Faults:

Clutch went, while towing a caravan; took the flywheel with it, £1200.

Lower door trims fell away from car. Door clips OK. Trim rotted from behind. Audi sell these by the bucket load.

Rear wash wiper packed up; new motor, £60. Don't get caught like me! It's an easy fix, I've since found out; spin the plastic drive cog round 180 degrees and use the other side of it.

Wiper motor squeaky at 110.000 miles. Second hand one fine, nasty old job to do.

New battery at 130.000, as awkward as the wiper motor.

General Comments:

Bad bits: seats hard, sun visors gappy, only cassette player. no CD. Alloy wheels/centre cap flaky.

Good bits: very well made, electrics good, wiper pattern good, had a lovely solid feel to it, oil/air filter change easy, done every 5000 miles.

Faults:

Not a lot. I love this car; if you do the maintenance on the car, it will last a long time. Most people are lazy!! They will not spend a penny on maintenance. They spend money on big tires and rims; crap like that. Look at all the rusty cars here, people just don't care.

I've done 237000 miles, and I still get 27 mpg.

Faults:

Replaced head lights at 105,000 miles due to one leaking.

Replaced brake rotors and brakes at 106,000 miles.

Had eight hard to find engine oil leaks fixed at 106,000 miles.

Had timing belt replaced at 107,000 miles.

Transmission blew at 110,000 miles.

Front bumper keeps popping off the brackets.

Center ashtray in front console comes out.

Wiring problems under the hood, which causes the LED dash screen to turn on and off sometimes.

No cruise control.

Sunroof switch sometimes has a mind of its own as well.

Bad MAF sensor.

Leaky rear strut needs replacing.

Needs new tie rods and one upper control arm.

Carrier Bearing on driveshaft needs to be replaced.

General Comments:

This car has been an absolute headache. I was in Iraq when I bought it, and the seller obviously wasn't honest with the person who picked up the car for me. He did no maintenance to it at all.

I plan to redo all of the suspension to racing spec, and get the car back to where it deserves to be.

Despite all these problems, it still handles surprisingly well and is very comfortable to drive. Audi are great vehicles to own as long as you can afford it and a blast to drive. Their AWD system makes all the difference or I would have gotten something else. This car is very tough, despite the transmission failure. I have had to drive on roads where only big trucks go.

My transmission was performance built by a racing company, and is modified to be a lot more durable. Stock Audi automatics have durability issues from what I hear as well.

Faults:

I purchased the 1998 Audi A4 Quattro in Phoenix, AZ. in 2004 and imported it into Canada. It had 103,000 miles at the time of purchase, and was in mint condition.

107,000 miles - replaced timing chain, tensioners, thermostat and water pump (no problem... I just didn't know when they had been changed last)

109,300 miles - replaced secondary air pump relay after it shorted out, causing the fan to keep running after the car was turned off. This would cause the battery to discharge.

120,590 miles - replaced leaky power steering hoses and split front CV boots;

127,700 miles - replaced all four wheel bearings (one was starting to make noise so I did all 4)

140,670 miles - replaced both front brake calipers after they started leaking (did this along with full brake service)

General Comments:

The car handles very well and is very stable at high speeds. The leather interior that still looks in mint condition after 11 years. It is definitely the most comfortable car I've ever owned.

The expenses to date have been acceptable, since I have stayed away from the Audi dealers for repairs.