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Audi A4 2004 and earlier

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Comments

  • andys120andys120 Member Posts: 23,370

    Are Audi A4 Parts a lot more expensive than Toyota parts,etc if something happens with the car?


    I don't know enough about Toyota's parts prices to know how they compare to Audi's. I'll just say Audi parts aren't cheap and an Audi is likely to need repairs/replacements more often than a Toyota.

    I went 120,000 on my '98 A4 Avant with no major breakdowns but I don't know if it's a good first car for a person of modest means.

    2001 BMW 330ci/E46, 2008 BMW 335i conv/E93

  • a4quattroa4quattro Member Posts: 3
    We have a 2004 Toyota Sienna and it has been a piece of .... well you can fill in the blank. New brake pads constantly, 3 sets of tires in 40,000 miles (I think the dealer is not rotating them, but saying they are and we are paying for it) and trying to gouge us to buy their way-over-priced tires. Seat back falls off repeatedly off driver's side seat, sheet metal must be made of tin...dings easily and full of dings now. My 2003 audi a4 looks absolutely like new, while our year newer Sienna looks like it is ready for the bone yard. No more toyotas here.
  • gciaccia36gciaccia36 Member Posts: 2
    I have an 2003 Audi A4 Cab w/36,000 miles that I cannot drive b/c the transmission died. Has anyone else experienced this? I'm trying to work with Audi, but they are giving me no support b/c my warranty just expired. I hit the 4 year mark on 4/18/2007. I would love to know if I'm the only sucker out there that this happened to. Cheers!
  • 204meca204meca Member Posts: 369
    2004 A4 1.8, CVT, 41K. Car has been great so far. For the past few months we occasionally rarely actually) hear a medium pitched hum that seems to be coming from the back of the car. The sound does not change whether moving or still, at idle or acceleration & does seem to affect the performance of the car. If we turn the engine off & restart, it usually is not there.

    I am thinking fuel pump, but all the posts I have read about fuel pump failures seem to imply that it just dies without warning. We have an appointment for the dealer, but the sound is so intermittant that I am concerned it would show up at the dealer. Any ideas?
  • rowlandjrowlandj Member Posts: 254
    A change of the fuel filter may be all that's needed. As the filter becomes dirty it develops more resistance; causing the pump to work a bit harder and produces the hum that you are hearing. If you have the filter changed out it may be sufficient to relieve the pressure and therefore eliminate the noise.

    Good luck and let us know how it works out.
  • konocar400hkonocar400h Member Posts: 10
    I'm looking for a used A4 for my son, and was just wondering on what model year was the best. I was also wondering if the pre 2002 models had curtain airbags. I would hope to buy it for under $15000. Any and all advice would be appreciated
  • 204meca204meca Member Posts: 369
    I have a 2004 A4 w 42K miles. While trying to quickly adjust a mirror, my control popped thru the hole & into the armrest. When I took it in the service associate gal said, "I have seen lots of these, you will need a new switch." When I picked it up, the service manager said he did not think it would be covered under the warranty and that he had never seen this problem before.. HUMM - who is speaking the truth here???

    Has anyone seen this problem? Seems to me that it should be covered under the warranty. Any suggestions?

    Other than the recently posted noise problem that was quickly resolved by having the fuel filter replaced (under warrantly, no questions) our A4 has been pretty problem free --- so far. Thanks.
  • blueezesblueezes Member Posts: 1
    I've recently experienced knocking in my engine and my check oil light is beeping every minute. My mechanic is telling me that there is a sludge problem in older Audi's but he doesn't believe that can be the problem since there is better gasoline going in cars today.Has anyone experienced this and what can be done?
  • wanderingtexwanderingtex Member Posts: 1
    My wife & I just got back from the dealer, and have put down a deposit on a 2003 A4 3.0 quattro with 59,000 miles. We shopped & drove similar age/mileage BMW 325i and G35s, and found this car listed for $15,500 at an Audi dealer -- which seemed like a very competitive price (particularly from a dealer.) I wanted a quattro as we are moving to Colorado in a few weeks. When we got there, the salesman said they had just got it from an auction, and it wasn't even clean yet. I said fine -- we're willing to look. I figured that its current condition was a better indicator of how it was maintained anyway. Car drove great, everything worked, etc. We were thinking it over when the salesman said he would talk to manager. He comes back & gives me "I have good news & bad news" spiel. I'm thinking -- here it comes. He says good news is they are going to "certify" the car (it was initially presented & advertised "as is," no warranty), providing the 2 year, up to 100k coverage. Now I wait for the "bad news" -- expecting the dealer to claim a "pricing mistake" or that the "certified" price is $2-3k more. Nope - he says that they have to detail & inspect it, and fix a couple of dings before they will let us have it, and it "won't be ready today" -- but can we pick it up Monday? That was the "bad news". I was considering buying it at $15.5k as is, and they certified it for nothing. Sold. So unless they discover some big problem during the inspection, I am back in the Audi club. I had a '98 A4 1.8T manual I bought new, and drove 60,000 miles with almost zero problems -- one dealer trip for a steering issue when turning the wheel in reverse, fixed under waranty -- not so much as a burned out bulb or fuse other than that in 3 years. But my wife got hit in the front left corner by a truck at stoplight, and it never seemed "right" after, so I sold it.

