Thinking about buying a used Audi A4 1.8t...

T

TechSol

New member
What are your opinions on this car? I've seen a few in the click and brag and they seem to be very nice cars. I'm going to wait until I find the exact car I'm looking for, which is an Audi A4 1.8t, Pelican blue (Really rare bright light blue color), AWD, manual. I am also considering going with black to show off my detailing, but I really love the blue color. This color only comes in 97-98.



I also like the Sol, but minor problems are really getting annoying (targa top leaking, etc) and I just got sick of the car. I will also be getting my real estate license in June (several months later than I planned) and am promissed a job where my grandparents work... so I'll probably need to take clients around in something bigger than a 2-seater.
 
I am an Audi fan so I'd say go & find one. But you need to think about maintanace costs. Not cheap and buying a used car - you just never know. Also, get the color that you really want. Black is nice but to keep it looking great, you will be washing it a few times a week. m2c
 
He he, with regards to the paint specifically: It can be a real PITA to polish. On a used car, I'm sure there's marring. I'd get a rotary to tackle the polishing.
 
I've heard bad things about Audi and VW's from my mechanic, if thigns go wrong it can be a serious pain to fix and very pricey.



I do know that my dad had two Audi A4's, One 1.8T and one 2.8. He has had no problems with the 2.8 and has over 60k miles but had a ton of problems with the 1.8T and ended up selling it back to the dealer.



I have to admit that I did detail and drive both cars and they look great and are a ton of fun to drive, just not great on reliability.
 
Supposed to be better from 2003 to present especially after the coil pack issue was resolved. Hopefully it will indeed be a decent car mechanically.



Follow the forums on http://www.audiworld.com to help you decide whether or not to get it
 
I drove one for a few minutes....the dash had all kinds of stuff going on....felt like I was reading the crawl at the bottom of CNN...but they sure are pretty...
 
My wife's had two A4's, a 96 2.8 fwd and an 00 2.8 quattro. Both times I wish she had picked the 1.8, but she likes the whole leather and wood thing, so that's cool.



I really like the last model, called B5 more than the current B6 that came out in 2002. They just seem more solid and little details are handled better. There were very minor changes to the dash layout and suspension in the 1999.5 MY, but if you really like the Pelican, go for it, the changes aren't major.



Check out www.audiworld.com and www.vwvortex.com for forums on A4's, remember to look for the B5 forum. We've had the usual VW/Audi electrical gremlins, but all under warranty. Out 2000 has 50k miles and hasn't cost a cent outside of oil changes and tires. 1.8t's did have coil pack issues, but if it's still on the road it's either had the recall done or it's one of the early ones without coil on plug packs.



My only caution is to drive one first, especially with a taller friend, since you mentioned that you want to carry clients in the back, the back seat is almost comically small. I'm 6'2" and have to just about eat the steering wheel to get another bigger person behind myself. We don't have kids and only transport other folks short distances, but it's pretty darn tight in back if the front occupants are tallish. Otherwise they're great cars.



Ben
 
I have an '03 1.8T quattro, MT and really like it. If you can find the one yo're looking for I say go for it! I do have a preference for the B6 but as others have mentioned the '02 (1st MY) has had problems with coilpacks, etc. And european cars can be more expensive to maintain so have it checked out thoroughly before you buy.



I (and others I know who drive Audi's) prefer the 1.8T engine over the 2.8 if you can get past the lack of power in stock form. 2.8 is smoother though. I've also heard some negative things about the tip tranny but since you're looking for an MT its not an issue. There's lots of info over at Audizine.com in addition to Audiworld and vwvortex. Hope you find that color you're looking for, I'm not sure if I've ever seen it.
 
Cool, thanks for the links and comments everyone! I am a bit concerned with the reliability... but as long as it's not a total junker it's not too big of a deal. My friend has a 14-second automatic 1.8t golf... his vw club seems to know what they are doing for moderate repairs. I also live right by ECS tuning, so my car would be chipped IMMEDIATELY.



