Winter beater?
 

I am thinking of picking up an Allroad as a winter beater. I currently have a Sienna and Camry, and really miss having a heavy AWD vehicle in the winter. Am I nuts to think I can grab one of these an drive it reliably when we have bad weather? I know all the typical nightmare areas from reading, transmission (it has to be auto), suspension, oil leaks etc, but it is so tempting because they are relatively cheap. I won't do my own wrenching, no time, but I have a great indy nearby. Should I walk or run away from this idea :D

If you won't be doing the work yourself, and want something AWD that will just work without being in the shop all the time, I would suggest looking at a Subaru instead. These are fickle beasts, if for nothing else than the air suspension, but both the 2.7 and the 4.2 can be finicky.

This might be an unpopular opinion around here, but that's my suggestion! If you want to keep it Audi, an A4 or A6 Avant Quattro can also be had cheap, and the 2.0t and 2.8t more manageable in terms of maintenance.

They can be reliable, but when things go bad, they get pricey quick. I use one as a winter/hauler vehicle, and there are mornings that I cross my fingers before hitting the key.
Obviously, you want to find one with low(under100k) miles, and good service records. Make sure you verify the vin on the records, as the guy I bought mine off of had some receipts for a different allroad thrown in.

If you don't do your own work they can get expensive to maintain. Bought my car with 86k miles and I'm up to about 103k miles in 2 years. I've replaced the TBB, complete timing service, spark plugs, valve cover gaskets, trans fluid, brake fluid, brakes, and several oil changes. As I did all the work myself it hasn't cost much money. But if you don't keep up on maintenance these cars will leave you stranded. I can't imagine owning one and having to pay someone else to do the work. It would get very expensive very fast. There is a reason they are inexpensive. It's not because they are poorly made it's that they are very complicated and expensive to maintain.

As much as I love my AR with nearly 250K on it...I would point you in a different direction AWAY from an allroad. If another Jap car isn't what you want then a plain jane A4 or A6 will be a better choice IMO.

Just due their age and the darn air suspension you will regret buying an AR as a 'beater'. These were and still are very expensive cars to maintain, even if you do your own wrenching. And just because they are relatively 'cheap' to buy now, they aren't cheap to maintain.

100% agree, the ar is an awesome car but a good analogy if compared to the Hot - Crazy Matrix, it is 5-8 Hot and 7-10 Crazy which is in the danger zone.

^^^This, is absolute perfection!

I only bought this car because i can do most of the work myself... The air suspension, if not kept up, will cause your tires to wear unevenly, and have you all over the road in the snow. The engine problems that are annoying is if a sensor fails, it throws you into "limp mode" where the car literally loses its guts, which can be a problem in the snow. I would imagine that you could buy a beater Allroad, but you wouldn't last long, and would be running it into the ground. It's kinda offensive to call our cars "beaters" but I gueesss thats what they are considered from the outside looking in. Keeping these wagons alive, is called maintenance and sometimes restoration, and you kinda do have to love the car.

I would buy an A6 Avant quattro with steel springs, or how about a nice Jetta Wagon? or how about a Subaru Outback to run into the ground. :)