teach me about B6 Audi A4s

[markus037]

i plan on moving sometime in the near future and am looking to selling my GTI to get something cheaper. For some reason I have became fascinated with the B6 A4. im looking at a 1.8t 5-speed avant in particular since I can stuff my mountain bike in the back. What should I look for when buying? i know they have timing belts, but thats something i can do myself. is the 1.8t any good or is it a POS?

[screwball]

Timing belt/waterpump/tensioner & Suspension wear - Control arms seem to be the bigger cost maintenance problems.

PCV plumbing failures, coils, mafs, O2 sensors, coolant sensors and occasionally the crank position sensor will all fail on higher mileage 1.8ts. I came from a much lighter MK4 1.8t so I think the mileage in the B6 kinda sucks because it weighs so much more. Mine's gonna stay bone stock for some time, but it was nice having AWD over the winter. My BT GTI gets 27mpg on average with plenty of highway romping while the B6 gets 24mpg on average.

Good luck finding a MT, Avant, 1.8t locally. I gave up and bought a TIP sedan nearby. If you're planning to add stuff like a bigger turbo and go that route I'd look more at the B5s personally.

[screwball]

Window regulators is another annoying one.

Dead cluster pixels is another issue.

Overall I've been happy with mine, but I still need to get a diff service, change the trans fluid and keep up on the synthetic oil. Mine only ran dino oil from the looks of the inside of the valve cover.

[vasillalov]

I used to adore B5 and B6 audis until I bought one! The common maintenance items on my B5 actually cost more than their equivalent for my 335i. Add a much more complicated suspension, high degrees of certainty of electrical gremlins and ABS control module failures and this really makes it for some sour taste in my mouth. Never again I would buy an AUDI, no matter how much better their interiors are over BMW's.

[invisiblewar]

but the b5/b6 A4s looked so good

[chrismkay3]

control arm bushings, front and rear

/thread

[vasillalov]

but the b5/b6 A4s looked so good

B5 = Yes
B6 = Looked like Botox Bloated Pigs

B7 are still the best looking AUDI's out there.

[Jader Pack]

My B6 is a mess reliability wise. I don't abuse it, I maintain it extra-regularly, and its average monthly repair costs are ridiculous. Be prepared for the console to beep and ding and tell you some god damned part or another is broken basically all of the time. Also, the interior is nice but the soft touch plastic peels without provocation and scratches if you look at it wrong.

I personally think it's worth it as it IS a very pretty, very comfortable, reasonably OK to drive wagon, but if you're looking to save any money a used Audi is not the car to buy.

[AHFlynn]

one of my friends had one and all i can say is:

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$


also, dont let the windshield wipers go down under their own power once youve lifted them. one of my friends did that to my other friends car twice and it costed him something like $160 for it each time.

[macosxuser]

I have a '99 Passat B5. Compared to the GTI, It's a mx nightmare. I wouldn't even bother putting it on my list.

[Harv]

If you run the numbers, I'm willing to bet that the added maintenance cost of a used Audi will probably be close to what your paying for your GTI.

[someguy123]

Oil sludge

[markus037]

thanks for the input guys. im still on the fence about an Audi. I had a B5 A4 before and it wasnt the best driving car thats for sure. I had the 2.8 V6 which leaked like a pig so I was leaning towards the 1.8t. from the sound of it, im better off looking elsewhere. i was considering legacy also.

[deagle]

what was your experience w/ the GTI ?

[KingTurbo]

I owned one. It constantly needed repairs.

[WakusPakus]

i just recently gave up my search for a 1.8T Audi - they are nightmares.

don't do it, i'm now shopping for another honda/acura. i look foward to after 6 years finally having another car that can run on PISS for christ sake.....screw audi and VW. once the warranty is up, it's a disposable camera.

[mhjett]

I almost bought an '06 A4 Sportline but got an '08 Jetta instead. Haven't really regretted it.

I have to say I thought "WTF" when you said you wanted to offload your GTI and get a B6 A4 because it'd be cheaper.

[tbeck]

I have an 03 A4, 1.8t 5pd sedan. I enjoy it, has 142k on it. Had the timing belt done, other than that havnt done much to it. Gets pretty good mileage 26+ around town, 29+ on the highway as long as you dont mash the gas everywhere.

Previous owner did H&R sports all the way around and 18" Audi sportline wheels. Other than that its stock.

