Audi / VW - Educate me

[09Prodigy]

Originally Posted by ozmoses

don't.

survey says!!!!!

[a1fa]

Wait till you have to do maintenance on a S4....

[Anorak]

Originally Posted by a1fa

Wait till you have to do maintenance on a S4....

20 hrs. for the drivers side motor mount on a 2001 S4. The engine has to come out.

[papalobster]

FWIW I have a 2000 Passat wagon with 4 motion. Essentially an A4 Avant. Just had the t-belt/water pump/tensioner/thermostat/cam seals job done at a local shop that specializes in German makes. It was $806. I pick it up and my temp is staying low at highway speeds. They never changed the t-stat I bet. Bring it back, tell em the t-stat still isn't working, no problem it's a warranty job. They fixed it right and I'm a happy camper.

I have plans on changing the tippy fluid in the next month or so. I usually do my own maintenance. It's really not that hard, but can be time consuming.

All in all it's a decent car. At 6'7" I was looking for a smaller wagon that I fit in, and the Passat was all I could find. I do like the AWD for WI winters, but I think next go around will be just FWD.

[adam_c_eckhardt]

Originally Posted by adam_c_eckhardt

I had an A4 that was slightly older than that and it was a maintenance pig. A true pain in the ass to own (and I owned it since it was new). Currently the wife owns a VW (2012) and it's been the only car we've owned together that hasn't had anything break in the first 10,000 miles. Probably just jinxed myself.

As wonderful as they are to drive, I'm not sure I'd want to buy one that was pushing ten years old. Things can get expensive.

Yup. I had to go flapping my gums.

I'm in NJ and wife is in NH. Check engine light came on with a flashing glow plug light. Car runs and drives, but roadside assistance said they'll tow it anyways. We'll see what we're up against.

At least it went 11,000 miles before it had a problem- that's our record so far!

[Bueller]

Originally Posted by adam_c_eckhardt

Yup. I had to go flapping my gums.

I'm in NJ and wife is in NH. Check engine light came on with a flashing glow plug light. Car runs and drives, but roadside assistance said they'll tow it anyways. We'll see what we're up against.

At least it went 11,000 miles before it had a problem- that's our record so far!

Year after year you can always count on VAG to stick to their same quality standards

But I will admit to buying a 2005 Jetta TDI brand new with the PD engine and having a great track record with the car (and this was one of the mexican built VW's). We sold it to another inmate here just shy of 100k miles, and the only issues were a recall at 5000 miles, a cd player that failed in warranty, and a fuel pump at 85,000 miles. Otherwise it was just maintenance items like oil changes, filters, and tire rotations. To my knowledge it has provided owner #2 with a similar experience.

I was diligent with maintenance, used only parts and oils that I was positive met VW's rather stringent specs, and even when folks started running different weight oils as the specs changed I refused to deviate from what the owner's manual said. I think things like this can sometimes have a lot to do with whether or not the ownership experience is good or a nightmare.

[RonS]

Originally Posted by a1fa

Wait till you have to do maintenance on a S4....

I'm coming up on 100k on my 2008 DTM S4 and so far it has cost very little. I bought lifetime oil changes with the car and the dealer complains about how much money they've lost on that little arrangement. The troubles I've had all have to do with the build quality of the interior. The console lid broke, the glove box door broke (fixed it once and it just broke again the other day), the door handle broke, the blinker fell out. All cheap plastic parts with poor engineering. Love the motor and the transmission on the car but it does not handle nearly as well as an M3 or any other stock 3 series BMW. Too much weight up front and there is just something special about the suspensions BMW puts in their sedans (the new X3 is terrible, rides like a buck board). This may change though. If I lunch the motor it's a cool 20k to replace it. I'm guessing the transmission would be in the 5-10k range.

[adam_c_eckhardt]

Originally Posted by Bueller

Year after year you can always count on VAG to stick to their same quality standards

But I will admit to buying a 2005 Jetta TDI brand new with the PD engine and having a great track record with the car

Yeah we'll see what turns up. My wife is pretty pissed over this. I've calmed her down and told her we need to wait to see what the problem is. Might just be a one time fluke.

[Barnstormer]

Used VAG cars are a "get what you pay for" kind of thing. It's the old adage- Fast, cheap, reliable... pick any 2.
I've got a 2002 Audi Allroad 2.7TT. It was like a $40k car new full of every whiz-bang option you can imagine. Heated everything, adjustable air suspension, etc.... and they are cheaper now than a Honda Civic of the same year.
You get all kinds of performance, good looks, super comfort.... but the trade off is turbos (2 of them!) that like to fail, flaky computers running everything, and pretty bad gas mileage .I baby it to get 23mpg on the highway- town can easily be 12-15, with a 6 speed manual. What can you expect for a 4200 lb AWD car?
I do all the work on the car myself, and I don't find that parts are really that expensive. But, the car is packaged very tightly, so some repairs (turbos, etc) are better done with the engine out. So, it is a labor intensive car to own. To me its a "hobby" to own it. I do something to it at least a couple times a week- lubing this, adjusting that...etc.
Overall, it's a great car to own. It is WAY more car than the price would suggest- but go into it with your eyes open.

