Audi 1.8T reliability?

klutch

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Alright, looking for another car. With 2 other vehicles on the go, I'm looking in the $8-14k range, and I've narrowed it down to about 11 choices, in proper enthusiast fashion, and a couple of them are from our friends in Ingolstadt. The 02-04 A4 with the 1.8t is pretty common around here, and I like the idea of decent fuel economy for my 60k daily commute - trying to keep my choices in the 30mpg or above range. Anyway, I've had experience with newer VW's with the 1.8t, all of which have been negative. Most of the 'I wanna drive this fucking thing off a cliff' experiences were electrical, and I can't specifically remember any actual engine issues...but I'm still wary. From what I understand, all the VW shitboxes in the late 90's - early double-naughts were made in Mexico and other countries without running water or governments, and were subsequently crap. I also hear the Audi's were/are all made in Germany, including the 1.8t shoehorned into them. True? I know I'm looking for anecdotal evidence, but anyone else have experience with the 02-04 A4's, or have any useful input along these lines? Should I look for a 3.0 version instead? Any other known problems? Obviously I'd look for a Quattro, and ideally a manual, although the auto with Tiptronic would be fine.

Or should I go with plan B and get a newer Accord/G35/TL/CSX/Altima/Jetta TDi or the like? I basically want a car that's more enjoyable to be in on the highway - more passing grunt than a Civic, with a nice interior, more class than anything America has to offer, and doesn't drink more than my alcoholic ex on payday? I'd love an 02+ E46, but everything around here has super high milage, and I don't want a BMW with an automatic.
 
millitant grunt and Prizak are going to be the people you will most want to talk to what with being owners and all. That said from my lurking of motorgeek people don't seem to have many issues with the 1.8Ts as far as motor/drivetrain goes. I want to say have heard less than fantastic things about the rest of the cars build quality that could be hearsay. But again the 1.8t and quattro seems to be a pretty trouble free combo.
 
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I have an 02 Passat with the 1.8T auto with tiptronic. Engine/drivetrain has been the most reliable part of the car but like any VAG product parts are expensive and work is labor intensive. Timing belt/water pump is particurally expensive and cars of that era will need it to have been done. To the best of my knowledge all Passats and A4s always were and still are made in Germany but that doesn't say much. I get really nice mileage (I've broken 30 mpg on long country drives without being careful) and have plenty of grunt for my uses, but I don't know how different the engine management and tuning is between the Passat and it's fancy dress cousin.
 
My 1.8T has been as reliable as the sun, the only problem we've had was when my Dad sprayed out the engine bay with the hose; not one of his best moments.
 
If you are kinda worried about costs, look at a TSX and get a hondata reflash to go along with it. It drives well, has good cruising/passing power, is generally regarded as reliable, and is comfortable. I don't know anything about audi's
 
The Audi's are expensive to have worked on, and that 60-80k miles timing belt/water pump/pullys maintenance does empty your pockets. I had a B5 (1998) A4 Quattro with the 2.8L V6 mated with tiptronic and loved it every bit. I know the 2.8L isn't around anymore but I believe the 3.0L is just a jumped up version. I test drove a year newer 1.8L turbo with a manual box and it was wonderful. It has a bit more noise and there is less toque, however it still felt almost as good as the V6. Electronics are the first thing to go so look at them especially close. That year (02-04) range has similar underpinnings from the generation I owned with a new body design. The V6 models are almost impossible to find with a stick, so I think that's another great reason to choose the 1.8 engine.

-Good luck on your choice.
 
I've got a Mexican-made 2004 Jetta 1.8T. Same engine as the Audi, I think. Up until this January, I had no real issues at all with reliability. Since then, I've had the coolant temperature sensor fail, a vacuum leak develop, and--unrelated to the engine--the power door lock control module fail.

By the way, people make too much of an issue out of the Mexican versus German thing. Regardless of where it's made, robots do most of the work, and the rest is done by assembly-line workers without any real discretion. I think the main issue with the 1990s Mexican VWs was not that they were made by Mexicans, but simply that the plant was new. Also, most of the problems I've heard about with the 1990s VWs are design defects, not manufacturing defects (i.e., failing coil packs, not misaligned trim), so place of manufacture would have nothing to do with them.
 
I only had three issues with the motor:
1) Coil packs went - my fault for washing the engine with water :p replaced under CPO warranty. That said the coil packs are known to be weak on this car, but a new set of Hitachi E is only $150 or so and they are supposedly bulletproof.
2) Alternator went - no clue, why $400 replacement, car out of commission for a day.
3) Water pump went at 72K - a bit earlier than the 75K timing belt job that is recommended, funny thing is that I was on the way to the place to get the timing belt done when it started leaking so no big deal. Also I had a somewhat leaky valve cover gasket but in all honesty I drove the car for almost 3 years with the problem and wouldn't have known about it were it not for the timing belt job. It wasn't losing oil pressure or oil really.