    Hope we have good luck with this one.
  • rowlandjrowlandj Member Posts: 254
    It's oil, not fuel, that causes the sludge issue on the 1.8T engines. A combination of non-synthetic oils with extended intervals caused this to occur over time.

    If you have records for all the maintenance for that vehicle I suggest getting it to a dealer immediately to see how bad the sludge may be. I believe there is a recall related to this, but good maintenance records are critical. Mostly I have heard that they 'clean things up' and all is OK, but let them cover the expense if possible.

    Any mechanic who is considering gasoline as the potential cause of engine oil sludge is suspect in terms of competence as far as I am concerned.
  • 204meca204meca Member Posts: 369
    Happy to report that I called the dealer back & requested repair under warranty. Got it done with no fuss.
  • audia4newbieaudia4newbie Member Posts: 1
    Hi Everyone,

    I tried to search the forums as I am new to this site, but wasn't able to find a similiar post.

    I bought a 96 A4 2.6 this summer, and it has been great...though I am having trouble now that winter has actually returned to MN. About a month ago I was exiting the hwy, breaking around the off ramp, when the rpms just dropped to nothing. It completely stalled. Glad the steering wheel still functioned and that there wasn't anyone behind me. The weather changed to 30 degrees to 0 by the end of that day.

    Didn't have an issue again, but still took it into a precision tune and the error code showed it was a plug on cylinder 5. They made the repair and everything was fine, until this morning, when it was minus 15 overnight. Actually had to get a jump. Drove fine into work, until I got a few blocks away and was at a stoplight. The RPMs started to hover around 500, it would rev back up to 1K and then finally stalled.

    Anyone else experienced this? Cold Temperatures seem to be a factor.

    Apologize for the long post, but wanted to give you as much info as possible.

    Thanks!

    AJ
  • turbofunturbofun Member Posts: 1
    I want to share my Audi A4 lease termination experience so others can learn from my mistake. Having had a positive experience with an A6 lease via Seattle’s University Audi, I decided to lease my second Audi in 2004, this time, an A4.

    One month before the end of the lease, I went through the lease termination inspection. Got dinged for $1300 items: a door ding for $125, two scratched wheels at $276 each, and a couple other things I wouldn’t challenge. I live in the city and to me, scratched rims and door dings are normal wear and tear. However, this is not Audi’s position, thus there was no negotiation. It was not a positive experience dealing with Audi Finance. I found them arrogant and ambivalent. I thought that customer retention would matter to them. My misunderstanding.

    My car had low miles (27K for 4 y/o car) and was in good condition; no problems to date. It also had a low residual, so I thought that if I were going to have to pay an additional $1,300 to relieve myself of the car, perhaps I should consider purchasing it or at least have someone I know purchase it. It was a good car; good price; made sense.

    Very close to the end of the contract, I took the car in for a service inspection to make sure there was nothing glaringly wrong with it before purchase. When I checked in with the service department that day, I was told it was going to be $200 for the inspection. Huh? Then the service rep told me the car was out of warranty. What? The lease isn’t up yet. Yep, the warranty had expired three days prior. Steaming, I told them to go ahead and do the inspection.

    Turns out the power steering rack was going out (as well as a couple of less major things) and it was going to be about $2,500 to repair it. Well, clearly, Audi isn’t going to want this car back with such a serious problem. A conversation with the district warranty manager should give us clearance to repair it under warranty. Nope, they wouldn’t do it. That decision was completely illogical to me, regardless of you'd run the numbers. They’d rather take it back, ship it off to auction and drop the car “as is” on some unsuspecting buyer. Again, a warranty department that has no interest in customer retention either.

