Audi A4 maintenance
11-26-2001, 07:02 AM
#1
Audi A4 maintenance
on the Edmunds Audi A4 chat - there's a "battle" between the A4 and the Subaru WRX. One of the big arguements is that after the 4years are up - the maintenance costs on the Audi are very high - everything breaks and is expensive - even touchup paint is $20 for a small bottle vs. $6 for the Subaru. Comments?
11-26-2001, 07:41 AM
#3
The Suby is a great car - for the price. However, it falls into the Japanese design philosophy
of throwing away your car every 4 years and starting over. Expect 4 good years where the car hangs together no matter what ( with some exceptions ), and then by year 6 it pretty much becomes worthless to fix as well as expensive parts starting to fail.
German cars are built differently. Yes, you will have more maintainence to do and it will cost a little more. However, 15 years from now if you kept the A4 nice, you could give it to your kid as a nice classic German car.
Think digital watch vs Rolex.
Oh, and for those that modify the WRX, Subaru is only giving them one gearbox under warranty. Stripped 1st and 2cd gears indicate the car has been modified. After that, warranty denied.
German cars are built differently. Yes, you will have more maintainence to do and it will cost a little more. However, 15 years from now if you kept the A4 nice, you could give it to your kid as a nice classic German car.
Think digital watch vs Rolex.
Oh, and for those that modify the WRX, Subaru is only giving them one gearbox under warranty. Stripped 1st and 2cd gears indicate the car has been modified. After that, warranty denied.
11-26-2001, 08:34 AM
#4
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Japanese cars have good resale after 5,6,7 years because people are not afraid of a Honda with 100K
miles. I had a 95 Acura Integra that ran so good it was hard to justify my new A4. I would have to dissagree that you throw away Japanses cars after 4 years. Most Lexus and Toyota owners from the early and mid 90's are dissagreeing as well.
11-26-2001, 09:12 AM
#7
Looking at trade-ins, here is what I've noticed.
Acura usually Integras die in the 140,000K range. Big stuff goes like injectors, etc. Most are decent to that point.
Older Legends are fantastic, the newer ones have tranny failures and plastic that comes adrift as well as bad seat motors.
Mazda little cars hold up really well up to 200K but the bigger ones fall apart by 100.
Nissan's tend to go by 110K.
Infinti tends to get squeaky and loose by 60/70K. Leather trashed.
Lexus has suspension bushings that go by 50K and switches that rattle loosely in their sockets. Valve guides in the ES/Camry are often done by 65K - smoke bombs on start-up.
Audi will have some of these issues, but in general, people look after the German cars a little better. So part of it is the owner philosophy of caring for the car rather than using it up and selling it off. Japanese cars are designed to please their first owners very well.
There was actually a paper put out by Toyota saying that they where cutting parts quality because the cars lasted too long and they didn't want a lot of old clunkers sullying the Toyota name ( as well as parts cost ). The goal is to make the first and second owner happy - 110/120K. I had a Crown given to me by my Dad, that had 290K before rust got to the frame. Original clutch and all ( mostly highway driving ).
A friend at high end body shop, told me that when comparing the "same" car where one is built in Japan, and the other somewhere else, paint is different, switches are different, interior panels are different and of different quality, as well as metal is different. Almost all of it favouring the Japanese production vehicle. He showed me a Japanese built Camry and a US built Camry. Wow !
I like to walk around an original 50's Mercedes and absorb the time and travels that tired but dignified that old car has seen. It just has a presence that the Japanese made car cannot approach. I think the A8 might some day be like that Mercedes. An LS 430 ? Nah.
Older Legends are fantastic, the newer ones have tranny failures and plastic that comes adrift as well as bad seat motors.
Mazda little cars hold up really well up to 200K but the bigger ones fall apart by 100.
Nissan's tend to go by 110K.
Infinti tends to get squeaky and loose by 60/70K. Leather trashed.
Lexus has suspension bushings that go by 50K and switches that rattle loosely in their sockets. Valve guides in the ES/Camry are often done by 65K - smoke bombs on start-up.
Audi will have some of these issues, but in general, people look after the German cars a little better. So part of it is the owner philosophy of caring for the car rather than using it up and selling it off. Japanese cars are designed to please their first owners very well.
There was actually a paper put out by Toyota saying that they where cutting parts quality because the cars lasted too long and they didn't want a lot of old clunkers sullying the Toyota name ( as well as parts cost ). The goal is to make the first and second owner happy - 110/120K. I had a Crown given to me by my Dad, that had 290K before rust got to the frame. Original clutch and all ( mostly highway driving ).
A friend at high end body shop, told me that when comparing the "same" car where one is built in Japan, and the other somewhere else, paint is different, switches are different, interior panels are different and of different quality, as well as metal is different. Almost all of it favouring the Japanese production vehicle. He showed me a Japanese built Camry and a US built Camry. Wow !
I like to walk around an original 50's Mercedes and absorb the time and travels that tired but dignified that old car has seen. It just has a presence that the Japanese made car cannot approach. I think the A8 might some day be like that Mercedes. An LS 430 ? Nah.
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11-26-2001, 09:30 AM
#8
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Subys hold together just fine
I've got a 7-year-old Legacy with 90K miles. It's pretty much as good as new, and hasn't required any major repairs. I agree that Audi makes a nicer and more elegant car, but it's sure harder and more expensive to keep it running. For example, many under-the-hood items that are easy to work on in the Suby can't even be seen from above in the Audi.
The Quattros sure hold resale value better. A 90 Quattro the same year as my Legacy seems to be worth twice as much.
The Quattros sure hold resale value better. A 90 Quattro the same year as my Legacy seems to be worth twice as much.
11-26-2001, 09:33 AM
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It sound like you are in the car business. Why do brands like Lexus, Acura, Toyota, etc. have good
trade-in values if they are falling apart? It seems that as a percentage of MSRP the decent Japanese cars retain very similar values as their European counterparts.
11-26-2001, 09:39 AM
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Re: have you looked at the build quality, heck the Suby probably won't have much paint left
As an Audi owner for 11 years and a Subaru owner for 7 years I have to take issue with this Subaru slander. I agree that the Audi is a higher-end car, but I have seen no evidence that it is put together or holds together any better than the Subaru. With the Audi you get something that is more fun to drive and feels better, but you also pay the price with higher purchase and maintenance costs.