skidmark

very reliable and the starter wouldn't engage. so my dad would put the key in the run postion and open the hood and take 2 screwdrivers and connect the 2 posts on the solenoid to start the van when the solenoid acted up.

Milpitas2.7T

but still the design is ugly, it's totally in the class of the prowler, high hopes lots of hype really below par. Go retro, go retro that means run some power and have some suspension etc. It was a waste of the factory's time..

SRT-4 that is a good lil car..

And all mighty was named Bruce and played by Jim Carey

T

RCS 2

Oil leak for over a year with the rear seal giving out 3 days after 2nd repair while driving so it was burning on the exhaust. Finally repaired. Dealer admitted they did not align engine and transmission properly. What else might have been damaged?

Cooling fan started making a loud grinding noise (think damaged after 1st rear seal repair), but official report failed bearings.

Inside heater/AC fan started chirping loudly like a flock of birds.

Several trim pieces break without warning.

Returned one time from dealer 3 quarts low of oil and driven for approximately 500 miles before discovered.

Alarm misfiring for over one year. Due for 4th repair attempt before I trade it.

Low oil light intermittantly on and off.

Loudly rattling heat shield. Dealer finally agreed to replace after 3rd time complaining.

Also off line hesitation which Audi claims is normal for allroad.

45 mph wobble corrected with new tires.

Loudly squeaking drivers seat--frame replaced.

Interior lights that work sometimes and sometimes don't.

Developing fluttering noise on acceleration. Loose heat shield again? Turbo going? Don't have energy to find out. Just going to trade.

I am sure a couple of minor things I cannot remember at the moment.

mazzy

Not one of Carey's funnier roles/ Are you in Milpitas , CA? I'm in SF

roxreps

I too am a 'leaser'. (and that's not a bad word either). I'm coming off a 4 yr. Saab 9-5 lease, and it's a year too late as far as I'm concerned. The first 2.5 years was pretty problem free, but the last 1.5 were not very good. I was never stranded, but I'll tell you, if I had owned this car I'd be very angry. Angry at Saab for putting out such an inferior product, and angry at myself for owning a rapidly depreciating commodity. Hey, when you buy a car for 40K and it's worth only 1/4 of what you paid for it 4 years earlier, you have to be a little angry. I wouldn't mind owning if the product was superior and I could keep it for 10 years, but I don't see that happening anymore. Keep a car that long and you've probably poured a ton of $$$ into it just to keep it going. Maybe I should find myself a slightly used 1971 450 SE...

JB

skidmark

lights work sometimes and not others. i had the same problem and found out that you can't lock the door with the **** on top of door panel. i would rest my arm up there and lock the door and then the lights would not work until you opened the door. had a conversation with someone on a6 board that was doing the same thing. programmed my doors to lock at 10-15 mph and have forgot about it since. i saw your s4 at awe(pretty sure had black hre's on it?) back in apr or may. good luck with it. : )

RCS 2

My lack of faith in it mechanically is certainly caused by inept dealer repairs. It has had its transmission removed three times. At least on the first two times the dealer admits it was not put back together correctly hence the two additional rear seal failures. This coupled with the closest dealer about 90 miles away makes owning this car just too much of a pain. I also forgot on the list that I stopped going to the dealer I bought the car from because on the first service, they didn't know to use the special tool to remove the wheel center caps and marred the first wheel they tried to remove with a crow bar.

So far the only thing that has gone wrong with the S4 was the squeaky glove box that I quickly fixed with velcro. I do have a small coolant leak in one of the air/liquid IC's, but that is from modding and not related to Audi. The S4 is my fun car and I don't have to depend on it. I also will never take it to a dealer for warranty service. Fortunately, it can be down for prolonged periods without hardship. I will never get an Audi or VW product for a daily use vehicle again however. Since I have gotten my allroad, I have met several people that have had Audi's previously. They almost all said they loved the car but hated dealer repairs and would not buy again for that reason. I used to laugh it off, but now I am one of them.

Milpitas2.7T

Yes sir. I'm NorCal, Milpitas for sure.

Troy H

reporting. For instance, because Audi and Merc have free maintenance, something like replacement windshield wipers gets written on the ticket as "Customer states windshield wipers are streaking" to justify your dealership getting reimbursed by Audi after replacing them. In fact, they were probably doing fine, you just happened to ask for new ones since you were in anyway for an oil change. Well, that "Customer states windshield wipers are streaking" is going to get counted as a "hit" and when it's time to tally quality for those surveys, all they look at is Hits per 100,000 Vehicles.

In short, your replacement wiper blades count against Audi as much as replacement turbos. Quality surveys are fun to read, but have little real meaning.

FWIW, my A4 is 55K miles trouble free.

medievalAR

Not sure your reasoning explains the VW/Audi low score.