B5 S4 reliability
08-22-2005, 04:48 PM
#11
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As others have said, reliable = not really high quality = yes
That is why it can be such a love/hate relationship. When it runs it is a GREAT car. It has class, style, functionality, performance, and quattro. But when it DOESN't run and your wallet starts to get the life bled out of it, you'll question why you ever bought the thing to begin with.
08-22-2005, 04:55 PM
#12
Every car from every brand has its "quirks".....
...some people have been very lucky and ended up with some damn reliable S4s (me for example). While others have had the exact opposite outcome. It realy is a roll of the dice with these cars. Best thing you can do is make sure you can afford the car, when /if things go bad.
Remember, the people posting here represent a very small portion of the total S4 owners world wide. And not only that, but people tend to speak up only when things go wrong.
Remember, the people posting here represent a very small portion of the total S4 owners world wide. And not only that, but people tend to speak up only when things go wrong.
08-22-2005, 05:05 PM
#14
Buying an S4 for reliability is like marrying a stripper because she'd make a good mother...
Better analogy, IMO. The S4 is a sexy car (nice to look at and great performer), but it will spend significant time in the shop and will cost more than most cars to fix/maintain. Reliability is not a strong point, no matter what any Audi salespeople might say. I don't know of any examples of cars that are high performance and don't require a lot of maint or are high on the reliability scale. The most reliable cars have relatively unstressed engines and do not push the envelope with any facet of design, style or performance (gross generalization here, I admit). For instance, I bought a '97 Taurus in 2002 for my kid w/ 156k on the clock. Was vastly more reliable than my '02 S4 over the next 35k miles. There are exceptions to every rule as well.
08-22-2005, 06:34 PM
#16
Compared to what? Toyota: NO, Porsche: YES
New Audi's seem to be getting better (I'm on my 6th). My first S4 (a '92) had virtually no problems and I drove the whee out of it for over 150,000 miles before I sold it.
My first S4 Avant (2001) had wheel bearing, clutch, engine mount and various electrical gremlins over only 47,000 miles.
My current S4 Avant (2002) has been totally reliable (knock, knock, knock on wood) over 28,000 miles so far.
It's high-performance. If you mod it, you may stress it beyond the design envelope. It seems to have less "head-room" for mods than some other performance brands.
Just my $.02
My first S4 Avant (2001) had wheel bearing, clutch, engine mount and various electrical gremlins over only 47,000 miles.
My current S4 Avant (2002) has been totally reliable (knock, knock, knock on wood) over 28,000 miles so far.
It's high-performance. If you mod it, you may stress it beyond the design envelope. It seems to have less "head-room" for mods than some other performance brands.
Just my $.02
08-23-2005, 05:29 AM
#19
I'm bone stock - that $19k+ worth of warranty work is no BS (but that's at list price).
I am one of the unlucky ones; the exception on the bad end of the scale - you are on the good end of the scale.