Random problems:
Interior buttons, ESP button bubbled and rubbed off, headlight switch got went and the paint rubbed off, the paint on the radio is kind of rubbing off but I don't care since a Pioneer GPS headunit is in the plans anyways but a refurb radio is $40 from ECS Tuning.

Wiring:
There is a loose connection in the backlight for the passenger side reading light button.
Speaker wiring gets grimed up from time to time and your speaker will start cutting out, hella annoying but its easy enough to clean them yourself. Dealer will charge 1 hour's labor fee to get it fixed.

Glovebox:
Complete nightmare - there is a pneumatic cylinder to stop it from opening too fast that is way too tight so the plastic connecting the arm to it tends to snap. Fixing it is fairly easy if somewhat ghetto, you open up the cylinder and cut the rubber a little to relieve pressure, also recommended that you bolt a metal L bracket onto the arm.

Power:
1.8T is pretty slow stock only 170hp for 3600lb curb weight. Manual is fairly peppy, tiptronic blows avoid it if you can at all. You can put a $500 APR Stage 1 tune on the car (some dealers will do it and you can keep warranty assuming you get any) and that will increase boost to around 19 from the stock 10psi. That's good for 215hp/225tq (IIRC), it's all midrange power though. Note that if you get the tip it will have gear hunting problems.

Handling:
Stock 16x7 with 215/55 tires are fairly understeery, I put 235/40/18 on new wheels and that thing can corner like there is no tomorrow now.

P.S. A friend of mine had the same car as mine but in USP trim and had a huge amount of electrical problems, so yeah..

Resources:
Forums:
http://www.audiforums.com/forum/
http://audiworld.com/
http://www.audizine.com/
http://vwvortex.com/
Parts:
http://www.ecstuning.com/
Tuning:
http://www.awe-tuning.com/
http://www.goapr.com/
 
My engine has been great, but it'd be a bit lost in the heavy A4. Moreso with quattro. A quattro auto A4 would be terribly slow I think.

The only problems I've had have been coil packs. They suck. i hate them. Keep extras in the garage.

And the early ones had metallurgy problems with the valves, but they solved that later on.
 
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I was researching these when I was looking to get a car a couple of years ago. Prizak and the others have covered most of the stuff, but just a summation and some other details.

-The 1.8T is a very exploitable motor, there's lots of parts and support, but the motor is harsh and anything over 70k miles is a no go without a complete service history
-The 3.0 is fairly solid, but it makes a heavy car even heavier and it's not really worth the weight and handling penalty
-Interior quality is nice, but materials are not. A friend of mine has a '03 3.0Q and interior trim is peeling or coming off left and right
-The black cladding on some models along the exterior looks ugly and can gray and become even nastier
-You need a full service history
-VAG electrics are shite.
-The Tiptronic and CVT should be avoided like the plague
-The AWD is another part to break

You can get an E36 M3 or a B5 S4 for that money as well.
 
IIRC hair gel or hand gel or grooming products in general cause the interior surfaces to peel off. Our Mk4 has the door grab handles losing their surfaces.
 
Yeah the soft touch surface has dissolved almost completely from the drivers handle of my car. I'm not an overly product coated person either.
 
Also ammonia based cleaners in sun/heat will cause the interior paint to bubble and peel.
 
You could ask Ice, but then again none of his audi's ever last long enough to develop issues :p
 
You could ask Ice, but then again none of his audi's ever last long enough to develop issues :p

Bazinga!

Also if you can find a good clean Ultra Sport get it. They have the S4 suspension and factory 235 tires either 17" or 18" can't remember right now.
 
Get a G35.
 
My cousin owns an '03 A4 1.8T. Apart from the coils it's a very good car.
 
Alright, looking for another car. With 2 other vehicles on the go, I'm looking in the $8-14k range, and I've narrowed it down to about 11 choices, in proper enthusiast fashion, and a couple of them are from our friends in Ingolstadt. The 02-04 A4 with the 1.8t is pretty common around here, and I like the idea of decent fuel economy for my 60k daily commute - trying to keep my choices in the 30mpg or above range. Anyway, I've had experience with newer VW's with the 1.8t, all of which have been negative. Most of the 'I wanna drive this fucking thing off a cliff' experiences were electrical, and I can't specifically remember any actual engine issues...but I'm still wary. From what I understand, all the VW shitboxes in the late 90's - early double-naughts were made in Mexico and other countries without running water or governments, and were subsequently crap. I also hear the Audi's were/are all made in Germany, including the 1.8t shoehorned into them. True? I know I'm looking for anecdotal evidence, but anyone else have experience with the 02-04 A4's, or have any useful input along these lines? Should I look for a 3.0 version instead? Any other known problems? Obviously I'd look for a Quattro, and ideally a manual, although the auto with Tiptronic would be fine.

