Faults:

The display/info screen has faded beyond recognition. A common Audi problem.

The alternator pulley sheared off at 55,000 miles. An easy fix, but not acceptable. The part was made in France!!

The coolant temperature sensor went at 60,000 miles. An easy fix. Acceptable.

The secondary air intake system went at 75,000 miles. This is does not have to be fixed. The car will run properly. You just have to live with a perpetual check engine light.

Multiple suspension parts went at around 85,000 miles. Acceptable, but the many parts are expensive and really add up. Acceptable.

Both rear wheel bearings went at 92,000 miles. Acceptable. Because it is a quattro, the repair is difficult and can't be done by the home mechanic. $450 each side if done by Audi.

The moon-roof opens upward by itself occasionally due to a short. I can live with this if it's not raining.

General Comments:

Great fit and finish.

The quattro is a superior handling car.

The Bose stereo system is excellent.

Stay away from the dealer as much as possible for repairs.

Get a repair manual and order discount parts on-line. I've done 95% of the repairs myself and I'm no mechanic.

I've put a lot of hard miles and have been fairly pleased with the car.

Basically it is an excellent car, but you must pay for this excellence. It's a trade off.

Faults:

Computer display went out at 48,000.

Cruise control broke at 50,000.

CD player had to be replaced.

Heater core went out at 55,000 ($1,300 repair!)

Battery died prematurely for some reason.

Engine light kept coming on ($300 to repair???)

Water pump cracked ($500 job)

General Comments:

Great car when it is running. Looks great, handles great and is very comfortable. However, it seems to be in the shop more than it is on the road!

Faults:

Nothing major has gone wrong with the car since we purchased it almost a year ago. With the 'Audi' Assured Warranty, we can drive the car until 120,000 k's bumper to bumper without repair costs! It's great!

General Comments:

This car has the Sports Suspension package on it, which makes it handle extremely well.

The Quattro system provides consistent control in all conditions.

There are many little details to the car in its engineering that make it such a great buy. From the telescopic steering wheel to the Gala sound system, it is a driver's dream!

Faults:

All steering control arms and links needed to be replaced at 85,000 miles (a $1,700 repair job!). A known problem for which Audi has not issued a recall.

Replaced rear differential seals and CV boots at 72,000 miles.

Replaced the window control safety switch (keeps kids from rolling down the back windows) at about 75,000 miles. Another item that the Audi dealer refused to repair under warranty, so rather than take the chance of my daughter getting her arm chopped off by a passing car, I paid for the replacement myself.

Idler assembly for the air conditioner belt is broken, not replaced yet (mechanic has a replacement part on back-order).

Needed fix to increase the range of the remote keyless entry to a useable level (it was about 10' before this change). Even though this was a known problem (listed in an Audi Technical Service Bulletin), the dealer refused to repair it under the warranty.

General Comments:

This car has excellent handling and is well thought out ergonomically. Overall, it's fun to drive. It's great looking and gets many comments.

However, I'm afraid it may bankrupt me in maintenance costs! That certainly takes some of the fun out of it for me.

The driver's seat and position are great, but the passenger seating is not that good and the back seat is dismal.

It has embarrassingly low torque off the line. You have to get to 5K RPM before the turbo really comes in.

The climate control seems convenient at first, but is hard to live with. It's especially bad at keeping the windows de-fogged during rainy weather (for some reason it decides that the air conditioner should not be on and there's no way to override that).

The Bose stereo is fantastic. The bass is a little boomy, but that's OK in a car. The GAIA feature (which varies the sound according to your speed) is a little annoying at times).