot rips you need to replace it otherwise the control can break (it happened to me once and it wasn't fun). Other things I have replaced include water pump, tie rods, flex pipe, wheel bearings, rear brake calipers, and caliper brackets. If you want to do some upgrades coilovers, sway bar, and sway bar links help with handling. Summer and winter tires are a nice upgrade too.

Nollywood

Great cars, as long as you look after them, they'll reward you. They're not quick, and performance upgrades are few and far between, and buck per bhp gain can be costly, once you've gone past the usual exhaust and filter upgrade.

As a daily driver, they're great, more reliable than the 1,8T and doesn't suffer the oil sludge issues. Tip models require trans servicing, this seems to be the only weak link in an otherwise good car.

I've owned a '98 2,8 quattro 5MT, and I sold her with a whopping 398,000 miles.

hoits27

Water pump and valve cover gaskets had to be fixed on mine at around 60,000mi. I've heard from a few other people that the valve cover gaskets are common. Other than that I've never had any other problems, its been a great car getting me back and forth to school work.