I dont really care for the buttons for the windows as the texture flakes off or the sagging headliner, but those are only aesthetic.

[seadoo2006]

I'll be frank on a couple things:

1. I drive an ass-crap number of miles (~40k/year)
2. My B6 has some sort of maintenance issue about once a month
3. It's a 1.8t, with a Unitronic Stage 1+ tune, but it's still crappy on gas mileage
4. I bought it with 98,000 miles, so my maintenance costs have been slightly higher than most.

That being said, I love the car, no scratch that, I adore this car. I love the ride, I love the way it drives, I love quattro in the winter, and I love the looks.

So, a few things I dislike about the car:

1. It's a boat ... it feels every bit of its ~3600 some pounds
2. The 5-speed has pretty short gears ... I'm around 3800rpm at 75mph
3. My car has the infamous seat heater fire problem (Audi of America graciously replaced everything for FREE at 108,000 miles and I was the 3rd owner)
4. The OEM HIDs are pricey to replace ... both my ballasts are starting to go and even if you get Chrysler ballasts and bulbs (same product), they are around $200/headlight
5. The Climatronic tends to have issues ... Mine acts up only when both passenger and driver are set to high. It reverses and sends full heat A/C to both vents in an alternating pattern
6. The non-Bose system is good for Audio (what I have), but the Bose system is typical Bose (no highs, no lows, it must be Bose)
7. Gas mileage ... I had envisioned getting better from this car, but the combination of an underpowered motor for the car and quattro makes your averages suck

Now, for what I love about this car:

1. quattro ... I can't say enough about it. If you've never owned an AWD car, this system is just superb. In conjuction with the ESP, this car is nearly impossible to put sideways unintentionally ... like, if the system even starts to see your ass-end swing out, it automatically straightens itself out
2. Boost ... well, the stock k03s might be an underpowered turd of a turbo, but throw a Stage 1+ tune at it to 18psi and the car wakes up ... sounds like a bat out of hell at full boost (even if you aren't going very quickly)
3. RNS-E ... well, if you splurge like I did and installed an OEM Audi RNS-E, you get the benefits of the integrated cluster with Navigation. The early 2002s with Navi came with the color FIS, but all the rest of them came with the red FIS which requires a quick off/on cycle of the RNS to get it to appear. This is extremely awesome for directions to have it in the cluster.
4. 2002 Cold Weather Package - the 2002s, as an introductory year, came with rear heated seats. These are more of a novelty than anything else, but it was cool showing that off to the girlfriend's parents when I drove them around for the first time.
5. 2002 Sport Package - again, the MY2002s came with the lowest OEM suspension of any Audi ... look at the pictures of my car ... it sits at about 1-1.5 finger gap around on the stock springs and shocks

So, as for the costs of ownership, well, as I said, I drive a crap ton of miles. Here's a quick breakdown of my costs since buying this car last May:

It's pricey, but remember, most of those costs are fuel and mods. The actual repairs aren't too terribly expensive. My car is repaired at an independent shop @ $60/hour, so compare your own local labor to that if you need a more apples-to-apples comparison.

Here is my gas mileage over the last 10 months, approximately 32,000 miles of driving (93oct solely):

In the end, I love this car, even if it does cost me a bit of money. Well worth it for the benefits in my opinion.

[someguy123]

^
I applaud your time and effort in making that chart.

If everyone made a chart like that, I'd probably be only 1/6 as much as yours.

[EvilVento2.oT]

mines not to bad , it got a hybrid turbo and the t belt , the pcv mas a real pita when it wentother then that i love mine

[seadoo2006]

^
I applaud your time and effort in making that chart.

If everyone made a chart like that, I'd probably be only 1/3 as much as yours.

Haha, it's slightly depressing to keep up with all your receipts, but between Fuelly and the fact that the shop I go to now emails me my receipts, I can keep nearly everything in order regarding this car. I was always a project I wanted to start with my GTI, and when I sold it and bought the A4 last year, I figured now or never. I update it about once a month.

[magics5rip]

In the end, I love this car, even if it does cost me a bit of money. Well worth it for the benefits in my opinion.

Interesting. Your maintenance costs aren't all that terrible and that is paying someone else to do it. Plus, those are 1 time replacements, you probably will never change many of those parts for another 100k.

Personally, i do my own work so it seems like owning a B5/B6 is right up my ally