mkaresh

With JET's support, for which I am very grateful, I've been posting here from time to time about TrueDelta's reliability research.

A result was recently posted for the 2000 A4. With a reported repair rate of 126 successful repair trips per 100 cars per year, it's about average for a 2000. But the sample size was marginal, so this result is asterisked and only visible to members on the site itself.

The 1999 and 2001 were recently added to the survey. But only around 25 people have signed up for each, so it's unclear if we'll have results for them in the next update, in November.

Additional participants would certainly help us provide more precise results and include more model years.<ul><li><a href="http://www.truedelta.com/reliability.php">Vehicle reliability research - need more Audis</a></li></ul>

Silver Streakin'

::sigh::

everything has a potential to break. the end.

Nate (ETKA+Scumbag)

A car is nothing more than machine. All machines fail at some point.

BSK

please stop asking

mkaresh

Everyone still in a good mood here?

We've updated the results for the B5 A4 to include owner experiences through September 30, 2009. In terms of successful repair trips per 100 cars per year:

2001: 142

2000: 142

1999: 69

The 2000 and 2001 are average based on these results, while the 1999 is better than average--and looks too low to be accurate. Even the numbers for the 2000 and 2001 are quite a bit better than those reported by B6 owners. Perhaps because most of these cars are beyond even an extended warranty?

The sample sizes for the 1999 and 2001 were small, which probably explains the 1999 result. The sample size for the 2000 was just two cars below the minimum for a full result, so is probably more accurate.

A big thanks to JET, this forum, and everyone who has been helping. We'll have further updates in February and May. The more owners participate, the better the information we can provide to everyone.

Audi A4 reliability comparisons

mkaresh

Number of owners signed up for each year:

1996 - 13

1997 - 19

1998 - 20

1999 - 29

2000 - 55

2001 - 41

Minimum sample size is 25, so the 1999 is just above the minimum while the 1997 and 1998 are close but not quite there.

If the sample sizes are large enough, we can post separate results for each engine.

Help get your year and engine included:

Car reliability research

HielToh

Just signed up a '99.5

MTykhnenko

My a4 has NEVER died on me. EVER. Even when the sparks had a 4 mm gap, even when it was carried OUT of the salt lake which the previous owner put it through.
and signed up my 96

4Driver4

That's the issue with "reliability" studies. Like you, I tend to agree that a car that always starts and get you where you need to go is a *reliable* car. However some studies rate reliablity based upon number of service visits. By this standard, a car that has been back to the dealer ten times for poor AM radio reception is deemed less "reliable" than a car that was towed in three times because it won't start or died on the road.

When looking at reliability studies, it is very important to understand what sort of reliability is actually being measured.

mkaresh

With any survey results it's important to see what questions were asked. I try to be much more transparent than CR or JD Power. Can you find either of their surveys online? What questions do they ask?

Mine's here:

http://www.truedelta.com/survey.php

Similarly, we post all reported repairs, so you can see the specific issues that were behind the numbers.

I'd like to provide an additional set of stats, for the number of severe issues, but this will require much larger sample sizes. Severe issues are rare these days except for very old cars. And the more rare something is, the larger the sample size you need to meaningfully measure it.

Not yet signed up? Details on our survey here:

Car reliability research