2001 Audi A4 Quattro Sport Package 1.8T from North America

Summary:

Exciting

Faults:

Since I bought the car there is a slight oil leak (about 2 drops per day) that is keeping my garage dirty. There is no impact to the performance of the car. I have changed oil and filter 4 times on this car and always ask to fix the leak problem, but it is still leaking. I will finally bring it to the Dealer next week for a full diagnostic (that will cost me $70USD) but want to get all solved now.

Other than that the car is excellent. No issues.

General Comments:

This car is the one I've got the most fun driving. I used to drive a Jetta, which is about the same chassis, but with the sport suspension, quattro and Tiptronic, this is the best car I've ever driven. Quick acceleration, cornering and braking. High performer. I would love to have power seats and the Bose audio package, but I've been told you cannot replace the Concert with a Bose. I would love to keep the car for another 10 years...

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Don't Know

Review Date: 14th January, 2006

2001 Audi A4 1.8 quattro from North America

Summary:

Love it, but High Maintenance Costs

Faults:

Around 40,000, needed brakes, rotors, the works. Tear has shown up in driver's seat (vinyl type). At 50,000 ball joints and are tie rods creaking. Parts and labour are $,1200! I have a feeling it will get too expensive for me to maintain.

General Comments:

Smooth ride! Feels like it's floating over the road. Sharp looking inside and out. It's a nice size sedan. Plenty of power, even when climbing and passing in mountain passes in 5th gear. Quattro handles very well in nasty snow and ice conditions. Paint wear has been outstanding. I had a heavy garage door come crashing down on it. Not a scratch or dent!!

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 14th September, 2005

2001 Audi A4 Avant 1.8t from North America

Summary:

Great car to smoke all those ricers out there

Faults:

The engine light went off, due to a fuel mixture that wasn't lean enough.

O2 sensors went bad, and were replaced.

Brake light went off; brake pads were replaced.

That's about it, nothing too major.

General Comments:

The car is lightly modded with OEM Carbon Fiber hood, Eibach pro kit (1.2" lowered), Blitz Turbo timer FATT DC II, Neuspeed dual slash tip style 2.5" cat back exhaust, Zimmerman cross drilled rotors, Hawk f/r HP plus road/race brake pads, V-series tires, Limo tint (rear windows), and reset the stock Audi ECU, raising the boost from 0.6 bar to 0.9 bar.

Next upgrade will probably be a Evo air induction kit.

Next major upgrade will be a Giac X chip.

Pics of my car: http://www.cardomain.com/ride/861480

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 28th July, 2005

2001 Audi A4 1.8T from North America

Summary:

Off my list for now

General Comments:

I was in the market to buy an Audi A4 or A6 until I started to read consumer reviews. It is really disturbing that year after year these cars require frequent repairs. I have always wanted a German car, but now I will have to wait until I can afford a BMW.

I would like to thank everyone that posted their experience of the Audi models.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 23rd June, 2005

24th Jun 2005, 03:48

You will notice that a disproportionate number of negative reviews of Audis or VW's happen to be from North Americans. Is it because those markets have the top-spec complicated equipment and engines which add to the problems? The moment I see the one-sentence description for one of these cars in the review summary, and it's negative, I can count on it being from North America. VW had better do something about this. There may be differences in driving conditions in different countries, but BMW appears to be fairly reliable regardless of which side of the Atlantic they're sold, and regardless of the engine/equipment fitted. I wouldn't want to say that Americans are chronic complainers, given that BMWs would have been grilled on a regular basis had this been so. Not the case so far.

19th Feb 2006, 20:56

That's odd, a lot of people in Europe don't have the same problems with Audi and VW, prehaps the dealers in the US don't have the same 'expertise' and don't know how to work on them. Or prehaps the cars for the US market are assembled in Mexico or South America where the cars for the UK come from Europe.

These cars in the UK etc have a good reputation for reliability, I have a new 1998 Audi A4 1.8T and did not have a single thing which went wrong for the four years I had it.

18th Jan 2007, 07:47

Other thing to have in mind is that the people that give a review in this site is either very disappointed with the car or very surprised with it. When someone has a lemon, he will try to find a way to discharge his anger. But someone who just get the expected level of reliability will not post a review.

Of course these reviews are very useful if you want to know the common problems of a certain car or which engine/transmission configuration are more problematic. Usually automatic transmissions and turbo engines fail more often than manual transmissions and a NA engines. That is also clear in the reviews of this site.

In reply to 18th Jan 2007, 07:47

18th Jan 2007, 14:09

It also depends on the owner's expectations. I had a friend that bought a used BMW 318is yet insisted on putting cheap gas in it. Well, his engine had problems and he stated the car was unreliable and poorly built. He certainly was not a BMW owner since he didn't understand the car.