Question to Audi owner - Reliability & maintenance

[KDKPSJ]

Hello guys,

I am thinking about putting a year-old used A4 or A5 for my next car shopping list for the end of this year. I have been told many jokes about Audi saying "If you want Audi, expect 50% of car price for repair." (Or 100% for Mercedes, lol) I assume it's just joke, though 😛 But since I know Audi is below-average on reliability study from many researches, I am quite concern about it.

I usually keep my car not that long under American standard, I'd say. 13k per year, 6 years max if I successfully manage not to switch after 3 years.

Now, consider these, how more likely will I face "big pocket expense" while I own it, compare to other cars I am considering: G37x, IS250 AWD, or my current car (06 325i, which hasn't caused any issue yet)?

 

[Arkaign]

You should be fine, so long as you have good maintenance habits. I think Audi/VW have moved past the sludgeing issues which brought their ratings down really hard for a while. I still wouldn't want one long term, or with 100k+ miles, but for what you're describing, I can't really say that it should present any special challenge or problem for you. 13k/year x 6 years is 78k miles, so look for something with ~10k on the clock, to give you a safe bit of breathing room under the 100k mark, which will also help significantly at resale. There's a big stigma with the 100k mark, it's a lot easier to sell a car with 85k miles than 101k miles.

 

[Fenixgoon]

since you're getting a year-old vehicle, you may want to check out getting a CPO (granted they will be more expensive). Audi has a pretty solid CPO warranty, i think. also, the A5 is total sex. definitely get that over the A4 😉

 

[BW86]

My brother bought a '00 a4 1.8t 5spd w/ 104k miles around a year ago. He hasn't had a thing wrong with it, except for a ripped cv boot that we changed (it has 120k miles now). He bought new springs/shocks that I helped him put on and finally wheels. Nice car and a really nice ride. My friend also has a '98 a6 2.7t 6spd with 180k all stock. He bought it with 125k and put about a grand into it. (half-shaft, tie rods, ctrl arms and a window regulator). If you take care of the car and maintain it, it'll treat you right.