Which car. Any car enthusiasts here?

Forum Sponsor
Buy with your heart or head?
Marry the hot fire-cracker or the (potentially) less headaches good-looking sister?


Fortunately for you, you have the opp. to test drive both and go back to the other. :D
 
Roomie said:
Golf r.... yes please! Cost is slightly more than what op wants to spend though.
Click to expand...

Thx. I made a mistake on the R info earlier. It is the same engine and AWD as the Audi TTS, not the A4. 280 hp.

That is why I recommended a GTI. Nice car itself and the OP really should look at it and do a test drive.

The interiors are very nice. Here is the interior of the R. The GTI will be very similar.

Golf-R19.JPG



EDIT:

Here is a night shot of the GTI interior.
177722_x800.jpg
 
Last edited:
I'd probably pick a GTI over an A4. But then I haven't driven the newer GTI... I do know that the 8 speed trans in the A4 makes it reasonably quick around town but I think that's an up-level A4. The A4 platform has so bloody many levels of options...
 
peterm15 said:
Thats where I disagree.

I have never had my cars repaired at a mechanic. Worked on a friends audi a few weeks ago and I'll never do it again.

Sent from my SGH-I337M using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

What repair did you do? Anyone with a Vag-Com, a laptop and Audi Forums can do almost any troubleshooting and repair on these vehicles. I've done it quite a few times. A workmate just picked up an 02 Avant for $1500 that had a $4600 dealer repair estimate. Owner bailed so we scanned the codes, ordered $600 in parts and used a Saturday to complete it all. Car drives great now.
 
DJM said:
What repair did you do? Anyone with a Vag-Com, a laptop and Audi Forums can do almost any troubleshooting and repair on these vehicles. I've done it quite a few times. A workmate just picked up an 02 Avant for $1500 that had a $4600 dealer repair estimate. Owner bailed so we scanned the codes, ordered $600 in parts and used a Saturday to complete it all. Car drives great now.
Click to expand...

yeah parts cost more, but they don't fail as often as other brands. when you break it down to per/km cost, it's not nearly as bad as people make it seem.
 
nfq said:
yeah parts cost more, but they don't fail as often as other brands. when you break it down to per/km cost, it's not nearly as bad as people make it seem.
Click to expand...

Depends. My 05 c class hasn't had any major breakdown but little things keep failing. Mostly sensors like Srs, auto up windows, auto leveling hids etc. my car has always started even at -25 we had this year and never broke down. Just remember they are usually more optioned so they have more things to break.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
nfq said:
yeah parts cost more, but they don't fail as often as other brands. when you break it down to per/km cost, it's not nearly as bad as people make it seem.
Click to expand...

Yea... pick up an audi ball joint and a civic ball joint. You'll see why I still have originals close to 400k. My bearings went at 350ish.


Sent from the future using my GOLDEN iPhone 30 SS
 
My line of work crosses paths of many people who drive nicer cars than I do and being the car guy that I am, I ask them about their cars.

Invariably, its the German cars that provide the horror stories. Its not that the car breaks down that troubles me, every car has problems. Its the scope of the problem, and the cost to fix it that blows my mind, and some people view this as normal and acceptable

1) Audi S4. Clutch and tranny "blew". Dealer wants up to 10grand to fix.

2) Mercedes ML(?)... "it was a great vehicle until the turbo went on it. $8000 later, I sold it off and bought a vehicle with a normally aspirated engine"

3) BMW 3 series convertible.... "the top failed, dealer said I had to order an entire new top and motor mechanism, quoted me $22,000 and it would arrive straight from Germany"

4) Mercedes ML.... led DRL (just a silly strip of led light at the bottom front of the vehicle) .... "a stone hit it, they want $550 for a new one"

5) Mercedes E550..... $300+ for an oil change.

6) Porsche 911.... "its a great car, but every year when I take it in for an oil change, they somehow want $3000 for the entire service" (Guy has it for sale now as he is fed up)
 
Last edited:
SunnY S said:
My line of work crosses paths of many people who drive nicer cars than I do and being the car guy that I am, I ask them about their cars.

Invariably, its the German cars that provide the horror stories. Its not that the car breaks down that troubles me, every car has problems. Its the scope of the problem, and the cost to fix it that blows my mind, and people view this as normal and acceptable

1) Audi S4. Clutch and tranny "blew". Dealer wants up to 10grand to fix.

2) Mercedes ML(?)... "it was a great vehicle until the turbo went on it. $8000 later, I sold it off and bought a vehicle with a normally aspirated engine"

3) BMW 3 series convertible.... "the top failed, dealer said I had to order an entire new top and motor mechanism, quoted me $22,000 and it would arrive straight from Germany"

4) BMW ML.... led driving light.... "a stone hit it, they want $550 for a new one"
Click to expand...



