Audi reliability - impressions

firefly08

Just a thought I had - maybe there is nothing to it. I was wondering, what is your opinion of the reliability of Audis? The reason I ask is because I recently moved to the US, and have bought an '98 Audi A6. Now anyone I talk to from back home seems to think these are great cars. But here in the US Audis have a reputation for being very troublesome. I'm pretty sure the cars are largely the same as their European counterparts.

I wonder if it's a case that Americans just don't know how to maintain a European car - for instance, according to a lot of people I've talked to here, most American cars don't burn oil, so they don't check it very often. And they never get timing belts/chains replaced either. You can pretty much neglect an American big-block engine and not have any trouble.

Or is it that they really are very unreliable, but we don't realize it because they used to be great? (think VW/Opel). I've talked to one or two folks back home who say, "Well, my Audi has loads of problems, but I was just unlucky - they're really great usually"

What made me wonder even more is that Subaru Outbacks (which are very popular here) are notorious in America for head gasket failures. Surely there is something wrong here? Back home, Subarus are famous for their toughness. Is there something about the lifestyle here or the way they look after cars here that just wrecks them?

Heroditas

My A4 gave me so much trouble I got rid of it before I'd even had it a year.

jaffa20

Eh, My audi a3 is giving a problem since i bought it by revving itself. Don't think it can be fixed. MSL couldn't help and more or less everything has been checked/replaced. I guess they are pretty reliable until it comes to electronics.:mad:

mickdw

Ive relatives in america and they certainly dont rate audi like they would bmw & mercedes. They tend to like vw too. Strange i think Audi in general is no better or worse than most. The older Audis in my opinion were an unbelieveably reliable & durable car but current ones are just like everything else

kyote00

I think the big problems that afflict cars today cut across all brands...the top four for me are:

- turbo failure
- dmf failure
- maf failure
- high pressure common rail injection system problems

Couple this with the expense of regular timing belt changes, then the cost of motoring has certainly not reduced

If there was a diesel car that was bullet proof in these areas then I could buy it...

mike65

There were nonsense stories about the 1980s Audis - the so called Audi 5000 (100) esp. The average Yank runs thier car on cheap fuel (rated 91 euro equivalent) then wonder why euro cars designed for 95 RON run a bit lumpy.

spree

I worked with some one who lived and worked in the us for ten years, what he said was they would do alot more mileage per year than over here so i suppose that would have a major effect across most makes.

unkel

mike65 wrote: »

There were nonsense stories about the 1980s Audis - the so called Audi 5000 (100) esp. The average Yank runs thier car on cheap fuel (rated 91 euro equivalent) then wonder why euro cars designed for 95 RON run a bit lumpy.

Yep and the BMW Nikasil debacle in the 90s. Perfectly fine engines killed by dirty cheap high sulphur petrol. Not a single case of this disease anywhere else in the world (except some parts of Britain where they used dirty North Sea oil as the source for petrol)

firefly08

All very good points. I had thought about the mileage - they do drive a lot over here - I think that must be a factor, because it's not just more miles, it's usually a lot more urban driving, which causes a lot more wear.

I hadn't really thought much about the fuel octane rating. Like most people, I always assumed that that was just the energy content of the fuel. From googling the subject I realize that it's to do with the compression the fuel can withstand before it explodes, so low octane fuel in a car designed for high octane will actually burn too soon and the engine won't run smoothly.

The A6 I just bought has 170K miles and it drives perfectly. No mechanical issues and everything electrical works. I hope I haven't spoken too soon :eek:

I'll be putting the best gas I can get in it from now on, that's for sure!

unkel

firefly08 wrote: »

The A6 I just bought has 170K miles

Out of interest - what engine does it have (2.4 V6?) and how much did you pay for it?

galwaytt

..the fuel is certainly an issue.

In the South, coolant systems get a hard time, and the engines have no tolerance for overheating.

My sis loved VAG's in the states, but too much grief - she had a Jetta (Bora to us) and a Passat (1.8t), both new. In the end, gave up and bought a Honda.

In general, Audi's, like a lot of other prestige marques, have lost their way a bit in recent years..........

O/T, had a (very, very) brief spin in a new Mondeo Titanium yesterday. Bloomin' hell, who'd have thought - very, very nice. Impressed. Good value, too: an 09 for 21k ?

firefly08

Out of interest - what engine does it have (2.4 V6?) and how much did you pay for it?

It's the 2.8 V6. I paid 3250 USD in a private sale. Actually, if the engine was any smaller it would be underpowered. It's not that quick. There were a few 2.7T and one 4.2 V8 knocking around at the time but I didn't want to stretch my budget.

Cars are so cheap here though. You could buy an S4 of the same year for 8 or 9K, the equivalent of about 6.5K euros.

quattro777

Audi's main problem in the US was a 60 Minutes news report in the 1980's which showed faked footage an Audi 5000 suffering from a supposed problem of "unintended acceleration" when the brake pedal was pushed, and emotional interviews with six people who had sued Audi after they crashed their cars. This decimated Audi's market share overnight.
Independent investigators concluded there was no mechanical problem, and driver error, partially due to drivers not paying attention to the closer placement of the accelerator and brake pedals than some American cars. The difference was partially attributed to European driver's preferences for smoother heel and toe driving techniques.
This did not become an issue in Europe, possibly due to more widespread experience among European drivers with manual transmissions.

Many people in the US still remember this as fact and the brand has still not fully recovered from it.

imeddyhobbs

The 1.8T engine seizure debacle did terrible harm to their reputation (exacerbated by long service intervals routinely pushed well beyond their fine limits) and the often fitted Multichronic CVT auto box has been causing awful problems in the US but you have to remember that Americans do have a habit of complaining BUT the Japanese cars they often buy are a lot more reliable.