turbo510

Other factors affecting reliability are how the car is used and the competence of the person doing the maintenance. My guess is that early A4s are often driven hard and poorly maintained, making them prone to unreliability. I have friends with a 740iL and Benz G-500 SUV; it seems like one or the other is in the shop for coolant leaks, widows/sunroofs issues, A/C system failures, brake problems, etc. On the other hand my 200K+ '96 A4 runs strong day in and out. Granted I maintain my car instead of waiting for it to break, but the cost of parts isn't abnormal.

quattrone

My '96 2.8 A4 runs well and has been reliable. It does seem to go through front control arms, but they are easliy replaced. That is another thing I like about the car--it is straight forward. Buy a good manual and embrace the mechanic within! BTW, write-ups by Kris Hansen (http://audi.kris-hansen.com/index.htm) rock! Good luck with your "new" car...

weaselciuy

My car is great, i only replaced so far, filters/oils/sparks/brake pads at ussual rate and hoses etc.... and front arms/bushes/wheel bearings and a bad heater blower controler.

I think thats acceptable for the first 50.000km i did with it.

VAG-com easy to use and car parts easy to identify.

what write-ups by Kris Hansen, link please if you refere to DIY stuff for B5`s

dm.A4.B5

My sisters 2009 C320 4Matic is a piece of $hit. The first year she owned it she had to get the whole rear of the car (trunk, bumper, rear light assembly, full set of wires) replaced. They couldn't figure out why her tail lights weren't working.


Tips on having your car last longer:
1. Change oil more often (5k)
2. Keep up with the general maintenance of your car
3. Stop driving like an a$$hole (Gunning it at ever light)
4. Learn to drive a car (See #3)


I promise you that if you can follow these 4 important rules all cars will last longer. Come the fck on people, why do you think old people have the best cars. They don't beat on their cars let alone drive them.

If you want to buy something you can tear up buy a Civic. Also why are you referencing the cost of repairing an Audi. Don't worry though, it's alot cheaper to repair a MB or BMW. No really that's true.... wait.... no... no its not. Yea... buy a civic.


PEACE and good riddance hater!

Joe Tan

All German cars have problems, they are at different area.
The Audi has been small problems but many and my BMW less often but bigger problems. It's like getting chronic little pains with Audi or get one cancer with BMW.

The E39 540i is a nice car so is CLK430 (I like the latter better cause fewer on the road, too many 540i where I live). My friend own a CLK320 and the dealer told him to get rid of it around 75K miles, cause the next service would have been $7K-$8K.
The 540i, has cooling problems, so it needs a complete overhaul around 75kmiles, all components need to be replaced as safety precaution, the cooling system is presurized and hard on hoses, gaskets.

In any rate if you buy use, get the complete service records. Good luck.

eliastfk

dm..........i change my oil every 3k with synthetic, i drive in a normal fashion n i know for a fact that b5 audi's are put together extremely poorly. The shop i took it too agreed, he only specializes in foreign cars. I owned a mercedes 190e, it had 230,000 was still put together/ran tens of times better than my audi. My mercedes was also horribly cared for by the previous owner,no tranny fluid when i got it, n it still took me on a 2000 mile road trip with no issues. The audi b5 is basically a passat, and a pos. It is fun to drive and i do like the quattro, but the build quality sucks.

turbo510

You've made up your mind, but what's your idea of "put together extremely poorly"? I've worked with plenty of nice machinery including racing V-12 aircraft engines, and don't have the same opinion. The reason that I enjoy doing my own A4 maintenance is precisely because it's so well put together.

AudiMick

That is your opinion, it not a fact. You are repeating what some other duma$$ has told you.

The 190E is probably one of the most reliable Benzs, that's why so many of the 190s are used as Taxis throughout the world.

The newer Benz and BMW will not come close to the reliability of the 190.

The 1995 A4 was the car that brought Audi back from the brink. If it wasn't for the A4 , Audi would be dead just like Oldsmobile and Plymouth.

I did 160,000 miles in my B5 over 11 years. Total maintenance was less than $500 a year. Original clutch still installed in my car when I sold it in one weekend for a very good price.

Best car I ever owned, and I have owned over 50 including Japanese, European, and Domestic in three countries.

I suspect the shop that fixes your car is just not very competent on Audis. Some of the generalist Euro shops are like that, I DIY'd a lot of my stuff because of ridiculous pricing and repairs from such places.

They should stick with rear wheel drive "Volvo 240" and "Stuttgart Taxis".

Kris Hansen

I agree. My A4 is 12 years old now, and it's endured 12 Vermont winters. Yet, other than some surface rust, the thing is very clean underneath, and very easy to work on to this day. It's got 170k currently, and runs like a top. All I've ever done to it is brakes, shocks (once), a few control arms here and there, timing belt service 3 times, etc.. the car has NEVER EVER left me or my wife and kids stranded, starts every time. I LOVE my A4.

AudiMick

That's a big thing for me also. I had a battery fail when parked in the garage, but that car always made it home even in the worse conditions.