These are the type of stats I tried to find out. The cost of things going wrong and getting solved.

A friend of mine had an 04 3 series. Needed transmission work done... dealer quoted $10,000.
 
ravensix said:
These are the type of stats I tried to find out. The cost of things going wrong and getting solved.

A friend of mine had an 04 3 series. Needed transmission work done... dealer quoted $10,000.
Click to expand...


If you have to justify buying the Audi so hard, the answer is clearer than night and day.


What do you drive now? If you're going from a fully leathered out with navigation.. say Honda Civic/CSX .. the jump to a Lexus IS250 won't tickle your fancy as much as the Audi. On the other hand, if you have a beater now... the Lexus will be perfect.
 
Dresden said:
If you have to justify buying the Audi so hard, the answer is clearer than night and day.


What do you drive now? If you're going from a fully leathered out with navigation.. say Honda Civic/CSX .. the jump to a Lexus IS250 won't tickle your fancy as much as the Audi. On the other hand, if you have a beater now... the Lexus will be perfect.
Click to expand...



Yah, I do want an Audi. But Im pretty sure owning it for 5 years is going to put a nice hole in my pockets. Best to lease one Lol.

Right now I have a Honda Prelude.
 
DJM said:
What repair did you do? Anyone with a Vag-Com, a laptop and Audi Forums can do almost any troubleshooting and repair on these vehicles. I've done it quite a few times. A workmate just picked up an 02 Avant for $1500 that had a $4600 dealer repair estimate. Owner bailed so we scanned the codes, ordered $600 in parts and used a Saturday to complete it all. Car drives great now.
Click to expand...

Try replacing the turbos on an allroad. Vag com or a forum won't help you there. Not a fun job. Some jobs are fairly simple compared to what a dealer will tell you but some of them outright suck.

nfq said:
yeah parts cost more, but they don't fail as often as other brands. when you break it down to per/km cost, it's not nearly as bad as people make it seem.
Click to expand...

Finally someone gets it! It's like any other car. There's tricks and once you learn them they aren't hat hard to work on.
 
I can't tell you much about the older Audis, but I can tell you that the B8.x S4 isn't hard to work on... there's a surprising amount of space and simplicity to the mechanicals of the car. Its issues are more to do with the sheer number of sensors in the car - but then I drove a new Impala and that thing is decked out to the max with sensors and cameras, too. I think the germans just got there EARLIER and now everyone's going to have similar issues with sensors going. I've had some go in my 2009 truck.

Beware the B8 DSG transmissions and the older FSI engines. The B8.5 got a trans revision that comes with better cooling and it's been so far quite reliable. If you break one off warranty, it's going to cost you... people can say what they want but when you can launch a 3800lb car to 100km/h in less than 5 seconds again and again for years, it's all relative.

Audi's come a long way, which is why you see so many of them out there now. They've been doing DSG trans fixes and FSI engine cleans on warranty well beyond their warranty limitations to stand behind the products. FSI has been more reliable in forced-induction applications (TFSI).
 
I had to replace the ball joints in my bmw. Upon further investigation you have to replace the whole control arm. You can't replace the ball joints only.

Facepalm
 
nfq said:
yeah parts cost more, but they don't fail as often as other brands. when you break it down to per/km cost, it's not nearly as bad as people make it seem.
Click to expand...

If you do break them down operating cost will still be more for Europeans. Period.

Basic wear and tear for example. And some parts can only be bought at specialty shops. People say it isn't bad cuz they work on them and or know a guy with a shop. Yes that's good for you but the average person doesn't want to work on cars.

So to the op if you do get German be prepared to wrench on it or suck up to some mechanics.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Roomie said:
B6 s4 is the same. Ask me how I found that out :(

http://www.ecstuning.com/Audi-B6_S4--V8/Suspension/ES10044/

That's aftermarket and pricing has come way down. Oem at the time was over 1100 for the kit and it's not fun to change either
Click to expand...
Yeh, my control arms were aluminum, what a waste. I think I still have my old ones in the garage..

Some after market ones allow you to replace ball joints only but it is a little pricier.

daisoman said:
If you do break them down operating cost will still be more for Europeans. Period.

Basic wear and tear for example. And some parts can only be bought at specialty shops. People say it isn't bad cuz they work on them and or know a guy with a shop. Yes that's good for you but the average person doesn't want to work on cars.

So to the op if you do get German be prepared to wrench on it or suck up to some mechanics.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Due to the fact that germans like to do things more complicated. I've seen them take the longer way when it could be done easier. Plus their cars are not mechanic friendly. I'd understand why mechanics want to charge a premium
Forum Sponsor
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom