tzz

I'm currently debating whether or not to go for a CPO A4 now or save up more money until I'm comfortable with buying a new A4 (plus the maintenance costs that come with it). The specific one I'm looking at was this:
https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/d...8661/overview/

I can afford the monthly payments for a new A4, but I'm setting a 30k budget for my next car, which I plan to keep for ~10 years. I prefer to fix up the little things with my car, and hope to learn more from forums on things that can be done on my own without specialized tools. I'd say I'm pretty decent with my hands and enjoy the hands on stuff. I'm hoping this will decrease the cost of ownership for a CPO A4 by a bit, but I wanted to ask others to see if I'm being too optimistic.

I've heard that Audis tend to start seeing some more annoying issues at the 30k mile mark. I've also heard of people having Audis that have racked up 200k miles. The one I linked is right around the 30k miles mark, but since it's CPO, I was hoping it wouldn't have any major issues considering it passed Audi's 300 point inspection.

A lot of my colleagues are telling me to get the new Honda Civic and save 10k. Their point was that according to Edmunds, there's about a $5,000/year cost of ownership difference between the 2 cars. I love the drive quality of Audis and it's a night and day difference between Audi vs. Honda (colleagues agree with this too), but I also wanted to see if that $5k difference can be lowered if I'm taking on a lot of the easier fixes.

Any advice would be appreciated

Onewolf42

I am surprised you are cross shopping an Audi A4 and a Honda Civic? Seems like the new Accord would be much more appropriate to cross shop?

Edit: I'm talking about the 2l 10 speed Honda Accord. Not the 1.5l CVT Accord.

uberwgn

tzz, what cars have you previously owned? The past three?

dbias

I have both.
2017 A4 that i love and only problem i've had was the thermostat housing leak that was repaired under warranty.
https://www.audiworld.com/forums/a4-...-open-2963618/
Im at 57k miles now. Ive changed my own oil after the first intial free one. Ive changed the spark plugs, cabin air filter 3x, Engine air filter once, and DSG fluid.

2016 Honda Civic Coupe 1.5T. Ive had it in the repair shop for the top brake light cover that fell down and flooded the rear window with red light at night, safety issue. The repair has worked but the cover is not level and i see it every time i look in the rear view mirror.
I had it in 3 times for a valve in the transmission that makes the most god awful racket on warm start up. It literally sounds like the diesel fire trucks i used to work out of. I took it back three times as Honda would not do anything for me even though i had multiple videos of it clearly happening, it had to be produced in front of them at the dealership. Its a known issue with TSB and everything and now im outside the pathetic 3yr/36k warranty. here is an example from Youtube
The keyless entry/start has left my daughter stranded twice, towed to the dealer who sold her a $9 keyfob battery (car wasnt even 6 months on the road) and sent her on her way and it stranded her again a few weeks later. It somehow has resolved itself. Exact same situation as in this Youtube video.
And lastly the 1.5T engine is a class 5 fuel diluter. When the oil life monitor gets past 50% i have to check the oil and most times the oil level has risen over an inch above the full mark on the dipstick necessitating an early oil change.

Oh yeah ROAD NOISE IS UNBEARABLE!!!!!!!!! Ive had 3 different set of tires on it and nothing has helped.

redherring

The absolute cheapest 2.0 Accord starts at over $30k, and that's including no options, so that's why he's thinking Civic. But if the A4 is that much of a stretch, my strong advice would be don't get it--you'll be worrying about what every little problem is going to cost, and it will kill the enjoyment of owing such a car. It's like cross-shopping a Frigidaire and a Sub-Zero--they'll both keep your food cold, but you have to decide what your priority is.

silver03gt

To me that seems like quite a disparity, and since you own one of each I think the decision should be an easy one. The Accord would be more on par with the A4. That being said, I really can't get by the looks of the Accord and I don't believe the overall fit & finish is on par with the Audi. Just my opinion. Before I bought my new A4 I looked at a CPO loaner with 6,500 miles on it. I couldn't get the dealership to give me a deal good enough to keep me from buying new. Have you considered leasing?


2018 A4 Premium Plus, Florett Silver/Black, Grey Oak, Sport Package, Ventilated Seats

JD15

I think you should consider a CPO Accord 2.0T Touring. It will likely have at least as many features as the A4 you are considering and is just as powerful. Before I bought my S5, I test drove an Accord 2.0T Touring and was impressed with the car for the price. Audi cost of ownership may be stressful if you are on a tight budget, but the Civic has quite a few known quality problems and will feel cheap compared to the A4. As previously stated, stay away from the 1.5T in the Civic, which is known to heavily dilute its oil with fuel.

samsj

I checked Edmunds cost of ownership and the numbers are inaccurate. Scheduled maintenance with Audi care package does not cost that much nor is the finance/interest amounts. You should double check the numbers based on your location and miles driven.
Here are the links

Audi care

A4 cost

Civic cost

tzz

@uberwgn I'm relatively young, so '07 honda accord (flooded in houston), '09 toyota camry (sold because I was moving), and now '16 subaru impreza (lease about to end, got it to better understand how to drive in snow. Wanted to see how AWD plays out in winter weather). All 3 weren't cars that I liked, but were bought solely for utility and to get from point A to point B.

@Onewolf42 @redherring I test drove the 2.0 Accord, and honestly I don't think the 4-5k bump for the turbo engine is worth it. Sure, it's a bit faster/sportier, but it just felt 'fake'. Not to mention, I've been hating Honda brakes in the recent years because it's so sensitive. I can get used to it, but I prefer not getting jerked forward when barely tapping on the brakes. I should've included Toyota in this mix too, since they're in the same range, and I test drove those a couple of weeks ago and they were just 'fine'.

@dbias thank you for such a detailed response. And as others echoed, sounds like the Civic 1.5 isn't worth getting at all. I agree with you, my experiences with Honda/Toyota dealerships have never been stellar, and the road noise is pretty bad (but if I turn the music loud enough, I can get by haha).
That said, I wonder if Honda Accords have the same fuel diluter issue...

@silver03gt I did look into leasing, but when I price it out, I'm out $20k in 3 years. If I bought a 2 year old CPO A4, I can probably get it at around 27-28k. It's about a 10k difference, and I know the A4 won't depreciate down to 10k in 5 years.

@JD15 I'm actually not big on features, which is why I linked out to the A4 Premium. Virtual Cockpit is nice on P+, but with Apple CarPlay, I really don't need to nice bells and whistles. I'm just in love with the drive quality itself, so the steering and handling, how it feels around corners, etc. Within the Honda family, I'd probably lean towards one of the 1.5 engines because I'm not big on the idea of spending an extra 4-5k for a 2.0T that only feels marginally better than the 1.5. Acceleration is better, but in stop and go traffic, that won't really matter. Steering and handling between the 1.5 vs 2.0 feels pretty similar.

Onewolf42

I (still) cannot tolerate a CVT transmission so the Honda Accord 1.5/hybrid variants were eliminated immediately. I thought the Accord 2.0 with 10 speed handled/drove well and I was 98% sure I was going to get an Accord Touring 2.0 out the door at $34K (my first FWD in 30 years!), but at the last minute I test drove an Audi A4 Quattro which has similar acceleration/handling as the Accord 2l and since my wife REALLY REALLY wanted me to get the Audi that's what I did. I still think the Accord would have been the smarter choice, but sometimes you have to "take one for the team".

My previous daily drivers were 3 Infiniti Gs, 3 BMW 3 series convertibles, and 2 Porsche Boxster Ss.