However, I do stay on top of routine maintenance stuff. Since the b5 platform is identical to the Passat. I've found parts cost and availability reasonable and even cheaper than some Z parts. I've experienced zero electrical issues save for the fact that the pixel display between the speedo and tach is sensitive to warmer temps but apparently there's a chap in Toronto who makes replacment CB's for them that are cheap and very effective. In the 2.5 years I've owned it I've had to replace an O2, rear rotors and pads and LF and LR wheel bearings. MPG is reasonable but what captures me is how smooth and quiet it rides yet it's oem suspension seems taught enough to enjoy some of the country back roads. What really made me happy about it was when winter rolled around. It simply amazes me how well it tracks through the snow covered and icey covered roads. I live on the side of a hill in the country and my driveway is quite steep. As a matter of habit, I always back up the driveway in the winter. In the past with my Mazda MX3 or Protege I would encounter problems getting up my driveway if there's a few inches of cnow on it. With my Audi I never encountered one issue. AAMOF. there were times when the driveway was so covered in snow while I was at work that when I got hme I though I'd never make it up. The Quattro just seems to be able to conquer this sort of thing with ease. I have a 2000 2.8 Quattro, Tiptronic. I'm not a big fan or AT but this Tiptronic transmission is a whole different ball of wax. The paddle shifters are quite handy but what I like about the selectable setting of the Tiptronic (even on the fly) lets me use engine compression to slow it down during bad (snowy) weather conditions. I also have both upgrade packages that were factory options as well. If I were to buy another car tomorrow, I wouldn't even hesitate at looking at another Audi.
:they seem to be high priced maintenance nightmares once they get a few (75k or so) thousand miles on them, but that the build quality stepped up dramatically in 04-05ish. They are tempting since you can come across them all day in the 6k range. What year is yours? Any personal feedback? :-Adam
13:36:58 12/01/10