[Hardware02]

Originally Posted by Kamala

No matter what breaks on an Audi its costs a minimum of $1200!

No matter what breaks on an Audi it ends up being called "Oh Yeah the Dreaded Audi (insert name of malady here) problem" and every Audi owner is aware of it.

No matter what breaks on an Audi you must fully disassemble the automobile in order to repair it. Then you are told that even though its just the thermostat you might as well and go ahead and rebuild the engine as long as the car is completely apart.

A buddy of mine had a BMW 850i.

When the heater core went in it, the interior from the rear seats to the dash had to be removed to get at it.

[Commuter Boy]

Originally Posted by Barnstormer

Used VAG cars are a "get what you pay for" kind of thing. It's the old adage- Fast, cheap, reliable... pick any 2.

We're talking VW's here. Pick one. And pray.

[a1fa]

Originally Posted by Commuter Boy

We're talking VW's here. Pick one. And pray.

So true... hit or miss...

[PaddedHat]

Originally Posted by papalobster

FWIW I have a 2000 Passat wagon with 4 motion. Essentially an A4 Avant. Just had the t-belt/water pump/tensioner/thermostat/cam seals job done at a local shop that specializes in German makes. It was $806. I pick it up and my temp is staying low at highway speeds. They never changed the t-stat I bet. Bring it back, tell em the t-stat still isn't working, no problem it's a warranty job. They fixed it right and I'm a happy camper.

I have plans on changing the tippy fluid in the next month or so. I usually do my own maintenance. It's really not that hard, but can be time consuming.

All in all it's a decent car. At 6'7" I was looking for a smaller wagon that I fit in, and the Passat was all I could find. I do like the AWD for WI winters, but I think next go around wust FWD.

Having done this work recently myself, I would hazard a guess that they may of just slide the front end to the "service position" , gave the pump and cam seals a quick visual, and slapped a new belt on it. Given that I dropped 1/2 of your bill for German parts, on-line, and it took at least six hours to do the job properly, I can't imagine a local shop doing ALL the work for eight bills. If you think about it, it's a pretty safe bet for a shop to make. If you hit the mileage that you need a belt, on a 12 Y.O VW, you are well into the land of $2K repair bills. Chances are you will tap out before paying the second one of those, and your orginal cam seals and water pump will do just fine as the car awaits the crusher.

[PaddedHat]

Originally Posted by tdvt

I have my parents abandoned '02 Passat 4motion wagon sitting in my yard. It wouldn't pass inspection with the loose front end (8 sups. links, I think) & the brakes are trashed. It still actually runs quite well & the body work isn't bad for 164,000 miles of Vermont roads & winters. From the parts "kits" available, it seems the front ends are are common problem area. They've also had the oil pressure warning issue, as well as the leaking sunroof, which then corrodes some key electrical components under the floor mat. My son & I are going to resurrect it for this winter then pass it along next year.(205,000 mi)

Seriously? Is there some need to generally make your life miserable, or is this a case of a noble effort to teach your son a valuable lesson. As in, " Son, NOW you understand why you don't drag low end, eurotrash cars out of the weeds, spend countless hours and thousands of dollars, only to end up with a spectacularly unreliable piece of shit? " BTW, as a deleriously happy former Passat owner, I have some very valuable advice. First the "common problem areas" you speak of start at the badge on the grille, and end as the exhaust exits the rear. If, in the first year of this project, you drop less than $3-4K making this thing semi road worthy, and keep it from riding the hook home several times, it will be a fucking miracle. Secondly, and most important, call the salvage yard, ask what they are paying for cars, and for a name of somebody who will tow it there cheaply, then do the right thing.

[tntmo]

I haven't heard anyone mention the windows falling down due to the cheap ass little plastic piece on the motor regulator that holds it up. Another one of those "common" problems because every dealer in town stocks the entire inside door panel that you have to replace.

I'm a two time loser, bought a 99 Passat becasue it drove so well, had amazing interior space and felt so quality built. We put several thousand into it before finding someone silly enough to buy it and then we got a 2001 Passat wagon to replace it.

Happiest day of VW ownership was sticking it to the dealer on a trade-in for a Honda Pilot. Over five years with only routine maintenance on the Honda.

My daughter's boyfriend just got a 2003 Passat for his first car. I just smiled....that kid doesn't realize the fun he has in store.