Or should I go with plan B and get a newer Accord/G35/TL/CSX/Altima/Jetta TDi or the like? I basically want a car that's more enjoyable to be in on the highway - more passing grunt than a Civic, with a nice interior, more class than anything America has to offer, and doesn't drink more than my alcoholic ex on payday? I'd love an 02+ E46, but everything around here has super high milage, and I don't want a BMW with an automatic.



If you can get your hands on a 04 1.8t or a 2003.5, you'll end up with the 6pseed gear box which dramatically improves economy. They're great cars, Ive had two 1.8t A4s, and now currently swapped out my built 1.8t for a 2.7t. (Kinda wish I didn't =/)

The key things to look for in a used 1.8t.

Engine:

Just by looking at the motor, (pop off the plastic cover) the state of the valve cover seal, if the entire valve cover is fresh oily, its time for a new Valve cover gasket / cam seals. Bad valve cover seal can cause spark plugs to foul and cause misfires for the car.

Take the oil cap off, smell the oil, does it smell burnt, is there any sludge build up on the oil cap. This will immediately tell you how often someone changed the oil. Oil in this motor is EXTREMELY important. If a 3-4k MAX oil change schedule is not being stuck to, expect to have sludge issues, poor turbo longevity, and the degradation of the OE catch can system.

Take into account if an entire timing belt service has been completed on the car if it has more than 60,000 miles. The hydraulic tensioners on these cars fail, belt jumps timing. Sometimes the timing belt strips the teeth. Its very crucial that this service is performed at 60k miles, after that its honestly playing russian roulette. This service goes hand in hand with the water pump and thermostat replacement.

The other concerns are as follows:

Coil packs (There has been a recall issues, the new coils have a glossy surface, and they apparently don't fail frequently, if the coil packs are satin black in color, the recall has not been performed.) Bad coil packs cause misfires

MAF - Mass Airflow Sensor - they get dirty over time and fail, they dont always cause a CEL and they create a number of drivability issues, most commonly LIMP mode.

Suspension:

CV axles, the boots generally don't fare winter very well, and once they rip they require a new boot, or the entire axle needs to be replaced if they are clicking.

Control arms, the B6 A4's come with aluminum uprights and aluminum control arms. They are not made to withstand pothole ridden roads, if you have bad roads in your area, expect to be replacing your control arms about every 20-30k miles.


This is not a very easy car to own, while at the same time, not entirely horrible either, they just can be a headache to someone who has no experience with them, some boost issues, and other performance related issues can be slightly difficult to figure out, especially if you mod the car.

In terms of 3.0 vs 1.8t. You're better off with the 1.8t, with a simple chip, the car will be faster than its 3.0 counterpart, more fun to drive (not front end heavy), and more economical / reliable in the long run. The 3.0 generally has similar issues to the 1.8t, minus some of the boost / performance related issues. Also, if you want to go faster, it doesn't cost too much to do so with the 1.8t.. The key is to find a well maintained car from the start, so these potential issues don't pile on. The car as a whole is great fun, with the potential to really do a lot.

If you feel this is something you can't handle, I suggest you look for a e46 330i instead, they're very reliable if they have been serviced through out their life, my close friend has a 330ci with 151k miles, the car is revved to 6500rpm daily, driven hard, and has no issues apart from typical maintenance. (Again, very important.) I work on these cars on a daily basis, and they're definitely worth the little headaches they may give you sometimes.

If you have any questions, feel free to PM me, I'll be glad to help you.
 
My 1.8t is very solid. I bought it with 68.000km back in november and I just passed 80.000km. I've taken it on three long-ish road trips, three track days (40ish laps each around a 3km tight and twisty race track), and the car has to handle 70km round trip in an array of conditions (from hot, dry heat to hot and humid, to cold-ish), freeway, backed-up town streets. Mine has the newer service interval which says 15.000km/1 year for the oil and it held up perfectly this last November-July stint (I did the service last week).

This is in a Brazilian Golf with a Hungarian engine by the way.

P.S.

OT: Not to be overly sensitive, but I think you went too far with the Mexican comments (i.e. no running water o governements). I'm not from Mexico, but usually feel pretty hurt at the ghastly ignorant comments from people in the U.S.developed countries; they dearly insult us. Especially since I live in the second oldest democracy in the Americas. /OT
 
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OT: Not to be overly sensitive, but I think you went too far with the Mexican comments (i.e. no running water o governements). I'm not from Mexico, but usually feel pretty hurt at the ghastly ignorant comments from people in the U.S.; they dearly insult us. Especially since I live in the second oldest democracy in the Americas. /OT

Quoted for truth.
 
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