greekzilla

I will be replacing my 04 Passat (totaled in accident, no one hurt) with an allroad. I'm looking for some sound advice on what specifics to look for when shopping for an allroad. I found (2) in my area that are 2-owner vehicles, an 04 with 189K miles and significant updates done by the seller which is a small private dealer (2004 Audi Allroad 2.7T Quattro**Gray**Moonroof). The second is an 01 with 82K miles with little history & priced a little high (2001 audi allroad clean low low miles). Like my Passat, I'm sure the timing belt, water pumps, valve gaskets are concerns. Any feedback, advice or direction would be greatly appreciated!

Arondale7

These cars are getting older. They are high maintenance cars. I've owned two and still have my 2nd one. They are always in and out of the shop, even with religious maintenance and oil changes, etc. That said, they are also one of the most fun, rewarding cars out there.

I would buy the lowest mileage AR you can buy, or one that has just had it's timing and water pump replaced. Also, after 130,000 miles or so you may consider replacing the turbos. The K04s and F21 Frankenturbos are higher quality and add a lot more power. Mind you, you have to remove the bumper and take the engine out to get access. It's costly. Around $2000 in labor.

The aux. water pump is known to leak. It's better to do an aux. water pump delete, though some will argue with this. But, if you consider you have to take the intake manifold off to gain access to the aux. water pump, you are essentially looking at $600 labor for a $100 part that is likely to fail in the not too distant future.

Sensors go bad often in these cars as well. There is a level sensor at each wheel for the suspension. The suspension is maintenance. It is not if, but when will they fail or sag. You will need to replace them at some point, and perhaps the compressor at some point as well, though they can be rebuilt if you know what you are doing and buy a kit.

Some people replace the air suspension with springs - what's the point? Just buy a used S6 if that is your thing. You are taking the fun out of the allroad and making a bunch of useless buttons on your dash if you don't plan on maintaining the air suspension.

All that said, these cars are also highly tunable. You can chip it and get great power, or go all out like my Stage 3+ with 600hp at the crank.

In short, get ready to spend a lot more money maintaining an AR than your passat ever cost you. Also, they get worse gas mileage.

However, if you have a great job and can afford the upkeep, it is one of the best cars IMO one can own. It is very versatile, somewhat rare, and definitely unique.

I hope this helps your decision. Personally I keep my AR in the garage and take it out for fun and on dates. My daily driver is a '15 GTI, which gets double the gas mileage than the AR.

allroaddave

The bride and I recently drove a used 2013 Allroad (A4 based instead of the A6 based earlier cars) and I was pleasantly surprised. The engine made good power, the extra gears in the transmission meant the acceleration seemed as strong as in my 6 cyl Allroad, and while it does not have the air suspension - it also doesn't have the air suspension's problems.


I think it will make a worthy successor to our current Allroad if/when it fails and it no longer makes economic sense to repair. Considering our car is a 2004 with only 70K on it, that day could be far down the road yet....


My one niggle with the car was the MMI used to control damn near everything on the car - in my limited time in the car I couldn't even figure out how to turn off the damn radio! I know if I owned one I'd learn how to use it, but you don't just climb in one of these and drive away anymore.....

stansterman

So I own a 2005 Allroad 4.2 v8 and today I was driving, went over a pothole and then the car started raising itself up and the sensor went off. I pulled over and saw that my front end was practically sitting on the tires. I have been reading posts and am now afraid the mechanic is going to screw me over. Oh, when I turn the car on all I hear is air coming from the front driver's side that hit the pothole. Any idea of how much? What to ask the mechanic? They are over booked and won't even see my car til next Tuesday. I want to make sure I don't get a screwed over.

Any advicewill be awesome!

QUOTE=Arondale7;24747038]These cars are getting older. They are high maintenance cars. I've owned two and still have my 2nd one. They are always in and out of the shop, even with religious maintenance and oil changes, etc. That said, they are also one of the most fun, rewarding cars out there.

I would buy the lowest mileage AR you can buy, or one that has just had it's timing and water pump replaced. Also, after 130,000 miles or so you may consider replacing the turbos. The K04s and F21 Frankenturbos are higher quality and add a lot more power. Mind you, you have to remove the bumper and take the engine out to get access. It's costly. Around $2000 in labor.

The aux. water pump is known to leak. It's better to do an aux. water pump delete, though some will argue with this. But, if you consider you have to take the intake manifold off to gain access to the aux. water pump, you are essentially looking at $600 labor for a $100 part that is likely to fail in the not too distant future.

Sensors go bad often in these cars as well. There is a level sensor at each wheel for the suspension. The suspension is maintenance. It is not if, but when will they fail or sag. You will need to replace them at some point, and perhaps the compressor at some point as well, though they can be rebuilt if you know what you are doing and buy a kit.

Some people replace the air suspension with springs - what's the point? Just buy a used S6 if that is your thing. You are taking the fun out of the allroad and making a bunch of useless buttons on your dash if you don't plan on maintaining the air suspension.

All that said, these cars are also highly tunable. You can chip it and get great power, or go all out like my Stage 3+ with 600hp at the crank.

In short, get ready to spend a lot more money maintaining an AR than your passat ever cost you. Also, they get worse gas mileage.

However, if you have a great job and can afford the upkeep, it is one of the best cars IMO one can own. It is very versatile, somewhat rare, and definitely unique.

I hope this helps your decision. Personally I keep my AR in the garage and take it out for fun and on dates. My daily driver is a '15 GTI, which gets double the gas mileage than the AR.[/QUOTE]