I am thinking about replacing my '02 M3 daily with an 06-07 A4 or S4. Can anyone shed any light on what I will be up against from a maintenance standpoint? Thanks alot.

 

Well I have a 2005 A8L, and its been pretty good over all. Since the day I got the car til now I haven't paid a dollar for any maintenance work on the car. But I have had some minor issues with the car : auto trunk (wouldn't always work the way it was suppose to...but the latest recall took car of that problem), noise from the sunroof (always recall took car of that problem), and some small things like that.

Over all its a great car!

 

Posted this when the question was asked earlier:

"I had an early-build 2004 S4 for nearly three years/70K miles. Absolutely no problems except a malfunctioning coolant sensor (50 bucks). Also had a B5 S4, a 6-speed S8, a bunch of A4s and A6s and so on. I guess I'm lucky but I've never really had any trouble at all. Unlike my MB ownership..."

 

Had '06 A4, and '06 S4

'06 A4 2.0T - sold with 7k miles (traded for S4) - absolutely trouble free.

'06 S4 - currently has 10k miles - no problems.

I've owned 5 Audis ('99 A4, '01 S4, '03 RS6, and the cars mentioned above). The RS6 had some DRC issues and the S4 started to need some expensive maintenance when it got to 80k miles, but nothing I'd consider a big problem.

-m

 

I've had a B7 S4 (25K miles), an '07 A3, and now an RS4, and none have had an problems... My early car had paid maintenance, but the A3 and RS4 cost $500 to get the free maintenance plan for 4yrs/50K mi. My friend's M3 needed a lot more looking after than my S4 did.

 

Own them and work on them too!

Audi has come along way..

It is no longer a poor mans Mercedes..

Fit- Finish - Engineering - Performance are just as good if not better than BMW and Mercedes..


Great cars reliable.


I guess I am a little biased because I own a few

01 S4
00 A4 S4 clone (sold)
01 A4 Stage 3+ (sold)
06 A4 S line- daily driver
85 URQ
91 200 20v (sold)
91 9020v
01 S4 Comp #8 - X Champion Motorsport Speed GT - Derek Bell (sold)
B7 RS4 Race Car coming soon!

 

depends on which model the b5 s4 turbos will need to be redone and replaced around 50k miles or so and thats a tedious task take out the whole front of the car. B6 and B7 are quite reliable other than hoses and sometimes belts

 

i will share my experience on an 06 S4 which i have owned for about 5 months. it was a fully loaded blue on black tiptronic 06 S4. i got the 06 in stead of the 07s because the dealer offered a pretty good discount. the first day i bought the car, the "seat memory" function was not working. they had to take the car in for about 30 mins to get it fixed. about a week later, my navigation screen kept going BLANK randomly, as i started the car. my s4 went to service about 5 times with the same issue and i finally snapped some pics to prove it to my dealer and they replaced the whole nav unit with a brand new one. the nav problem never repeated after that. another problem i had was the rear seats not "locking in place." i had a subwoofer installed in my trunk and everytime i braked hard the subwoofer ended up coming straight in the car. that issue was taken care of after one visit to service. i was provided with great loaner cars such as the A6 and the A8. although everything was fine after a dozen or so visits to the dealer, i decided to move on to a 2 seater and sold the car. just make sure this is the car you really want before making your decision. for me it was a great sounding, great handling, powerful car that was very comfortable to drive with tons of grip (with the AWD). the speed sensitive steering feels awesome. (go for a test drive and you'll know what i mean )

 

Thats horrible you should have had that thing lemoned I think you were one of the unlucky few that ended up with a "half-built" car it happens that happened when i got the scions first came out i had nothing but problems, from factory i just ended up with a bad one.

 

I think answers to a question like this can be pretty subjective. One may have had no problems w/ their car and highly praise it. On the other hand, someone may have had back luck and run into continous issues and therefore deem it "unreliable". Feedback either way shouldn't you deter you from buying if you really like the car; afterall, if you're getting an '06-07', it should still be under warranty and you shouldn't have to worry about reliability until that runs out.
The more important thing to focus on is getting the right car for your needs. I can tell you right now that coming from an e46, you will not be happy w/ an A4. The S4 would probably be more up your alley, comprable to what you've been used to with the M (in terms of power at least). You'll probably find an advantage w/ the interior styling of the Audi...that's one of the things most noticed. But again, if you truly like the car, one person telling you "mine's been great" or another telling you "_____'s are the biggest piece of crap (just because I had one w/ problems)" shouldn't make a difference.

 

B6 A4 5 years not a single problem
Q7 1 year run like a champ!
Recently, Audi make very reliable cars (and top quality) that surpassed BMW or Mercedes. I had so many problems with BMW and their affiliates such as new mini cooper s and 335i.
I think I'll stick with Audi for many years to come.

 

My only, and probably last Audi was a 2005 S4. It was, essentially, a lemon. Check engine light kept coming on even after four times in the service. They kept saying it was something different every time. Audi USA was no help, even rude. Rather than go through the lemon process, I just traded it in.

 

My '05 B6 S4 had the transmission replaced at 12k miles, and at 24k one of the ignition coils failed. Other repairs have been little stuff. The car is under warranty so it hasn't been a big deal. It makes me a little concerned about owning the car long term.

 

Over here in Europe Audi has a great reputation. Its my understanding from the people I know in the states, who have Audi experience, that the cars themselves are pretty solid, but US Audi dealers / Service centers have a tendency to drop the ball. Of BMW vs Audi, I would recommend BMW every day of the weke.

Morgan

 

mine was good until i wrecked it