<br>For everyones info I had peeling vinyl on console of my 97 A4qt with black interior and only color available now according to audi is metalic grey and this does NOT MATCH so be carefull and save yourelf some grief. You might as I have decided to live with old one. Audi has lost a future customer, how could I count on correct parts being available a few years from now. Thanks Randy Mc. Ps this was found out after incorrect parts had been installed.

 

This sounds very wrong.....I can't believe they would stop producing a color and ask you to settle for the wrong color dash part. Do not let them do this, call Audi customer relations, raise hell. Make them find the right color piecew, or make them give you a whole new interior to match the new grey piece. If this gets you nowhere, get a lawyer, there is no way they can do this while honoring your warranty. You warranty is like a contract, and they are in breach of contract if they get away with this.<p>If Audi ever pulled this on me, I would be raising so much hell, that they would compare my case to the 60 minutes incident.<p>Go get 'em!<p>Chrsitian

 

nt<br>

 

First, the A4 is not all it's cracked up to be. I have owned and driven better cars. My '97 A4 after 20K miles is starting to show its roughness with creaks, rattles, degraded handling, heavy feeling car that is darty and wanders. Can't get parts easily! 2 years later you can't get a black vinyl armrest! This tics me off!<p>Now a multi-billion dollar company can't see to have a least 100 cars worth of parts warehoused in the US! They must go to Germany to get you anything above a spark plug! Come 'on that being brain-dead! And now some poster here tells us that exhaust converters will cost us $4500 each out of warranty!!! Rediculous!<p>To slam us Audi owners in the face....VW owners get a 10 year, 100K mile drivetrain warranty at a much lower purchase price. Yeah, the A4 is still semi decent, but I'm going somewhere else on the next buy......

 

Was this just your dealer not wanting to put in a longer-term order for the proper part? Could it be that grey was the only color currently available in the US parts distribution centers and black has to be ordered from Germany? When you find out more by contacting other dealers, Audi, etc., please let us know what the story is.

 

I've got 25k on my 98 1.8TQMS after 10 months and it is like a rock. I think it is better than when I started. And how can you beat the service? What earlier cars do you say were better?

 

I have a 97 that I got in 7/97 that has 26K miles...no creaks....no ticks....no weird sucking noises...nothing....just that notorious Audi valve clack....that goes away after about 30 seconds or so. I didn't know you felt like this...I think the Audi parts distribution system is very bad. I personally have waited multiple days on two separate instances. In some cases the parts dept ordered the wrong thing...not Audi's fault...it was the dealer. But I still love the car, and if I can afford it...will be getting an S4 in 2000.<p>Steve S.<br>97 2.8QM

 

It seems odd that people are having trouble getting parts. I've only needed a couple things for the A4 (window regulators and sunroof switch), but there was no problem getting them. Parts for older Audi's are all over the place. I never have any trouble finding parts for my 90Q. Even the center console piece is readily available. I know because I inquired about it. I think that some people are fighting with weak dealers who, in the event of not having a part, are too lazy or incompetent to get it. Then, they make excuses for the time it takes to get them. <p>Charles<p>BTW: My 90Q, at 96K miles, is still very solid, and does not wander or dart, nor does the A4 at 14K. Have your alignment checked.

 

showing on campus here for homecoming week have a 3 year/ 36,000 mile bumper to bumper warranty including all parts and services. This is identical to Audi's. They will pay for everything except tires. BMW does the same. Have you seen the new Daewoo's? I think they are not bad looking cars and very cheap. I still don't trust the reliability of Korean cars yet though. We'll see how they do. They are marketing VERY aggresively towards the college crowd.<p>Mike

 

Steve, if you remember I live in the mountains of N.E. Pa. The cold morning weather makes drivablity (hesitations, stumbling, etc) a bear until warm up. Also the rattles and creaks are more prevalent. The roads which are bumpy to begin with get worse. Thus the darty and wandering gets worse. Nice smooth roads and weather that you have in CA would definitely make me happier. But (no wars on this), my previous Nissan Z cars and Maxima's had none of these problems. My last Maxima, a '90 SE, I kept for 7 years and ran stronger, handled better, and was still tighter than my /97 A4 with 20K miles on it!<p>I offered to purchased a A4 for my sister, the dealer gave it to her for a weekend. She owned a Maxima at the time and wanted AWD for the winter months. After the weekend...UGH! Took a loaded Subaru Legacy GT for a drive and said this would run circles around the A4 in handling and crossing dangerous intersections. She was correct! I take her car for a long drive once a week and what a pleassure to toss that GT around.<p>If you ever read the 5 car shootout reviews by Car and Driver, Road and Track, The Subaru gets middle of the group points, but the review drivers fight over who gets to drive the Subaru home that night? I wonder why?<p>Yes there are definitely good points about the A4. I may look at the A6 when the V8 is an option. But the Infinity line is starting to pull me.....