I dunno, I phoned BMW and talked to their serice manager for about 25 minutes... I was looking at a 98 M3 (red on ivory, mmm!) at the time... and wanted to know what I was getting into.

Their service prices are really cool... they have set prices for everything... so like, clutch was 548.94 parts & labour (im making this # up, but you get the idea). It was very painless, and honestly, their prices were very very reasonable.

I ended up tearing myself away from the M3... I couldnt deal with RWD through our winters. Dont get me wrong though, I love the a4... but the m3 is pretty wild.

 

the cruise control is usually just a bad electrical connection in the switch, many people have been able to fix it simply by spraying some electrical contact cleaner onto the switch...you can also remove the switch and clean it more thoroughly if that doesn't work....

test drive tips....

 

Thanks Bent. I'm getting the Bentley manuals soon. I got a taste of the level of detail they provide. Makes Haynes look like a complete joke. I may try and tackle some of those things once I get the manuals. In the mean time.....as long as it gets me to work....

 

I bought my '00 A4 1.8t two years ago while working at a dealership. It was a lease vehicle. The only thing wrong with the car then and now is the LED screen does not read well when when the interior of the car is warm...say around 70 or so. In the cold it is fine.
There have been not problems with the car and I love that it tells me about my maintinence. It is a beautiful car. It is Silver and has the Silver accents in the interior and a tip shift steering wheel. I have added the sport sway bars but other than that the car is stock with 41,314 miles.
I am however selling it. My fiance's Mother passed away one month ago and she has returned to her home in Guatemala so I am selling it becuase I dont need two cars. I would prefer to keep it but at current, with the loss of her income, I have to reduce my epenses and my Acura is paid for.

It is funny that you posted this. I was just speaking to her about the things I have read in Consumer reports on the car. In fact, a guy at my church, one of those know-it-alls, told me I should have bought a Honda or Toyota. Having worked for BMW and Mercedes I can tell you that those other cars don't compare to the craftsmanship of the Audi. Unlike the BMW's they don't have the nit picky problems. The y are made in Inglestadt Germany at a state of the art fully automated plant.
If you want to entertain yourself, take a protracter and measure the gaps of the seems in the Audi. You will find that they are similar to Lexus and Mercedes with fitmanship. Also, the 1.8t was the first and one of the only Ultra Low Emissions Vehicles. The 2000 meets the CARB standard for cars made in 2005. This means the car is very efficient. Also it is drive my wire, easy to maintain once you purchase a VAG and damn good looking.

If anyone is interested I am starting my price at 14, 825.00.

 

one more thing...they are one of the highest rated cars on crash test and my 2000 is about the same in insurance as my 91 integra.

 

Where are you from headshok? I'm from Colorado, and we get quite a bit of snow and ice.

AWOL, great info, thanks a ton.

 

I have had a 98 A4 2.8 Q and now drive a 02 A4 B6 1.8T Q. The first A4 at around 70k suddenly started leaking power steering fluid and coolant. I ended up paying around 1700 for to get the powersteering fixed and had to buy a new radiator before I could sell it. My new A4 has been pretty good over the past 3 years. I now have 77k on it. I just got it back from the bodyshop after 25 days today. Some A$$hole slammed his GMC into my passenger side fender/headlight/bumper did $5500 in damage. Anyway, I had the bodyshop paint the lower skirts all black like the 03-05 models and now the car looks great. But, I have recently started having problems with this car leaking coolant too. Turns out, it is leaking out of some seal behind the engine near the shifter. The mechanic told me they are going to have to disassemble half of the engine just to get to it. Thank God I got an extended warranty at 40K(after my last Audi, I didn't want to take that chance again). I've also noticed a little slippage/jerkiness when I accelerate. As far as I know, thats very unusual since I have a 5 spd stick. To add to that other guy's comment about insurance, I only pay $366 every six months with State Farm.

 

u most be one safe driver to pay 366 for 6 months
is this full coverage

 

This is a quote from
February 22, 2005
AUDI AG Annual Press Conference:
Speech by Prof. Dr. Martin Winterkorn, Chairman of the Board of Management of AUDI AG
Source: Audi AG
"We have launched a company-wide programme to further strengthen our core competences in the area of vehicle development. We are convinced that the expertise of our Development Division in Neckarsulm and Ingolstadt is one of our major competitive advantages. This also means not depending on our suppliers alone to provide engineering expertise, but also further extending our own competence in this field. We promote and demand experts and specialist knowledge within our own team. This applies, for example, to engine technology and lightweight design. But in particular to the field of vehicle electronics in which we have already taken appropriate action with our new Electronics Centre with its 800 employees. And this is already paying dividends – the new A6 has fewer problems with its on-board electronics than practically any other technologically so sophisticated car before it."

I recently did a research paper on Audi AG for a business class and visited the factory in Ingolstadt this summer. The company is truly impressive from every aspect. I'm not that much more proud to be an Audi driver.

 

Rush, I also live in CO. I lived in Evergreen for 3 years on an unmaintained road with a steep switch-back. The Audi AWD performs spectacularly. Even through multiple feet of snow, I was able to make it to my house. I've never been stuck (except for the blizzard of '03). We had 7' of snow. I was standing in my driveway, bent down by my feet and dug down to the roof of the car. Yeah....it was stuck then. I still live in the mountains and would take Audi's AWD over most 4WD any day. Just make sure you have good tires. The one thing that would be most useful for my driving conditions is more ground clearance. If you aren't in the mountains, that shouldn't be an issue for you.