Faults:

The maintenance on this car is quite costly compared to similar cars: expensive parts and expensive labor cost, even in local repair shops. One should expect a budget of up to $2000 a year in worse years. Do your timing belt and oil changes early enough to avoid much more costly repairs, as this engine is known to be quite "irritable" if not maintained correctly.

Suspension can be quite bumpy on damaged roads, such as the ones we have in Quebec.

Few parts got too old/noisy in the front drive train, which is not surprising for such an aged car (170 000 km).

General Comments:

Solid interior, no noise while the car is quite old. The car just gives me a big smile when flooring it, even if it's using only stock parts.

Being used to manual gearboxes, I feel the Tiptronic/automatic gear box can be slow to switch gear, and I don't like the Tiptronic gear switching using the gearbox lever (I don't have the wheel Tiptronic buttons, which would be much more handy). Still, acceleration at low speed is surprisingly good, given the weight and the automatic gear box when one floors it, or when one kick it down.

Gas consumption is quite high in town (10-15/100 km at stabilized speed, 20-40 during acceleration) due to car weight. Down to 7L/100 km when cruising on the highway. Range is about 400 km in town, 450-500+ km is doing highway.

The car's suspension is comfortable most of the time, but still feels like it's too soft when driving over distorted roads with potholes.

If I were to change my car, I'd hesitate between a similar German one (for the special, luxury filling and the smile-making) or an Asian one (for the maintenance cost and depending on its dynamic characteristics). Well for now, I'm keeping this car :)

Faults:

Where to begin? I have had issues with this car since the 2nd year I owned it. The first notable thing was when the car stranded me. The dealer said it was the fuel pump. Right after the 50k mile warranty was up, everything started failing. This includes the radio, windshield wiper pump, both catalytic converters, ignition coils, power windows... just to name a few. Right now my car won't start, and I don't know why. The battery seems fine but it just won't start. I just had it in the shop two weeks ago too!

General Comments:

I have never had this many issues with a car. I even had a BMW before, and it only required regular maintenance. Audis may look nice, but I would not recommend one unless you have money to burn.

Faults:

Ignition coil went bad at 62,000 miles. Replaced all four ignition coils and have not had an issue since.

General Comments:

Understated exterior styling that attracts attention from people that like elegant and beautiful styling.

Interior is excellent for its class, and rivals much more expensive cars from other manufacturers.

Quattro provides confidence regardless of weather conditions. Tight in the turns and the car behaves beautifully in extreme circumstances.

1.8T engine is slightly underpowered considering the weight of the vehicle, but allows for great fuel economy in return. A simple ECU flash upgrade can make the engine pull significantly harder while maintaining great fuel economy when cruising.

Faults:

Engine replaced due to oil sludge at approximately 35,888 miles.

Poor connection in light housing at 35,888 miles.

Replacement of throttle valve house 37,729 miles.

Leaking turbo bypass valve & pressure hose at 37,729 (car miles, less than 2000 engine miles)

Replaced power steering gear assembly at 72,852 (car miles, approx 37,000 engine miles)

Replaced coolant temperature sensor 81,078 car miles, approx 46,000 engine miles.

Replaced 4 ignition coils at 81,078 car miles, approx 46,000 engine miles.

Current sitting at dealer with $4400 worth of engine damage from broken timing belt with approx. 65,000 miles on the engine.

General Comments:

I strongly recommend against purchasing any car made by this manufacturing. The repair list doesn't even include the multiple headlight changes, normal things like brakes, etc. Not just for the ridiculously high number of repairs, and on items that tend to be known problems with these cars, but Audi's attitude regarding standing behind their product. I had to research myself and only happened upon the oil sludge problem and had to "prove" my oil changes before Audi would replace the engine. Not even the dealer/service center volunteered this information, even berating me over it happening, until I faxed them info I found on the internet and my oil change records. Now, with the timing belt issue, a known problem, Audi first told me the service manager with the dealer would decide if it would be covered by Audi, and Audi asked for, you guessed it, all my oil change records, which I produced, showing changes at about every 5000 miles. Now, everyone knows the oil changes have nothing to do with the timing belt, but... Then, after I furnished all of those, and proved I had them, they said, Oh, we want you to pay approx $300 to have the engine pulled apart so we can see what caused the timing belt to break. OK, but the three reasons the dealer gave should all be things that should never have failed at 65,000 miles on an engine, just like the ignition coils I had to replace. And, after asking for specifics on what they had to find to pay for repairs, I have received no reply whatsoever.