Need help (Mainly from Audi guys)

Alright so I’ve seriously been considering buying a 1.8T B5 A4 for a while now, but I’m at a stand still on if It would be a really bad idea or not having never worked on a car before. So my question for you Audi guys or anyone who’s had experience with these cars, would this be a bad idea to get one of these or not? I’m seriously getting mixed opinions and it’s getting quite confusing some say I’ll be fine getting it and others just say to stay away

Whatever I decide to buy next month (when I should have enough money on top of hopefully selling that dreaded pos I drive right now) is going to be the first car I’ll have a chance to work on. I sort of know what I’m doing through being on car forums for years, I know a little bit on how to fix things but I’ve never actually done any physical work yet.

If I do get one of these I’m definitely need help from people to work on the car seeing as how I have no tools or experience doing the work.

I’m also a newer driver as well I’ve only been driving for about a year now, so I have no clue what the insurance would be like on the car either. Any input would seriously be appreciated.

are you mechanically inclined?

do you own tools ?

do you have patience?

do you have a healthy bank account?

do you have supportive parents/friends?

if you answered no to more than 1 of those those questions. then look for something else.

i have owned an A4 1.8t, when it was under 5 years old, with less than 60kmi and i went through 2 OEM turbos.

they like to use wheel bearings, control arms and ABS modules, and the earlier 97-99 had dumpy wastegate actuators. 99.5-01.5 were a better car, but they are still haunted with faux leather that cracks, arm rests that break, glove boxes that break, control arms that fail, wheel bearings that fail sooner than the average car, weak clutches, and terrible automatic transmissions.

if you just want an Audi for the sake of owning one, buy a 30v V6 car.

Thanks bud, that was pretty helpful. Seems like what I heard about them having the chance of being pain in the asses was true. I guess I probably should go for something easier and more reliable to work on probably. just really liked these cars so I figured I’d look into them being they were in my price range and I’d honestly rather get something thats not a Honda if I can.

whats the price range

no more than $3500 unless I can sell the hyundai I’m stuck driving first then probably a bit more than that.

they are pretty reliable as long as its not modified, and if it is, the work done was by someone who isnt a retard.

the 2.8 30V models are nice, fairly quick and overall quite reliable.
regular maintenance, and fixing any issue as soon as you possibly can makes ownership a lot more enjoyable.

Alright thanks man, I’m also considering taking looking at some 5th gen preludes next month as well. I was thinking maybe that might be a better route for me to take. Instead of taking the risk with one of these and end up way in over my head. I’m fairly confident I can easily work on a prelude on my own or any honda for that matter, but with an a4 I’m not sure I can. Just trying to plan out my options ahead of time.