rs4-380

It doesn't use aluminum because it's more advanced, it uses it because it's more expensive, or more to the point, the golf uses steel in order to keep the price down.

2.7Lturbo

it is more advanced. it provides the same job as steel with less weight. again hate to use airplane analogies but they dont build them out of steel for a reason......

Gomer

I hate to highjack this thread butttt....SloopDogg are you telling us that you are some sort of swinger? Telling us you married a nice girl who is now a "cougar" and unaware of it. I believe the definition of the coug is a older lady who actively pursues the young stud. So are you saying you are okay with her seeking outside action? If so please post pic so all the young horndogs can have at it... Then you imply she is a MILF which is allright in my book. So what is she a MILF or Coug ?
Your next paragraph about hot babes and the swinging Richards cruising the 4 is spot on. If no one wanted one they would be a dime a dozen. And both sexes seem to lust after my 4, so I guess it's BI 4 ?
I am just funning with you SDogg, glad you liked a little of my humor/analogy .

fmstocco

Agree 1000%! Sum both points and you have a good answer: Audi is more technologically advanced so, it requires more attention to maintenance.

People neglect this fact and then blame Audi. And the dealers' maintenance rates help to keep owners away from shops.

But Audi + DIY skills + right maintenance will give you the best and more reliable ride ever.

Redneck Truck

More technology = more maintenance may seem to be the way it works, but think of it on a larger scale. Think about older cars vs. newer cars. The more technology they devote to reliability, the less maintenance there historically has been. We aren't adjusting valves and replacing points and having the carb tuned every 10k only to get 10mpg and blow a head gasket or spin a bearing at 90k, right before the odometer runs out at 99,999 thanks to technology.

If you described an A6 4.2 to an engineer in the 1950's, they'd laugh at you, and they'd probably be right to, because of the lack of technological and metallurgical advances relative to now. Think about this: our engines can reliably produce 100+ hp/liter for hundreds of thousands of miles without any major maintenance (timing belt is hardly major). The weight of our cars is on par with other similarly sized cars on the road today, and ours are the safest.

To those who are sick of the quirks and expensive maintenance you must tolerate owning one of these cars, sell your cars to me at what you think is a fair price, and I'll likely buy them (at least the 2.7Ts and 4.2s). The maintenance on these is not that bad, everything is ingeniously laid out for you, and there's a plethora of information at your fingertips when you can't figure a problem out for yourselves. If you keep them, check the batteries when the cars start acting up!!

fmstocco

More technology = more attention to maintenance needed.
A good maintenance will always be necessary and the more advanced the car is the more sensitive to this fact it will be.
The more technology they devote to reliability the more precision engineering the car will have.
Today you don't need to adjust valves but if your oil level gets low, your camshaft chain tensioner and lifters will fail. In older cars you could neglect oil/valve maintenance real bad without problems and they didn't even dream about a chain tensioner (which is = to much better gas mileage and power).
It could rain inside their cabins but in our Audi a simple clogged sunroof drain may destroy our transmission computer.
Engineers do their job creating good and advanced cars, but owners have to do their job maintaining it in the right way.

Redneck Truck

that's true - attention to maintenance would be a better way to describe it.

4Driver4

I disagree with this. While maintenance will always be required, cars today require much less than in the past.

Go back 30 years in Audi/VW:

Spark plugs were changed at 15k intervals
Valves were adjustable. Interval was 15k.
O2 sensors were replaced every 30k.
Air filters - 15k
Fuel filter - 15k
Most cars required a valve job at around 100k

We are spoiled by the reliability of our cars. Back in the 1970's, a car was junk at 100k. I remember my parents trading in cars at 80k.

fmstocco

Ok, but you mean cars today require much less maintenance (I agree) and I mean they require more attention to maintenance. More attention does not necessarily mean more maintenance but they are more sensitive to maintenance flaw. Lack of attention to maintenance in today's high tech german cars will cause much more damage then it used to do to the old ones.
Maybe, this is why Audi owners complain so much. Most car owners are used to change oil and filter, no more than this.
If you treat an Audi this way then you will have a bunch of problems.

JAGMAJ

I agree that cars today require less maintenance on major items than older cars, although there are lots of little electronic gadgets that go out now that didn't even exist a few years ago. I think the OP's point, however, was that more things seem to go wrong on modern Audis relative to other cars. My other cars aren't high-end luxury cars, but the OP's observation seems true to me. While I love my A6, it always seems like some sensor or another is going out on, whereas our Ford Expedition goes year after year with just routine maintenance. Thank God for this forum, which enables me to do most minor repairs myself, but it does get annoying at times. I was wondering whether BMWs and Mercedes have similar rates of malfunctions.