1997 Audi A4 1.8T

Summary:

You'll pay more on repairs than your car is worth!

Faults:

Side Moldings (rubber) on both sides of car rusted off at 50,000 miles and had to be replaced ($250)

Windshield washer pump stopped working at 55,000 miles ($230)

Turbocharger blew at 60,000 miles ($1400)

Oil Line/Tubing broke and sprung a massive leak at 61,000 miles ($257)

Oil Pump Broke in conjunction with line and tubing at 61,000 miles ($1004)

Suspension Arms (curved and straight) are completely worn at 62,000 miles and need to be replaced ($1600)

General Comments:

The Audi is a beautiful car. It drives and handles extremely well when working properly, but ironically enough, as soon as the car went off warranty at 3 years, I started having massive problems with the car.

There are very few Audi service centers in America and as a result always have a backup of clients to do work for (usually 2-4 weeks to have my car looked at), and the labor costs for work on the Audi in Massachusetts is billed out at $68/hr (Flynn in Pittsfield) or $89/hr (Pass & Weiss) in Burlington. Additionally, the parts aren't cheap, thus the reason for my expensive repairs.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 21st August, 2003

4th Oct 2003, 21:10

Yeps,

I recommended the Audi A4 1.8 Turbo for my girlfriend. It handles well and is safe on the road. However, it is as reliable as a 1982 Lada. One problem after the other...

Fails to start, rust forming around the rims, control arms failing every other year I mean, come on. AC temp control has a mind of its own. Squeaks from the rear end. If you put a Lada badge on this car, you would not be far off. Piece of junk.

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1997 Audi A4 2.8 quattro

Summary:

Lemon

Faults:

Timing belt was replaced within 6 months of ownership, advised on 60,000 mile check up. Blew a tire 6 months later and learned all 4 had to be replaced because it is an all-wheel drive car. Power steering fluid pump system was replaced in Jan-03 due to severe leaking. Power steering column replaced June-03 also due to leaking. I am now faced with replacing the suspension arms- which are on back order nationally according to the dealer.

General Comments:

The car drives well when not under repair. The added cost of unexplainable & continuous repairs is unacceptable, as is the dealer attitude.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 17th June, 2003

12th Mar 2004, 06:21

Totally agree, Our experience with Audi in the UK was a similar costly and humiliating experience, I will never buy Audi again.

17th Mar 2007, 09:45

Many problems... but how can you have a steering column leak??? That'd be the first car I know about which have some kind of fluid in the steering columns :)

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1997 Audi A4 1.8 turbo

Summary:

An expensive car that can potentially cause death due to defects!

Faults:

My timing belt broke at 61,000 miles, while traveling 70 mph. The manual says that the timing belt should be changed by 90,000 miles. In my opinion, this is a significantly faulty part. This ruined my tensioner and the engine, with repair costs in the thousands (about $5-7,000). I have had other problems with the suspension and squeaky driving, but this is, by far, the most significant problem. I almost lost my life due to this.

General Comments:

Audi customer service did not provide any sort of support when the situation was explained. They are not willing to help me with repairs/damages in any way. This is a defective part!

I would highly suggest that no one purchase an Audi because the parts are expensive and they don't seem to stand behind their cars with service or customer support. I am very disappointed and financially in a bad situation.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 9th April, 2003

24th Dec 2003, 10:44

I disagree with you that Audi makes great cars. I bought a new 1997 Audi A4 2.8 Quattro with the 5 speed manual transmission in 1998. I had the transmission completely replaced at 60,000 miles, repeated front lower control arm failures and replacements (sometimes paid for by Audi, but only when threatened with a class action lawsuit), and 4 headlight switch failures due to poor engineering (neglected to install relay between light and switch, causing switch overload).

I have posted on other sites, and have received many direct emails from other owners who are tired of AoA not listening to them when their cars start falling apart--all at great expense to the owners.

Many items, the transmission included, I brought to the service department's attention while the vehicle was under warranty. They could never find anything wrong until something major happened after the warranty expired--leaving me with large bills.

I have just recently filed official complaints against Audi with the NHTSA, the Better Business Bureau, and the State of Michigan Attorney General's Office. Hopefully, this will get Audi thinking more about the owners, and less about greed.

Ray Phillips

Ann Arbor, MI.

19th Apr 2004, 16:00

I agree, that Audi is a bad company with no regard for its customers. The comment about the timing belt at 90,000 miles is correct, however it also is within 5 years or 90,000 miles. I recently purchased a 97 audi a4 and have had nothing, but problems with the car, have driven it about 3,000 miles in 8 months and have already had to put in 1,200 dollars in repairs and now the timing belt has broken so I am looking at 5-7 grand in repairs. A bad company, bad ideals, bad service. Never again will I consider an Audi. If you want to buy an Audi, make sure you set aside a lot of money for repairs.

13th Nov 2004, 23:27

If you buy a 6-7 year old car and put $1200 in repairs into it, what's the problem? Buy it at a price that you are comfortable putting some money into it. I owned a 97 A4 2.8 Quatro, manual tranny that I bought at 99K miles and was totaled by a driver running red light into me broadside at 55 mph at 130K on the odometer. 2 of us walked away, very solidly built car. Only had the turn signal stalk go out, other than that ran perfectly. Just bought another 97 with 91K on it. They are a blast to drive, the fit and finish is very high, you just have to maintain them religiously.

1997 Audi A4 2.8 Quattro 2.8

Summary:

Numerous known problems that dealers cannot or will not fix

Faults:

Intermittent problems with Electronic Control Unit (ECU) since new. Dealer refused to replace although service bulletin was issued that it should be replaced.

Transmission went at 53,000 miles (tiptronic) dealer says entire transmission must be replaced - cost $9,000 USD

Rear differential seals (L/R) and rear transmission seal went at 50,000 miles

Temperature control sensor went at 39,000 miles

Passenger rear wheel bearing went at 42,000 miles

Driver front passenger control arm went at 49,000 miles.

General Comments:

My 1998 2.8 A4 Quattro was my first Audi. For the majority of my 3-year warranty, nothing major went wrong with the car. It was a purchase not a lease.

Despite intermittent ECU and cold-start problems, the car was reliable until the 4th year.

At that point, I had leased a second A4 2002.

The car is incredibly unreliable now, and incredibly expensive to repair. A $9,000 transmission repair is ludicrous at 53,000 miles. AoA refuses to assist.

Never buying Audi again.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 5th February, 2003

3rd Jun 2003, 15:02

I have a 1997 A4 Quatro and we also have been having problems with the transmission, starting around the 52,000 mile mark. It makes a terrible noise in 1st and 2nd gear. The dealer recommended repairing the transmission, a $4,000 endeavor on a car whose blue book value is only about $12,000. We got a 2nd opinion from an independent transmission shop - they have seen *many* of these. This is apparently a very common problem that Audi is not acknowledging or addressing in any way.

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