New to this board so go figure, have questions!!

[James]

Hello All,
I am brand new to this board and have been reading up ALOT on it... appears there are some great people on this board and a TON of info. I do have a question that will seem somewhat elementary to probably most of you on here but I really just can't seem to find all the info I'm looking for.. here goes..

I am currently in the market for an A4... Its a toss up between the B6 and B7.. I really like the idea of getting a 2005.5 b/c of the 2.0T but I have to admit.. my price range is not really in line with an '05.5 for what I am looking for. I want at minimum quattro, sport, premium, lighting, cold weather packages but would prefer the S-line package... basically impossible to find for what I can afford. So the next option is the B6 USP.. in fact there is an '04 with 39k on it and just about every option you can think of for $21k at a dealership near me now.. however even $21k is pushing what I can afford comfortably. I have a friggin mortgage to pay for too!! My main question is this.. what are the most common things to go wrong with each of these, the 1.8T and the 2.0T? I already have a money pit of a daily driver car now that I want to get rid of for one of these but I don't want to get into another situation where I have a $300 to $400 car payment a month and have to put thousands in dumb repairs too...

I have heard the 2.0T is a much better engine than the 1.8T and I like the fact that its 30hp more out of the box but then I have also read about modding these cars too and have seen chipping is the way to go for a cheap way to get more power. I am totally new to this platform.. I currently have a '94 twin turbo Stealth (which is actually the same as the 3000GT VR4) that I have built up to just under 400awhp so I know how to turn a wrench but these cars are completely different than these Audis when it comes to modding them/tuning them.

I am using a Blitz electronic boost controller and an APEXi SAFC2 fuel controller to manage my bigger Denso 550 injectors/walbro 255lph fuel pump and TD04L 15G turbos. Also have intake, Stillen downpipe, Borla exhaust, RPS stage 2 clutch, short shifter, and a Blitz turbo timer to finish it off. I am sure I forgot something on the engine build but in addition to that, just some other brake/suspension work. I don't like to drive this car all the time b/c it really is almost too much for just a daily driver and want to get something NICE that I can drive on a daily basis that is not slow as hell but gets excellent gas mileage and low maintenance costs.

Can someone help me out and give me all in one post what the most common issues are with the B6 1.8T and B7 2.0T formats and what kind of gains I would be looking at for chipping both the 1.8T and 2.0T? I have seen some things like the coil packs going out but I need more than that. I did see a great write up on this board about modding these cars and what you can/can't do but it really didn't say anything about what the actual gains would be for just chipping/flashing and if anything else would be needed.

Thanks for the help!
James

[Jmaak]

Sounds like what you should get is a 2.0t. Decent grunt, low gas consumption, pretty low maintenance. One thing though, its never a good idea to stretch your budget for a deprecating car.

[Bllzll]

Sounds like what you should get is a 2.0t. Decent grunt, low gas consumption, pretty low maintenance. One thing though, its never a good idea to stretch your budget for a deprecating car.

+1.. you might want to rethink this.. you dont really want a $300-400 car payment per month on a 2004 ya know?? plus an '04 is basically out of warranty and these cars can be expensive as hell to fix.. plus 21k for that car seems wayyyy too much.. i just got an '07 for 22k

anyways, i wouldnt stretch your budget on a german car, they are great to drive.. but like i said earlier, they are expensive as shit to fix and could be real trouble for you in the long run...

[smcgann]

Basically going to reiterate what the last two post stated. It sounds like you have found the right car, as you criteria matched what I was looking for and this is def the perfect car that matches performance(after chipping), gas mileage, and comfort.

All of the questions you are asking can be found by searching some more. I am fairly new here and I can tell you get just the right search results takes some practice.

I would spend some time researching the numbers as well. Like you even though I don't mind turning a wrench I didn't want to jump into my first German car and get eaten alive in repair cost so I wanted to get as new a car as possible for the warranty. By reading your post I would suggests looking at an 06 certified pre-owned. They extend the warranty and include the servicing. For example of monthly payments I picked up and 07 Quattro premium with 10k miles, after 4k down and 72 month financing I am paying $429 month. On the high end of your buget but I don't have to worry about repairs or servicing cost.

Hope this helps!

[James]

Thanks for these few replies so far on this thread.. I appreciate it. You are right, I do not want to stretch my budget for a depreciating car, that is why I wanted to know the common issues with the 1.8T and 2.0T to really make a decision. I personally think 21k for an 04 USP is a bit high as well especially without an extended warranty.. but you can't haggle with these people at the dealerships. They will tell you to F-off b/c they know some other schmo will come by and pay them what they want. These cars are in demand, especially 6 spds.

