Faults:

Gone wrong since I've owned it? Nothing. Bought a fixer-upper. When I bought it, the car needed a few things:

Valve cover gasket (included in purchase of car)

Shocks front and rear.

Strut bushings front.

Alignment.

Tires.

Tune up.

Transmission service (due to scheduled interval).

Front brakes and rotors.

Rear brakes and rotors.

So I went to fix them and I'm still in that process.

Front brakes (with sensors) $100 (just pads).

Front rotors, $70 for two.

Rear brakes, $28 for both sides.

Rear rotors, $50 for two.

Full suspension kit, $325 (whole car KYB).

Plugs, wires, filters etc, $100 (est. bought over time).

Transmission service, $275 (Audi dealer).

15" V8 rims with new snow tires $400 (eeeebaaayyy).

The airbag light stays on for 90 seconds after start up. Consistently. And the CHECK ENGINE light has a mind of its own. The gear selector light on the dash doesn't work, and neither does the outside temp reading, or the seat heaters, or the cigar lighter, and the blower motor squeaks until I smack the glovebox lid then it stops.

General Comments:

Haven't done the suspension kit or trans service yet, as I only make $15K a year (no I'm not a teenager, the WV job market is not so good, at least I have a job!), but the car starts runs and drives beautifully, even with 4 worn to hell bouncy shocks, and snow tires on dry pavement, this thing really holds the road. Albeit with understeer.

This is my first premium luxury German car, and it really surprises me. I don't care that the seat heaters don't work and the stereo is wonky, it is just a good driver and a torqueless wonder (doesn't come into its own till about 3500 revs, redlines at 6800 :D). It seems to be a bit pricey to fix, but it's totally worth it. Even though it only gets 15 C, 21 HWY.

Oh and BTW, rear-facing third rows ROCK!

Faults:

The engine sounds like it has a piston slap on cold startup.

It goes away after about a 1 minute warmup.

Our Audi mechanic does not know what the problem is, because it doesn't happen on every cold startup.

We are wondering if this is just the design of the engine for our year, or is there something very wrong here?

I am looking for a response from other Audi owners.

Last year I had the dash odometer light replaced and now the outside temperature light in the dash is burned out. The mechanic said this one is not a bulb and costs $165 for the part plus labor, and that I should replace the transmission position light the same time. That part is $175 plus labor.

General Comments:

Great touring car with comfort.

You feel safe at high speeds with how it holds the road.

On the low end the car is slow.