icy CL

my sister has this piece of junk 1995 bmw 540 that's just giving her constant problems. as in almost every month she comes to me saying she had to pay several hundered dollars to have something repaired. she never wants to buy new cars...always used. she bought this bmw from some guy in maryland. anyway, she plans on getting the A6. are there any bad things she should ocnsider about this car? how's the safety of this thing? it's a 1998, has 58000 miles. i don't know much about audis so please throw in your comments and i'll let her read your feedback. this time she's getting it from a dealer and the dealer wants $17900 for it....and will accept a trade in for her bmw for $7000. thanks guys!!

Haus

I've never owned one personally, but I have heard that they have a fair number of problems (electrical especially). Seem like they don't hold their value very well (the 2.7T is a 50K car new, around Denver, there are tons of '98 - '01's for abour 20K).

I personally wouldn't buy any non-Japanese car out of warranty. I wouldn't hesitate to buy a new German car, but I hear about all kinds of problems w/ used ones. She'd be better off w/ a preowned Lexus IMHO. Best of luck!

Zoot

they are junk. She would be better off w/ her bimmer

123456SPEED

I absolutely love the Audis, esp the A6. But I don't think buying this used Audi is going to solve her problem with expensive and numerous repairs on a high end German car.
The Audis reliability have been worse than others and this is why their price drops more for used ones. The smartest high-end German buyers are the ones who don't mind paying the higher cost up front and getting the warranty.
So you either pay more up front and have less worries or buy cheap and pay out more in time and money for repairs. If I was richer I'd consider the A6 or the new BMW 3 and 4 coupes.
She may not like Japanese cars but she sure would like just having to gas and oil them. good luck.

cusdaddy

The 98 A6 is a bad idea. If she got a 2000+ A6, they sorted out many of their intitial problems. The 2.8 in the 98 A6 is a dog also, and no match for the almost 4000lbs of the car.

If she wants to avoid a car that is giving her problems, try going for a used Lexus GS400 or the like, or a newer Audi

GOOSE

I think Audis reputation for problems is overblown.

I can comment on the A6 personally, because we have one in the family, and I've driven several thousand miles in it. True, it is pretty slow, especially compared to the power of the CL-S. We have a '99, and at that time, the only available engine was the 2.8 L V6 with 200 hp. The 4.2 V8 or the 2.7 Turbos were introduced a few years later, and I think those are an absolute must on this car. The 2.8 is simply too underpowered.

Also, to comment on what Haus said about resale: There are no 98-99 2.7T's, so the ones you're seeing in Denver for 20k are all 2.8s

Otherwise, I have nothing but good things to say about this car. If you're looking for a sprots car, go elsewhere, cause it's not what this car is about. I'ts really comfortable, very luxurious, and smooth as butter. And in my opinion, its a damn good looking car from the outside and inside.

As for Audi's problems, we haven't had any serious problems, and hardly any minor ones in the A6 or the A4 for that matter. Audis might be notorious for problems, especially electrical ones, but I guess we have been pretty luck thus far, as our problems have been few and far between with either Audi in the family.