I have to buy a new car this week. I have a chance at buying an audi 2001 a4 all wheel drive. The body has 115000 miles on it, however, the engine and turbo are 1 month old and still under audi warranty. the body is in very good shape. It would be an every day car for me and my child to commute? Any suggestions
Thanks,
Wi
If money is no object, sure, this would be a good commuter car. However, this car has a less than stirling reliability record, comfirmed by the fact that it needed a new engine at only 115,000 miles. It may also not have been well maintained. There will likely be many other things to go wrong on this car, many of them expensive.
Assuming you don’t have unlimited funds, a late model; Toyota Corolla, Honda Civic, or Mazda 3 would be a much better choice. So would a Hyundai Elantra. A 3-4 year old one of these four, well looked after, would give you economical transportation for years to come.
It depends on the price and what is most important to you. Are you a “form follows function” type of person? If so, you should get something more reliable. If not, you can get this car, but make sure you get it thoroughly checked by your mechanic before you buy, and it would have to be one heck of a deal.
Why do you have to buy a car this week? Why not next week?
Ask yourself this question; “Why does this car have a new engine and turbo?”
Answer: Because the original engine and turbo went KABLOOEY!
This would not be my first choice for a daily driver. This would not be my 93rd choice, either. Audis are expensive to own and maintain, especially used Audis with over 100K miles on them.
I suggest you look for something more mainstream.
I don’t have to ask if your pockets are deep enough for Audi ownership because if they were you’d be buying a brand new one.
Did they tell you this car requires premium gas?
I would not buy a turbo car, and Audis (especially around 2001) are maintenance hogs. Not a good combo.
I would not buy a turbo car, and Audis (especially around 2001) are maintenance hogs. Not a good combo.
That says it all…
As a former owner of an Audi A4 and Subaru Legacy Outback my recommendation is to go for the Outback or Forester. The A4 is a great car, but as others have mentioned, may require more frequent (and more expensive) maintenance and repair. Audi is up with BMW and Mercedes in terms of quality engineering, design and performance. For the same amount of $$ you will get a better Subaru than Audi.
If, however, you are looking for basic reliable transportation, Subarus are hard to beat. A bought a 1994 Legacy SW for a friend six years ago. It had 170,000 miles on it when I bought it and now has 275,000 and still going strong.
Audis are great for performance, Subarus are great for reliability – get what suits you best.
Twotone
I am not familiar with reliability ratings of the AWD, but given the posts on this board about proper tire rotation to prevent AWD problems, Getting the AWD checked would be concern number 1 for me, along with the routine independent mechanic inspection of course.
How much are they asking for it.
Make sure you have the transmission checked if you want to buy the car. It is reasonable to assume, unless you know differently, that the engine died prematurely because it was abused. If the engine was abused, the transmission was likely abused, too. This may not be the case. The car may have been treated well. But if that’s the case, why is the current owner selling it?