I am in the market for my first lux/sports sedan. The A4 tops my list in the areas of room, style, and handling.

However, in diving into more details at places like JD Power, CR, and other non-car-junky reviewers, the A4s (and Audi in general) has fair to lagging scores in short and long-term reliability.

Can the enthusiasts here be honest and asses the build quality of the A4?

I've always had a Japanese car in the past, and I am VERY accustomed to NO ISSUES whatsoever. I think of the 3 cars I've had from Japan, I've had to go to the shop ONCE -- on a car with 96k on it.

Looking for insight...

 

CR does not seem to be a reliable source of info for niche cars like this. Maybe too small a sample set ?

Do a search here and on the old A4 forum to get an idea of the real situation. Remember that people here tend to post their problems, in hopes of someone having a solution. Most people who have cars that work fine, aren't going to bother to post - they have no reason to.

 

Much better than my previous BMWs

 

I just made the decision to purchase, based on the information I read here and I found that carpoint.com gave me a lot of the information I wanted.

 

if you like boring cars with light car pedal feel, no steering input and no sense of road contact then buy them. German cars have that german feel to them. By this I mean solid, in contact and control. Build quality on Audi is A+ however you will have minor things go wrong from time to time. This is my third Audi and so far I've never hadany major things go wrong and I drive my cars fairly hard. Get what feels right to you.

 

a German car. The obvious reasons seem to be well documented, my only concern was reliability, like yours. My suggestion to you is go into this purchase with the mindset that if in 3-4 years the Audi is a pain in the *** then get rid of it. Whether or not the car is under warranty means nothing to me, as being without the car for a day or two is unacceptable. There is no reason for a fairly expensive new car to not be problem free for for this period of time.

I don't think some people really understand what it is to have a vehicle that just doesn't need to be repaired for the first 4-5 years. Whether an A4 is this vehicle you will have to wait for my post in 2006. (42 month lease)

 

I just purchased my 2nd A4.

The first one only visited the shop for regular maintenance (oil, etc.). While there, a control arm problem was found (semi-common on the previous generation A4) and addressed under warranty. The dealer gave me an A6 2.7t as a loaner, to boot. I also had headlights go out several times - more than usual. That was the extent of my service experience in just under 50k miles of driving in just over 2 years.

The new A4 seems even better - it just feels more together. Build quality is impeccable inside and out - far better than Toyota or Nissan, or even Honda.

However build quality (perfectly aligned body panels, quality steel and/or aluminum, overall paint finish, sqeak and rattle-free hinges, joints, etc.)is not the same thing as reliability...

I had a Pathfinder that came with an orange-peel paint job from the factory develop severe cancer (i.e., rust) at 5 years. The body panels were blistering right off the frame, which didn't look too good either (this was an 89 model before they went to unibody construction). Over time, the self-lubricating door hinges became squeaky and they weren't really serviceable. There were many problems like this, but the truck eventually lasted about 11 years with over 200k on the clock - and the engine was still super strong. I even got 190k on the orignal clutch (!). In this case, reliability was great, but build quality was poor - the paint never looked good, the frame and body were made from poor quality materials that were poorly treated for corrosion resistance, and high-wear parts were poorly engineered.

In comparison, Audi will give you the highest quality fit and finish you can buy - many say better than BMW or Mercedes (certainly better than Lexus, etc.). Everything is serviceable, and you are unlikely to ever see a nicer paint job on a car that starts under $30k. If you follow the scheduled maintenance program (remember: at no cost to you), you're not likely to have problems - certainly not within the warranty period.

When you consider the depreciation factor most Japanese cars are subject to, any potential service issues associated with Audi still don't disturb the value equation. Audi resale is strong and still improving. Just compare residual values on leases - it's not even close.

Finally, check out this story about Toyota problems - you may be suprised:

http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/highway1/la-000018575mar13.story

Happy shopping.

 

S4 Vince,

Now, c'mon. I have an Acura Integra... don't give me this sweeping Jap-cars-have-light-feel stuff. The Integra is a tight, connected, attractive coup -- I love it!

However, it's getting a bit long in the tooth, and I want a 4 door sedan.

If Acura would take their Accord and make it into a SPORTS SEDAN, boy would they have a player. Unfortunately, they strech it out into a near-lux sedan (TL) and make it too big and clumsy for someone like me.

Thanks all for the feedback... "fair and balanced"!

 

The Japanese cars do best on (1) by a slight degree. The German and Swedish cars do best on (2) by a large degree. What I've really loved about my Audis and Saabs is that the cars looked, felt, and drove like 'new' for a long, long time. They'd have a glitch now and then, but I was always given a 'loaner' car 'till the problem was corrected, the problems were always covered under waranty, and the dealerships always treated me with dignity and professional courtesy.

Funny (but true) story: When I brought my Subaru Forester in for service, I was provided a courtesy ride in an old chevy van. The Lexus service customers were driven to work or home in a new Honda van (they parked the two right next to each other).