I have to admit, I am also looking at the Acura TL's as well but I really wanted an A4 for the quattro... (winter sucks here in upstate/western NY). See one of the major problems is the inventory within 100-150 miles of me is a joke. Not much available and what is, the dealers are asking an arm and a leg for them. Also, the other problem is w/ the B7's around me.. no sport package, no cold weather package, no lighting package, no 6spds... its like, either the car *has* a bunch of the options I want but its an auto or its a manual but has no options or a crappy color, coupled with minimum $25k-$29k for low mileage. If I want a car with 50k+ miles, sure I can get the price down to $22k-24k but again, that would put it out of warranty unless its a CPO and then its only 2yr/50k which is a joke as well. I'm not really too keen on buying a car too much further away than around 100 miles or so b/c I'd like to be able to drive to it, test it out, and either buy it or go home all within a few hours. I bought my Stealth from California.. what a pain in the ass that was AND I had to get it shipped here too which was another $800, and that was 5 years ago! I just wish I could find one of these cars for a decent price within warranty and CPO'd.. why the hell are these so expensive compared to their sister cars from VW? I mean shoot, you can get a Jetta for like $5-10k less with a 2.0T and "4motion".

[smcgann]

some factory options have better after market alternatives.

[jejeclown]

if you pay anything more than 18k-20k for a loaded '04 your nuts. you should definetly be able to find a nicely equipped b7 for 21k-22k with the warranty still intact. dont go to a stealership, there are plenty of people on AZ or even on ebay that are selling thier cars at normal prices. and as far as the differences between the 1.8t or 2.0t, much can be found on this subject by searching, but what i can tell you is the 2.0t is a much better engine, it has 30 more hp at 200 than the 1.8ts 170. even after chipping theres a big difference between 220hp-230hp as opposed to 250hp-260hp. just throw an exhaust and a testpipe on the 2.0t on top of the chip and you have almost 300hp. i say go b7. just my $0.02

[James]

again, much appreciated for the responses I have gotten on this thread.. I have to be honest with you too, I know how to search, I just simply don't have the time to sit in front of the computer for hours on end. I have been doing that for weeks now looking at cars and this board. I just wanted some quick answers all in 1 thread rather than having to search for 37 separate threads to get to the same conclusion that probably 1 or 2 people could tell me in 10 minutes. lol. I am a huge advocate for the "search" button as I tell the same thing to noobs on my board (www.3si.org) but sometimes, it's just easier to just give answers rather than have 6 people reply back as "use the search function" lol.. for the effort it took to post that, might as well have been some useful info, ya know? Again though, thanks very much for all the replies so far. Also, I do not normally go to the stealership for anything.. its the same no matter what brand car you buy however since these cars are a little more on the "high class" side unlike my current daily driver POS pontiac grand prix, I figured that it may be a better bet to buy from a dealer so I can have the option of an extended warranty. Is that dumb? Are there other ways to get extended warranties without going thru a dealer that are reputable?

[smcgann]

Sorry my comment wasn't meant to come across ass one of those "stop waisting my time and use search" but that there is sooo much information that you would probably be better served going that route in this case.

[skiaudi]

if you spend the little extra to get the b7 now, you'll be rewarded with lower maintenance costs in the end as the warranty will be effective for longer. it would be smarter in the long run

[nycmalu]

... I am a huge advocate for the "search" button as I tell the same thing to noobs on my board (www.3si.org) ...

3Si FTW... I am absolutely in love with those cars and I used to be on that board a LONG time ago... Haven't been on in ages... might have to visit.

OK, enough nostalgia; I am a noob as well when it comes to these cars although I have no aversion to turning a wrench... much the same as you, I had a budget and I wanted to get rid of a moneypit... AND... I also had a choice between an 04 USP or a 05.5 B7... I chose the latter because it came with most of the options I wanted, for not much more (around 23K or so) and it was my second choice as far as color. To top it all off, it was CPO'd...

I understand about your selection limitations, but honestly, expand your search range... I know shipping a car from Cali can be a pain in the backside but driving down to Albany, or even to NYC area is only a one day thing for you... You can find much better prices when the dealers compete with each other for their customers. If not, you're gonna get raped (you already figured that out, didn't you)?

I haven't done any performance mods to the car yet, but from what I am reading, the 2.0 is a great starting point. Chipping it, even to Stage I, is a considerable bump in HP, and an even more substantial jump in torque...