142 guy

Ditto on the wastegate problem. The wastegate pivots on plain bearings with no replaceable bushings. It is a pure wear issue that results in the waste gate getting floppy and failing to seal. People sell a rebush kit to fix this problem on the B8 cars; but, no such fix exists for the B9.

Proper oil change intervals is good; but, it won't help dodge the wastegate problem.

2muchtorque

Thanks for the heads-up guys ! Did a bit of reading on it myself and yeah ... hmmm, that's not good news for those who would like to use an A4 as a daily driver So 2017-2019 models are scrapped from my list and the jury is still out on 2021 version.

It seems to me that the only feasible way to own an A4 is to either buy it new, or as a CPO - in other words one that has warranty on it and then sell it right at the end of the warranty. And even then ... yes, you may not pay for repairs but still can't drive it when it's in the shop. As I plan to DIY pretty much everything, save for the alignment, it looks like this is not the car for me.

Oh well, it is what it is. I'll look at other brands.

SMac770

Even CPO is pretty poor at this point. Only worth 12 months or 20k miles under the current terms.

Besides, at least the wastegate actuator can be replaced on the A4/A5 versions of the Gen3evo 2.0T. Not so for the Q5 version. And you can on the Gen4 performance engine (the 45 engine), but not so on the Gen4 b-cycle engine (the 40 engine). Why? Who knows. Audi's control over the competency of its suppliers has been shot for years now.

gooberman

Another option is an extended warranty. It gave me a piece of mind. Everything is expensive on this car.

142 guy

Put all the advice in context.

The waste gate problem is not a fatal problem (the car can be driven) and it is not a high frequency problem. There are a lot of 2017 - 2020 A4s running around with their original IHI turbos. Also, in the days of $200+ dealership oil changes, it is not a particularly expensive problem if you are handy with wrenches. A complete new IHI turbo assembly along with the miscellaneous bits for installation can be had for $1000 and its probably a relaxed 1 day job to R&R for someone who has been around wrenches. It is just something to add in to the evaluation mix when looking at model year, car condition and price.

If reliability as a daily driver has the absolute highest ranking in your evaluation list, then a Lexus or a Toyota Camry might be a better choice. However, do check that Consumer Reports because reliability data does tend to change. Honda Accords are not what they used to be.

2muchtorque

I think you are right. Haven't been in the car market for seven years so there is a lot to catch up. I am a DIY-er and as such, buying extended warranty is not something I am interested in.

I had two Toyotas in the past: a Highlander (made in Japan) and a Corolla. I hated the Corolla - the seats were very uncomfortable (it was like sitting on a bench) and drove and handled like a boat. Sold the Corolla pretty quickly and got a Passat. The Highlander started to break once I passed 100K: the paint was flaking and flying off the chassis, the front differential was leaking, underbody rust everywhere (my 20 year old BMW 325 barely has any), a passenger window developed a crack and the power steering rack was leaking ... Sold it and got a Q7.

I think I had the Passat for 3 years till I noticed the early warnings of sludge developing (I wasn't a DIY-er at that time, but I wasn't lazy with oil change either - must have been the way the previous owner took care of it). Anyway, I sold it and bought my first bimmer which really got me into DIY. Owned four bimmers since then, still have two, and save for installing new tires and alignment, I've done all maintenance myself (full cooling overhauls, full front and rear suspensions overhauls, wheel bearings, engine mounts, fluids, vanos, injectors, fuel filters and other staff). On the Q7 so far I've only changed the belt and tensioners, diff and transfer case fluids and getting ready to do the valve cover gasket and a tranny drain+refill+filter. From what I've read it looks like that I'll need to change the water pump and thermostat as well. I don't claim to be an experienced shadetree mechanic, and my enthusiasm for crawling under the car has diminished a bit compared to 10 years ago, but I managed to amass a bunch of tools

Since Toyota left me with a bad taste it's really at the bottom of my list. Have no experience with Lexus (and its styling is really boring) and I don't know how easy is to work on those (the Highlander I owned had 3 spark plugs located at the rear part of the engine , a lot of work to get to those), whether you have access to expanded schematics, technical specs (torque values, etc.), good aftermarket parts, and how many good DIY articles/videos are there. Furthermore, since I dealt with BMWs for so many years, I know the good and bad aftermarket manufactures who make parts for several German brands, and have my preferred online shops where I buy parts from (and they sell Audi parts as well). If I would switch over to Asian brands, I'll be starting from scratch - not keen about that.

As such, I've been looking at Audi, BMW and Mercedes. Mercs have just too much electronics on them. BMWs I would be the most familiar with obviously, but from I've read, their reliability has taken a dip in recent years with their change from 6 to 4 cylinders. Hence the Audi is currently at the top of my list. If turbo is the only **big** thing that **might** go kaput around or before 100K (as I do not intend to buy extended warranty), I think I'll be fine.

I've watched the FCP video on changing the turbo - not too bad although I'm sure it'll take me 2 days the first time as there are so many bolts to keep track of. Also I wonder whether it can be done without a lift, with the car on jack stands.

Just as a side note, my very first car was a VW Jetta (manual) Loved that car !

Hope I haven't put everyone to sleep by now.

LightningTruck

.
The 2021 has a redesigned turbo, it won't wear out like the IHI turbo did.
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142 guy

The 2021 definitely has a different turbo, one made by Garrett. Whether it is a re design to address the wastegate wear problem or just a different design which may or may not suffer from the problem is undetermined. The 2021 has the DPAA engine which has 13hp more than the CYMC engine so the different turbo turbo might be part of the engine tuning work done to achieve that small power increase.

The 2021 models also have the mild hybrid system which may or may not appeal be appealing. I have the 2021 with DPAA engine and mild hybrid and the operation of the stop start system is much smoother than on earlier cars which use a conventional bendix style starter motor.

SMac770

MY21+ use Gen4 (aka Evo4) engines (such as DPAA), not Gen3 engines (such as CYMC).

The turbo (two new manufacturers) and the fuel pressure (inc. from 200 bar to 350 bar) are two specific changes for the Gen4 (what VW and Audi are more commonly calling Evo4). The Evo4 is discussed in SSP 683, but I don't know of any English language version on the open Internet. If you know German: https://esperformance.net/ssp/audi/SSP_683_DE.pdf The SSP sure spends a lot of pages on the chains and tensioners as well.

https://www.alexsautohaus.com/whats-...88-evo4-motor/
https://media.vw.com/en-us/releases/1615

LightningTruck

"Turbo
One of the biggest changes from the Gen 3 to the EVO 4 motor is the turbos on both the low-output and high-output versions.
Previously, all engines in the EA888 lineup from the 1.8t to the high output 2.0t used IHI turbos of varying sizes.

IHI is no longer the turbo manufacturer for the EVO 4 motor. Instead, the low output versions (GTI) use a Garrett unit, and the Golf R uses a continental.

The IHI turbos used in the previous generation were notoriously unreliable. "
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