Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Old Audis were terrible for reliability which was strike one. Strike 2 is they weren't all that great of vehicles in the first place, which was really strike three as well. Not that many sold compared with BMW/Mercedes in the first place and nobody bothers to keep them running as they were fairly mediocre even when new. I see a few running around but they are rare. You certainly see a lot more E46/E39 BMWs. That's kind of both sides. They sold a lot more E46/E39 BMWs and a lot of people consider everything they've made since to have gone progressively down hill. They do some things better but as far as being fun to drive, the new BMWs just aren't so great. I mean, a lot of BMW sales are just Camry of affluent area but you also had people that bought them because of the way they drove who are hanging onto them similar to how you had people hang on to those old '70s land yachts. Nobody really does that with Audi. The new ones are just better all around.
The new A4 are *supposed* to be more reliable if you take the few years they have been running and compare them to the few years of the older years. It seems after 2010-2011 is when reliability *started* to take a turn.
So you would need to wait 5-6 more years to see how Audi is doing with reliability. I'm talking about their better-selling cars, like the A4 and Q5. Since those are cars Audi should be able to get right.
For example, we need to see how a 2012 Audi A4 is doing in 2022. Japanese cars can easily do a tough 10 year lifespan with minimal issues.
Japanese cars can easily do a tough 10 year lifespan with minimal issues.
Most cars can...
Even japanese cars break down if maintenance is neglected. It's the maintenance that causes people to sell them. European cars just don't have the parts available in the US to make it cheap. Hard to do the work yourself as well due to lack of tools.
Japanese cars have been fairly standardized so parts are easy to get. American cars have lots of parts/shops that are available too. So the European cars just go to dust as they age since it costs almost as much to fix them as it does to just replace it.
Most cars can...
Even japanese cars break down if maintenance is neglected. It's the maintenance that causes people to sell them. European cars just don't have the parts available in the US to make it cheap. Hard to do the work yourself as well due to lack of tools.
Japanese cars have been fairly standardized so parts are easy to get. American cars have lots of parts/shops that are available too. So the European cars just go to dust as they age since it costs almost as much to fix them as it does to just replace it.
Correct. I posted this on another topic:
This is one reason that German cars have a reputation of being unreliable. They have technology that push the limits of mechanics at that particular point in time. Most people buy a car for $50k and then they approach the 60k maintenance that will cost them over $1000, if not close to $2000. Since these people might trade their German car before 100k miles or so, what's the point of spending that money on constant maintenance?
So you sell your $50k car at 90k miles without proper maintenance already skipped, to some kid who wants to look rich for $15k. Said kid barely has the money to pay for the car, let alone get maintenance done. Any money he has will go to aftermarket rims and a stereo system, and the skipped maintenance cycle continues.
This process repeats itself several times and in the end you have someone who buys a used BMW/Mercedes/Audi for $5k with and deals with all kinds of engine trouble, OEM rubber parts crumbling to pieces, interior trim coming off -on top of that having to listen to a smug coworker tell him how their beige Corolla has never given them any trouble with only basic oil changes.
Now if 1 or 2 people had owned this German car and did all of the maintenance that was required and not skip out on everything, you will most likely have a German car that made it to 200k with maybe minimal to average number of headaches.
I see a lot of Audis where I live. Perhaps as much as BMW and Mercedes but they are all new. Not many older ones though. One other thing that keeps me away from Audi is the VW connection. The low end A3 and A4 look suspiciously like VWs yet have BMW-like price tags.
audi's are notorious for not lasting and don't really have much appeal in the collectibles market. outside of the 4 circle logo, audi's never really had a lasting brand influence in the psyche of car enthusiasts. they were generally plain looking vehicles. and they kinda had the middle child syndrome between mercedes and bmw. by the time they reach 150k miles, they are mostly chucked into the scrap yard. in contrast, i see old '94 bmw m3's with rebuilt engines, and mods still on the road and in the garages of collectors.
Once the hipsters have bought up all the old Mercs, BMW's and Volvos, they will need another brand to slake theur pretentious thirst, and then you'll see some old Audi's come out of the barn!
Seriously though, think about how many GM, Ford, even Asiian cars from anywhere ealrer than late 90's. Enthusiast interest or entropy is all that keeps cars that old on the road and the Audi enthsiast market is limited
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
