Reliability for late 90's Audis

[pyroza]

Going to finally be picking up a 1998 A4 2.8 Quattro sedan tomorrow after school that has 104k miles on it. I read reviews online and there seems to be a lot of people that are spending a ton on repairs, especially as they get older and have more miles driven. Does anyone have any experience with these cars that could maybe give me an idea of what to expect?

It's my first car that I will have bought with my own money. I think I got a really good deal on it too (about $2500 below blue book price)

[cam_wmh]

Check out the 'tex.

Here's the Audi B5, forum. Audi A4 1995 - 2001.
http://forums.vwvortex.com/zeroforum?id=26


I've heard reliability issues with the 2.8 V6... Not alot of recent info on that engine in this specific forum for it, but start searching. http://forums.fourtitude.com/zeroforum?id=34

Personally, I'd only go with the 1.8T or the 2.7TT, but it appears you're already sold on it.

Nonetheless, congrats!

[pyroza]

Thanks for the info

And yeah, I'm definitely getting it. At the price I just couldn't resist!

[Casa]

I was really looking at buying one of those. In fact, I almost bought one.
Some things to look for..
- depending on the mileage, is the timing belt done? its VITAL to be done on these cars
- bushings and strut mounts fall apart a lot (do they squeak??
- Audi's are known for their electrical gremlins, so does the sunroof work (common problem), do the window regulators work (another problem), does the climate control work, do the seat warmers work, etc etc. There's lots of little problems that can go wrong.
- Every 2.8L Audi i drove had a clutch issue. Like it wouldn't grab right away than it just CLUNK! grabbed. See what the clutch is like.
- Every audi i drove had the CEL on haha, and I drove 4 of them. Have it cleared before you buy.
- I'd get maintainence history on one of these, or you could be inheriting someone's problems, its the only way to go with a used Audi.
Good luck with them, these are basically a jazzed up Passat, and they're unreliable, but good cars in the winter. From all my reading on various forums and reviews, expect to have little things go wrong constantly.

[sillysod]

2.8L is a lot better to buy used as they are more robust than the 1.8T's.

The 1.8T's have a lot of problems if you don't run synthetic in them and a lot of people didn't. The 1.8T can be easily modded where as the 2.8 isn't practical to mess with.

Most 2.8's use a little oil, but it shouldn't be more than 1L per 5000km or so. Expect it to suck on gas mileage.

The 2.8 should be pretty problem free for you if you get it properly inspected first. My buddy has 290,000kms on his 99 2.8 Automatic.