Hello everyone.

I currently own a 2001 Honda Accord 4cyl with about 228k miles on it. The transmission is starting to go, and even with new spark plugs, fresh belts (6 months old), she has trouble getting past 65 on a slight incline here in the Bay Area down the 24 and through the Caldecott Tunnel into Oakland. So needless to say, its time for a new car. Before going further, here are my driving stats:

--Commuter with 95% Highway driving at 71 miles roundtrip 5 days a week. Most of that highway is stop and go for about 20 miles.
--Heavy driver on weekends, will probably reduce that when a new car is purchased.
--Frequent trips from the SF Bay Area to SoCal at 85+ down I-5
--Expect about 8-10 years out of my next car I purchase

I recently got into a 2015 A3, and while it was nicely equipped, it was a bit out of my price range with the options desired. I was then shown a used A4 with around 45k miles on it, Black with tan interior, with the Nav, rear camera, and a 2.0 quattro setup. The dealer was asking $28,756 for it which is right at the cusp of my budget of $29k. While I wasnt ready that day to put down for a car, the more I think of it, the more an Audi sounds like a fun car to have, although I do have some questions.

1) Coming from a Honda, what should I realistically expect to pay for maintenance and repair costs on the A4 down the road?

2) Am I able to stream music from my iPhone via bluetooth on a 2011-2012 A4 model with the nav package? I only noticed a connection port in the glovebox and the salesman couldn't elaborate much on the tech features. While its certainly not a deal breaker, it is a nice feature to have and keep the phone within easy reach.

3) Any other facts, suggestions, tings I should know about this particular model before exploring further?

Thank you for your help and suggestions.

Sean

 

I recently bought a 2011 A4 quattro with about 40k miles on it and I couldn't be happier so far. I'm not sure if the Nav package adds bluetooth capability, but I can tell you that the package I have does not have bluetooth capability. Also, I think you should be able to talk him down to at least 25k. Picked mine up for 22

 

Condor90, I am looking at a 2011 this weekend. Have you had any issues with excess oil consumption??

 

I recently bought a 2011 A4 Quattro (like last Tuesday recent). While I realize that I'm still in the "honeymoon" phase, I absolutely love it. I bought CPO and it has just a bit over 33k miles. I agree with Condor90 that you can probably get it down into the $25k range, as I paid a little over $26k with the extended warranty (bumper to bumper 8 yrs/100k miles). I opted for CPO and extended warranty mainly for that reassurance of expensive repairs, although I'm expecting to see a hit to the budget on standard maintenance and higher fuel costs for premium gasoline (compared to my former F-150).

It does have the Premium Plus package with Nav, Bluetooth, and Bang & Olufsen sound system. In regards to streaming music over Bluetooth, that is what actually led me to this article. It doesn't support it that I can find; only through the AMI connector in the glovebox. Although, all reviews point to the as a suitable alternative. Apparently it doesn't interfere with the car's native bluetooth dialing either.

 

Best bet is stay away from the CAEB engine in the 09-2011 A4's

 

I bought the 2011 A4 2.0T, with 99+k miles. Just returned from a 5-day, 2400 trip to FL. Car performed flawlessly and did not burn any oil (checked via MMI and dipstick). Returned 30.8 mpg overall (calculated manually) with a best of 32.5 doing 75-80 mph on cruise. I do not have an iPod, but burned about 18 albums into an SDHC and it lasted 33 hours. No real need for anything else, especially with another 13Gb potentially available on the SDHC.


As far as repairs, I can only answer based on my 2003s. They take premium gas but will happily run on mid-range. I usually alternate 1/2 tanks. Full brake jobs run about a grand vs $700 for my wife's Mercury Milan, so not a huge difference. Fuel pump for the A6 was recently $800. And full synthetic oil changes every 8-10k are obviously more than regular oil, but the change interval is generally longer. I would put the repair premium at 20-25% more, but the car has many more features than a non-luxury vehicle. More features, more can go wrong. But the car is very comfortable and well appointed. People will admire an A4; who looks twice at a Honda, Toyota, or Milan?


That said, I am an OOOO bigot and own three of them at the moment.