Why do Audis suck?

[cantdrv55]

Beautiful cars and all but man do they stink at reliability. When we were shopping for a small wagon, we looked at Audis and Passats but after doing a little research on the web, we decided against them. All the owner reviews say do not buy without an extended warranty or dump the car just before the warranty expires. Why wouldn't the manufacturer do more to improve the reliability?

[sc_rufctr]

The Germans have always built good cars but today they're competing with cars built in Asia that are not quite as good but a whole lot cheaper. So they want to be competitive by cutting costs. I guess they're searching for a balance between quality and value.

Incidently, lots of parts for the VW group are now made in China.

[89911]

I think the only "Luxury" car maker out there that makes a reliable car is Lexus. Just find them plain boring. I too like Audi's new look but would never get one because of the numerous complaints and the dealer close to me is dissapointing. Would not ever consider VW.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Beautiful inside but overly complicated and obviously designed to a price point, as most cars sadly are today. Frankly you can make the same argument about most modern cars, with luxury cars having more technology to go wrong.

[slow&rusty]

The only Audi I would buy would be an R8...jus' sayin'

[Gretch]

I have an 2000 2.7 quattro A6 with 146k on the clock. It has been a great car that has never let me down. Sure it is a challenge to work on but I find it an awesome car especially for 13 years old.

Great cars when cared for properly. Now, if you choose not to do your own maintenance and wrenching I can see where there might be some frustration.

[Sarc]

Would love a D2 S8. Ming Blue with platinum interior. And a 6 speed swap while we're at it.

[Chocaholic]

I think the only "Luxury" car maker out there that makes a reliable car is Lexus. Just find them plain boring. I too like Audi's new look but would never get one because of the numerous complaints and the dealer close to me is dissapointing. Would not ever consider VW.

I'm about 8 months into a 2012 Infiniti G37S Sedan and continue to be impressed daily. Nice balance of sport and luxury, reliable, realistically featured without anything over the top, and a comparative bargain vs comparable German options.

[eauboy]

Another happy Infiniti owner here -- M45 with a sport package. Bought it used coming off a lease for a great price and I've been happy with it.

We also have an Acura MDX with 190,000. Only things done to it has been oil and timing belt changes, brakes, and other misc routine maintenance. It's never been in the garage for anything else!

So the upper end Japanese models have been great for us.

I agree that the Lexus line looks boring which is why I went Infiniti. Although I've seen some brand new Lexus models that have improved in the looks dept, but I never buy new.

[imcarthur]

Another audi hate thread . . .

My wife & I both agree that our '02 3.0L A4 Quattro is the best car we have ever had as a DD. It has been cheap to maintain - dealer service too - when compared to the POS '00 323i that shared the driveway for a few years.

Ian

[VincentVega]

Friend has a 04 Jetta with ~45k miles. Nice interior, looks nice, decent power. The damn thing always has something wrong. ABS control module, water pump just went, vacuum hoses... it never ends.

[fanaudical]

My Audi experience has been very different, although I'm driving older cars (the "newest" is 2001). They are maintenance-intensive (I do my own and have forever) and when treated reasonably well don't seem to have problems. I rarely have something fail without warning. The newer cars do seem to be much more complicated than needed (but aren't all cars that way now?).

[Mark Howard]

Bought a Q5 for my wife, nary a problem here after 60k.

[TheMentat]

More good anecdotal evidence here as well... Love the '06 2.0L A4 Avant I own. It doesn't drive quite as nice as a 3-series wagon, but the interior is FAR superior. No problems yet (fingers crossed).

[VincentVega]

interior is FAR superior

x2 that's how they suck you in

[romad]

.....buying ANY expensive used car is risky. New you are covered, but if you already have a bad opinion of a car why would you consider buying one?

[BlueSkyJaunte]

I was looking to buy an Audi 3 years ago but the local dealer wasn't looking to sell one. I gave up after a week of trying and bought a TDI Golf from a very friendly, helpful, no-BS VW dealer.

[sc_rufctr]

They're placed in movies a lot. That must be expensive.

[craigster59]

Owned a trouble free '05 A3 that I squeezed 175k out of before I traded it. Broke an accelerator cable on my FJ62, and when I had it towed I asked the tow truck driver about picking up Audis since I had owned mine for 2 years and had heard of their problems (he worked the 405, 118, 101 and 210 for the LA people).

He told me when he did tow an Audi it was usually an A8 and had towed a few A6's and A4's never had picked up an A3. He told me hands down the most frequent breakdowns were BMW's, (we were discussing only the German marques).

[kaisen]

Originally Posted by craigster59

Owned a trouble free '05 A3 that I squeezed 175k out of before I traded it. Broke an accelerator cable on my FJ62, and when I had it towed I asked the tow truck driver about picking up Audis since I had owned mine for 2 years and had heard of their problems (he worked the 405, 118, 101 and 210 for the LA people).

He told me when he did tow an Audi it was usually an A8 and had towed a few A6's and A4's never had picked up an A3. He told me hands down the most frequent breakdowns were BMW's, (we were discussing only the German marques).

Of course, there are only about five times as many BMWs in Los Angeles than there are Audis. BMWs there are EVERYWHERE.