    (So, head’s up if you are a recent purchaser of a dark blue Audi A4 VIN WAULT68E94A011017)

    And my sales guy, who I’ve bought two Audis from, was no where to be seen through this process, although I know he was aware of what was happening. He too was completely uninterested in retaining me as a customer. In fact, my comment to the Sales Manager (Ivan Velkov) at University Audi was “across the Audi corporation there is universal disinterest in keeping me as a customer.”

    I could provide more details to this story that would better reflect the how silly it all was, but for brevity’s sake, I won’t. Suffice it to say, Audis are selling well these days. Don’t be surprised if you don’t matter to them. I have been a European car owner for over 30 years. They’re great cars. I still have one. However, I did just purchase my first Japanese car. It’s a blast.
  • andys120andys120 Member Posts: 23,370
    I've learned two things from your post-

    -First it's a bad idea to lease unless you're prepared to pay thru the nose for normal wear and tear at the end of the lease.

    -Audi could use a more Customer-oriented dealer network. Actually I knew that from my prior experience as an Audi owner. I would urge owners to seek out an independent shop for all non-warranty maintainence and repair work as I did, it's much cheaper. Independent VW specialists can handle most work on Audis as well.

    Great cars, so-so dealers.

    Turbofan should have been aware that the warranty period is normally determined
    by age and mileage, not the length of the lease.

    2001 BMW 330ci/E46, 2008 BMW 335i conv/E93

  • niner1niner1 Member Posts: 1
    Experiencing similar customer retention issues with my low mileage 03 A4 3.0Q. I got tired of turning in cars on Audi's terms and getting hit up for normal wear and tear so I decided to buy this one. For the past two years I have been plagued with inexplicable dead batteries, or failures to start because the key sensor wouldn't recognize my key. I never got an argument from the service department in regard to replacing defective lock cylinders under warranty (or covering repeats of the same repairs after warranty), but the service department refused to look deeper and ask the question as to why the recurring problem, nor did they care that I was repeatedly inconvenienced. The details of my story are a case study for Audi customer care, and I won't bore you with the play by play, but I too found they could care less about my customer experience. I raised my issue with Audi North America Customer Advocates... they suggested that I should talk to the sales manager to see if I could negotiate a deal on a new car. I drove my Audi loaner to the Infiniti dealer tonight.. I'm negotiating a deal on a new car, but its a G35X. I wanted to make it work with Audi, but it became evident that loyalty is a one way street with them.
  • newcombenewcombe Member Posts: 2
    Hello, Please bear with me as am not really any good at these forums. They really are new to me, No excuse. Please could someone tell me if their are any modifications available at all for my Audi? I know the engine is getting on a bit now? but i really love the car.I have read in other places that its not worth attepting any air flow mods, And i know this first hand, as racing filters actually decrease power.Can the engine be mapped? is it to old. is there any good exhaust systems available??Is their any turbos i might be able to add(+coolant system!)
    My naive brain would have thought i might have been able to squeeze close to 200bhp
    out of her instead of the current 150,although am under no illusions a few horses will have escaped over the years. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
  • andys120andys120 Member Posts: 23,370
    You haven't recieved any replies because most of us are Yanks and AFAIK Audi has never offerred a 2.6 for North America. IIRC there was a 170hp 2.7 in the Audi 90 (an underrated car) and the 193hp 2.8 that was in my A4/B5s.

    Very little in the way of performance mods was offered for the 2.8. Be aware that any mods, with the possible exception of a free-flowing exhaust system will adversely affect your gas mileage as I understand UK petrol prices are horrendous.

    You might try www.audiworld.com, best of luck.

    2001 BMW 330ci/E46, 2008 BMW 335i conv/E93

  • newcombenewcombe Member Posts: 2
    You are correct. Petrol is now £1.25 per liter.Thank you for the advise it is sincerely appreciated.
  • rb6prb6p Member Posts: 1
    sorry to have to post such a neophyte question, but I don't know where else to look.

    After lots of searching, I found an excellent deal on a 2001 a4 for relatively low mileage. I'm pretty clueless about cars, and aside from obvious issues during a test drive I'll most likely overlook significant red flags.

    How does one go about arranging an evaluation by an audi service center? And how much will it cost me?

    Thanks in advance for any clarification.
  • andys120andys120 Member Posts: 23,370
    It should be as simple as calling the Service Dept. and making an appointment. It's about an hour's work, the going rate in most places is about $85-$100/hr.

    An independent Audi/VW tech might do it for less, good luck..

    2001 BMW 330ci/E46, 2008 BMW 335i conv/E93

  • sarnmansarnman Member Posts: 5
    Does anyone know when Audi started using synthetic oil in their engines from the start? I just bought a 2004 A4 1.8t (34k miles) and am hoping to avoid the dreaded sludge problem. The salesmen told me it has always had synthetic but I'm not sure. Thanks.
  • richb1richb1 Member Posts: 9
    Anyone else having this issue? It appears that the driver's seat has developed a "hot spot" for lack of a better description. It's located under the right thigh area and gets uncomfortably hot, even at setting 3. I can imagine what Audi would charge for repair, and I suppose I can do without it, although I certainly will miss the warmth ! Any suggestions?
  • kneisl1kneisl1 Member Posts: 1,694
    I have just purchased a used Audi Cabriolet 1997 model. I paid $5500 and the car has 99k miles on it. The origional owner garaged it and had service receipts showing a pretty impressive service history including brakes all around and timing belt/water pump done when the car had 88k on it. The family all came out to say goodbye to it with tears in their eyes as we drove away!
    We plan to drive this car maybe 2-3k miles a year. Its a luxury for us. Hoping to share my experiences with others here! Im on audiworld also and if you know of any other sites for the Audi Cabriolet please do tell!
  • maplecreekmaplecreek Member Posts: 1
    I have a 98 A4 1.8 Quattro . It runs great and has great stability (no sway of drift) however when I encounter a little ice of slippery roads the it wants to sway out of control. I believe it may be a problem with the ESC but I am not sure. Anyone have a simiiar issue .. Please advise
  • andys120andys120 Member Posts: 23,370
    I believe it may be a problem with the ESC but I am not sure

    Tires? Something's wrong my A4 was as stable as anything on icy roads.

    2001 BMW 330ci/E46, 2008 BMW 335i conv/E93

  • jebtdijebtdi Member Posts: 5
    I have a 2001 Audi A4 1.9 TDi (turbo diesel) Quattro wagon, which is almost perfect, except for an impossibly foggy, drippy, even iced windshield, that cannot be cleared.
    I've tried everything, AC on, high heat with full defrost fan, nothing works. (In fact the entire car is like a rainforest whenever the temp drops below +3 deg C, and is often worst around 0 deg C).

    Service has changed the filter, checked for leaves in the system, and other obvious fixes – and no fix. They're clueless, no ideas.
    I heard something about a broken (puctured) heater core, which would leak anti-freeze and blow a mist of it onto the windshield. But we have plenty of heat, no problem. Any ideas??? Please help, this is dangerous. Thx.
  • michael105michael105 Member Posts: 5
    Hope Audi sees this and many Audi owners or those considering buying a new or used Audi --- My A4 has been the worst car I've ever owned...

    ignition coils--my car towed 5x
    fuel pump
    wiper transmission, what geshaftsterfuer is responsible for a $700 failure of something as STUUUPIT as a "schtinken"... "viper transmission"
    secondary air supply system---check engine light
    timing belt ---5 hours and 1500 to replace...vs others at ~500--- I guess audi mechanics and service mgrs are paid to ripp off customers !
    engine sludge
    glove box door ---$350 to fix a $2.00 plastic hinge part
    key fob codes lost for no reason
    ABS/ECT lights for vhat reason ??
    check engine light ??? why, to sucker customers back to dealer ??
    engine cam cover seals
    1000's of severe and fatal engine fires ( maybe German [non-permissible content removed] types like to see noxious gas and/or fire engulf and kill people )

    OK, AUDI, HOPE I SEE YOU IN COURT, AND IF I DON'T, I YOUR SR MGRS AND THE HEAD GESHAFTSFUER BURN IN HELL !! AS YOU SAT ON YOUR GERMAN FAT KEISTER AND DID NOTHING, KNOWING THAT PEOPLE WERE DYING IN AUDI ENGINE FIRES !

