Hello everyone. Let me first apologize for the long post.

A little about me.
36 yrs old, married, got two boys (15 yrs. (stepson) and 12 yrs. (mine)) I curently own a '03 Nissan Murano and '98 Grand Prix GTP. The GTP is slightly modded (smaller s.c. pulley, CAI, exhaust, and a few other things).

Why I'm looking at the A4?
My GTP has 152K miles and falling apart....fast. To be honest, I've had the car almost 5 years now and it has had issues from the beginning. The only reason I didn't get rid of it right away is, I got the car dirt cheap so I figured...what the heck. The quality/craftsmanship on this car is a joke and it's not just mine. I am a member at ClubGP and a few other Grand Prix sites and like I said.......quality is crap. Now my Murano, on the other hand, has been absolutely perfect. I bought that brand new in '03 with only 8 miles on the clock and the only time it's been to the Nissan dealer is to get the scheduled services done.

So, with that said, my hunt for a replacement car started a few moths ago. The wife and I decided not to go new because we're getting a new house in two years so saving is more of a priority. We agreed that my budget would be no more than 10K but she would like to see me spend around $7-8k.

I have spent every lunch hour and free time researching cars on the net and actually test driving on the weekends. To my dissapointment, many of the cars I liked had issues that I felt were not worth taking a risk on.

For example:
99-01 Acura TL: Tranmission probelms. So much so, that Acura now has an extended 100K, 7 year warranty on those model years. I think the Acura CL might be involved. I know that every car is not going to fail but I can't imagine me drving this car and wanting to mash on the pedal every once and while with the thought of the tranny dumping on me. It would take the enjoyment of spirited driving, away from me.

97+ Mitsubishi Diamante: Problems with heater cores and it's about $1000 to repair and the worst part is....there's a good chance that it won't completely take care of the issue. I actually test drove a 99 a few days ago. No cold air was coming out of the AC and the SRS light was on. See ya!!!

94-98 Lexus Sc300 or GS300: Honestly, from the research I have done, these are very, very, reliable cars. I test drove an SC300 yesterday afternoon. Nice car but the SC (coupe) was too small. I haven't tried the GS yet, but the years that I like (98+) are a little out of my $$ range.

There are a few others.....not worth mentioning.

Now comes the A4. I've always liked the style and interiors so I decided that it's time for me to research.

For the short time that I've surfed this Audi Board, I would have to say that I'm impressed. Doesn't seem to be any "major" issues, so far. I've read the timing belt issue but that doesn't concern me too much. All cars need servicing at some point.

I really think that the A4 (97-99) will be my next car. I will be test driving one this Saturday.

Got a couple of questions for you guys.
I don't plan on modding the engine but most likely appearance mods.
Any have preference between the 1.8 and the 6 cyclinder?

And, as I was typing up this post, a friend of mine came by me (he's a gear head) and mentioned that he thought Audis had electrical issues. Any input on this would be appreciated.

TIA and once again, sorry for the long post.

Orlando

 

If you search you'll see some of the common things. If you're not modding the V6 seems to be the consensus, a little more reliable and such. The control arms are a big thing, there's a service bulletin on them. Listen for squeaking. Oil sludge in the 1.8T is something you need to look for. I'm a newb myself, but they seem to be a couple main concerns, a search will turn up more and better info. Welcome to the forums and good luck with the car search. I just bought a 98 1.8T manual and couldn't be happier!

 

At this point modding isn't my priority.

The items you listed above are the things that I have been noticing so far.

I'm compiling a list so that when I take a test drive, I'll be on the look-out.

 

Good plan, there's a wealth of information, and if you can't find what you're looking for there are plenty of people here that are extremely knowledgeable(sp?). Like I said, people seem to suggest going for the V6 if you aren't going to mod, so you might want to look for one. When I was looking I found that the V6 was much easier to find than the 1.8 so that should help you in your search. Again, welcome and good luck.

 

Hey welcome to the forum. Seems as though outsiders to the Audi world think that they have electrical problems. It's really just not the case. We rarely see these types of problems. The biggest problem I would say is the timing belt, followed by suspension problems (control arms/tie rods).

 

yeah jest ive heard numerous people complain of audis and their electrical problems. the thing is they dont own an audi...

 

Exactly. Audi's did have a bad run a few years back in the early 90's but they are past that now.

 

welcome to the forum

 

Thanks for the welcome.

Well, I test drove a 98' 6 cylinder 5 speed this afternoon. It was a peppy car and the only thing I found to be an issue was the suspension.

The car was a little "floaty" and it creaked a lot.

It wasn't my intention to buy that particular car......I just wanted to get a feel for it.

It's not as torquey or as quick as my GTP but it moved pretty well.

The test drive was good enough for me to seriously look for a low mileage 5 speed. Now I just need to test drive the 1.8 to see which one I like better.

 

The creaking might be a problem. As for being floaty, you could always upgrade with aftermarket springs. I assume it wasn't a sport?