In reply to the comment about the black paint... I know how bad it is to keep up with, my last car was a neglected black finish. I sold it but I miss the shine, and keeping it looking nice wasn't too big of a deal.



I think I'm going to hold off buying the car until I have enough saved to keep my Del Sol as well. I was out yesterday and I had about 10 girls saying how nice my car was and how much they liked it. (for being 17 thats enough to make me keep the car lol)



Edit: Also, I do like the dash layout of the pre-1999 A4 better. I've been working on building a car pc for dvd, mp3, gps, etc, and people on the mp3car.com forums have all done VERY nice installs on the earlier a4's. It is very easy to remove the radio and mold an LCD into the dash, then relocate the heating controls to the ashtray. It looks 100% stock, if not better, and is very hard to mess up on the pre-1999 model.
 
Well by an obsessed Autopian 's standards, it is rather involved to keep it as defect free, including the stuff visible only under intense lighting conditions, both natural and artificial, as possible. The paint is tough and sometimes may need extra measures to polish out completely.



I think organizations like Consumer Reports and JD Power keep track of reliablity.
 
TechSol said:
I also live right by ECS tuning, so my car would be chipped IMMEDIATELY.
Click to expand...



I assume ECS= EuroCar Service on Cleveland-Massillon Road. I've done business with ECS for years. The Demrovsky family are good people :xyxthumbs They can keep an Audi healthy.
 
I assume that is what it is... my friend in the VW club was saying that it was the best VW tuning shop, and happened to be close by so I wouldn't have to take out the ECU, send it in to be chipped, and then wait for it to be sent back... just take the car there and be done in under an hour.
 
It's called direct Port Programming man, they basically plug a computer into the port where the vagcom would normally go and program it from there. Very quick and easy. The 1.8T is fun and given the right mods power can be had fairly cheap since they turbo is already there.
 
DPP isn't an option for any of the n-dbw A4's. However the normal chipping process only takes about an hour and there are plenty of options for the early A4's. I know ECS carries APR and I would check out GIAC as well.
 
TechSol:



The 97-99.5 1.8T A4 is a solid buy. The two major problems that you want to look for are front control arms and the timing belt/tensioner. I bought my 98 about 2.5 year ago and I have had a great time driving and modifying the car. The problems have been few and far between. However if you do end up with a car that has some problems and you can't do the work yourself, the A4 can be very expensive to own. So far my mods include:

PES T-28 Turbo Kit

-H&R S4 Coilovers

-SouthBend DXD Clutch

-Sachs LW flywheel

-2.25" Test Pipe

-Borla 2.25" Catback

-SSR Competition (18x8.5)

-Bridgestone SO3 (235/40/18)

-Stratmosphere Short Shifter

-Hyperboost adj. Diverter Valve

-Clear Side Markers

-S4 Bumper

-Alpine/JL/Infinity System

-V1 protection

-Other little stuff....
 
a4, nice car - like the mid 90's body style. buddy had an S4..drool



everyone's spoken about the electrical stuff, so you know about that, but you should also think about an SUV if you've gotta carry a family or if you have to haul the streen signs. the trunk is kinda tiny to be hauling signs that you probably don't want in the passenger compartment.
 
Thanks for the replies. nice car duke - have any pics?



Well we went out racing with a group of 1.8t VW's yesterday, and they were every impressive. I told my friends I was selling my car and buying an a4, came home and listed it for sale, and already have one possible buyer. I also talked to my mom about cosigning a loan and we can get that worked out... so my possiblity of getting an a4 is looking very good right now!
 
never owned one but heard they were great, if you do get one and want a better performing car go to atp turbo's website. They have a kit for it that is bad ***
 
You're from Parma, eh? I lived there for 5 years, just moved away in 2003...nice little place.



I am thinking about an Audi A4 for my next car - I really like the Amulet Red, but will probably go for black! :cool:



P.S. Re: VW/Audi reliability: have had my 99 VW Passat since 2001, and other than having the sunroof replaced (under warranty), I have had no major problems with it. It helps if you keep up with the scheduled maintenance! But everything would be more expensive with the Audi... good luck!
 
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