    ALL OTHERS ON EDMUNDS OR AUDI FORUMS--- PLEASE CUT AND PASTE TO OTHER BLOGS AND CUSTOMER SITES, AND MAYBE AUDI WILL RESPOND TO ONE OF US VERY DISAPPOINTED OWNERS. and this is the USA, AUDI, where in addition to recalls, we prosecute NTSHA cases when engines catch fire due to oil leaks on the turbo or cat converter ... not only civil but criminal charges will be prosecuted against those in your company who knew of the danger of oil leaks and fatal engine fires and did nothing...remember the sudden acceleration issue in the 80's that almost bankrupted your company --- audi engine fires likely to be as sad and with more fatalities as NHTSA completes it's investigation.
  • michael105michael105 Member Posts: 5
    edited February 2010
    Never, ever buy any Audi...the apparent strategy of this company and their dealers is to sell the cars with all the complexities, and then "mine" the aftermarket with parts and labor costs...on each car and attempt to "mine" $10-15K in service parts and labor at high profit...so they design in things that fail after warranty.... so all you potential Audi owners, go elsewhere...we're wise to the Audi game ! and msg to Audi...like Toyota, your CRAP will backfire and blow up in your face, NICE TRY, GERMAN JACK ASSES !!
  • andys120andys120 Member Posts: 23,370
    You're all wet Michael, I've owned two Audi A4s and they were quite reliable. I had me maintainience done at an indy shop, not the Stealer so costs were reasonable.

    One of the A4s went to 109K with no major repairs.

    2001 BMW 330ci/E46, 2008 BMW 335i conv/E93

  • michael105michael105 Member Posts: 5
    What happened at 109 K ? That's not significant miles in this day and age. Also, see other postings on Audi problems---the facts speak for themselves.
  • andys120andys120 Member Posts: 23,370
    What happened at 109 K ?

    Nothing, the only thing wrong with it when I swapped it for a BMW 538i was an airbag warning light came on.

    2001 BMW 330ci/E46, 2008 BMW 335i conv/E93

  • palindromepalindrome Member Posts: 1
    I'm having a miss or a stuuter at low RPM on my A4 1.8T, I can actually watch the tach skip a few RPMs down, Is it a sensor in the exhaust side or somewhere else.?
  • michael105michael105 Member Posts: 5
    edited March 2010
    From an owner of a 2003 A4 --- it could be a bad coil pak, a secondary air supply system problem, a fuel pump problem, engine sludge or any of many problems that are Audi's design defect problems , and , like Toyota, will probably kill their company, including oil and fuel leaks that have caused fatal engine fires...so to start, go to any autozone and ask them to download your VAG codes --- they do it for free vs. $110/hr rate at a audi dlr ---when you get the codes, (google those by entering VAG codes audi and the code number ) and you'll see the reason for your missing at idle
  • michael105michael105 Member Posts: 5
    Maybe my A4 was designed or built on D-Day aniversary --- or a more logical reason --- and you verk for them and need the job security ..
  • 2004a42004a4 Member Posts: 1
    I've owned 2 Audi's and not had any major issues with them. My first car was an '88 90. I bought it with around 80k miles on it, no clue of the history before then, but when I traded it in it had over 180k miles. Beyond regular maintenance I only had to replace the cat. and a/c compressor. My current car is a 2004 A4 1.8t. It's not been perfect, but overall it's been reliable. While under warranty I had the airbag sensor issue which was finally cured and also had the water pump replaced. The waterpump didn't actually go out and leave me stranded, but was beginning to make some noise so the dealership replaced it no charge. While out of warranty I've had the coil packs reaplced at about $300, but was reimbursed (this week actually) from Audi because of a recall. Also had the passenger side window regulator go out. That was around $200. I've put 73k miles on this one and still consider it to be reliable.
  • gapch1gapch1 Member Posts: 2
    edited April 2010
    I purchased my 2004 A4 convertible in Oct. 2009. I have had it into the shop now three times, three separate issues. First one had to do with a intake fan or valve.. a week and a half to figure that problem out. Several days after getting it back from the shop, the car starts misfiring, chugging and check engine light is flashing. Now, we get to tow it. An ignition coil is to blame. And now, last week, the check engine light is on and diagnostics determines it's the catalytic converter that needs to be replaced along with 6 ignition coils.

    Come on! Is this what I can expect from this car going forward!!! I am seriously regretting my decision to purchase an Audi!
  • sfukushima1sfukushima1 Member Posts: 1
    edited September 2011
    Hi! My A4 is not starting. About 2 hours before the incident, I noticed that the check engine light came on. After stopping the car for about 10 minutes, I went to drive home and the car wouldn't start.
    It seems to turn over but just kills. It won't start, just shakes and dies. Last week I had a low impact, slow speed collision. I also noticed steam escaping the engine when the cap was removed.
    Any ideas or suggestions? Thank you so much. In the meantime, my car will likely spend the night in the blockbuster parking lot :-(
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