HorschA4

I've had two A4s (1998 and 2004). I'm considering buying another one (I like how the cars handle and look), but I'm a little reluctant because the reliability has not been very good. Does anyone have any insights on whether the reliability of the A4 has improved?

JonDeutsch

General consensus is "yes." I used to buy Acura's for a number of reasons, but one of them was reliability. In Consumer Reports, the predicted reliability for the TSX is 7 out of 10. For the A4, it's 6 out of 10. So, the A4 is worse, but it's in the ballpark of Acura. And it still gets a CR "Recommended" sticker, FWIW. So, it's not a deal-killer like it might have used to be.

You can take this any way you like. My take is that Acura has gone downhill a bit, and Audi has climbed uphill a bit, but Audi has another trick or two to go before it can say it has Japanese-like reliability.

Another lens is that Audi has the best reliability of any German car. Again, a forced context, but it is what it is.

m444

I think the Porsche has better reliability than Audi in the reports.
http://content.usatoday.com/communit...ity-rankings/1

BRANDS OVERALL (defects per 100 vehicles):
Industry average was 108 per 100

1. Porsche (83)
2. Acura (86)
3. Mercedes-Benz (87)
4. Lexus (88)
5. Ford (93)
6. Honda (95)
7. Hyundai (102)
8. Lincoln (106)
9. Infiniti (107)
10. Volvo (109)
11. Ram (110)
12. Audi (111)
13. Cadillac (111)
14. Chevrolet (111)
15. Nissan (111)
16. BMW (113)
17. Mercury (113)
18. Buick (114)
19. Mazda(114)
20. Scion (114)
21. Toyota (117)
22. Subaru (121)
23. Chrysler (122)
24. Suzuki (122)
25. GMC (126)
26. Kia (126)
27. Jeep (129)
28. Dodge (130)
29. Jaguar (130)
30. Mini (133)
31. Volkswagen (135)
32. Mitsubishi (146)
33. Land Rover (170)

SFV A4

As stated here, the A4 has been rated "average" for several years now. If CR is recommending it, that's a good sign.
The best way to look at Audi and most other German makes is like this... They are great cars to own/lease for 3-4 years, but not really beyond. Maintenance, parts, and labor are stiff. Reliability often plunges after the warranty dies.

barvic

Two years, 32K Kms, one naughty door lock sensor on right rear door. That's pretty good in my books so far. Daily stop/go city driver with kids.

Look at Ford though! WOW. We also have a 2006 Ford FreeStyle (I wanna be a real SUV) and it has been very reliable. Have they ever turned that around. If Ford can do it, albeit I think they are not as advanced technically and fit/finish, hopefully Audi can learn something from them.

I agree with the thoughts thus far; if only for 4-5 years or more with Audi Assured Warranty go for it. Let's hope that in four years we're all yacking about keeping our cars because they're so darn reliable now.

Sundowner

It's interesting how reliability can be so personal and anecdotal. We have a 2006 A3 that's been rock solid for my wife, and my 2011 A4 has been great for the 10 months and 10k miles I've driven it so far, which makes it 16 times (the number of warrantiy repairs on that car) better than my 2010 Jetta at the same bench mark.

I have two friends with freestyles, one a 2006 and one a 2008. Both are nightmare cars. one spat its CVT tranny out onto the driveway, the other had the tailgate blow up on them, and that's jsut the big stuff. I'm glad yours has been reliable.

Nostromo

according to that list, it's time for my wife to let my buy a Porsche

sweet

jdong

2011 A4 2.0T, it's almost a year old and has 18,500 miles on it. Apart from complaints of the 8spd tiptronic having some clunky 1-2 shifts (which a TSB has addressed 99% of the issue for me), it's been a reliable car for me. I would definitely buy this car again.

gunsmoker

2011 A4 6MT, a year old with 12k miles on the clock - 0 problems.

gunsmoker

This is old data from a year and a half ago - see the date of the article.
Audi is at #19 in the 2011 survey where #11 is the industry average. Ford dropped to #24 due to the new models released.