Reliability

Sulli79

Sulli79

Registered User
Joined
Oct 10, 2010
Messages
535
Reaction score
37
Points
28
Location
Surrey/Berkshire
As I'm sat here on the hard shoulder waiting for recovery I thought I'd ask how reliable everyone's b5s are.

To be fair in 3 1/2 years and 30k miles this is my second major breakdown, the first being the clutch and this time loss of coolant.

How has everyone else faired?
 
In 15 years of driving Audi's I've only had 1 breakdown where I had to be recovered, that's when the ignition control module failed on my 1.8T and was stuck at work till the recovery truck got me home.
 
Only broke down twice in the TQS had it 3 years now,

First time was driver error lol i must of widened the slave cylinder supply line clip as it went on the A627 had to get AA to take me to work that day lol

Second time was picking the S4 rear bumper up in lytham st annes from IN2DEEP got near his house and it died luckily got it going again then it died again two streets from his house got it pushed round and what you no fuel pump had gone, luckily andy had one threw that in after a few brews and talking bo**ox it was gone 10pm then i drove home fault free and with a working pump and S4 bumper :)
 
  • Like
Reactions: Broken Byzan
Mine (2.5) broke down, winter time, drove to B&Q, no jacket, came back to car, wouldn't start... Injection pump! I've had Audi's nearly non stop since 1990.
Audi 90CD head gaskit (oil-water mixed), head gaskit replaced and on first decent run- con rod through the block (not driving hard, no warning)
Audi 100CS q Avant con rod through block, had oil pressure light flickering occasionally.
No other breakdowns since
 
I'm going to jinx it now but the only breakdown so far was a wire to the MAF sensor in November. Not bad for 100,000 miles with me.
 
I am pretty sure my failures bar the turbo one have been self inflicted. Only towable breakdown was a faulty clip on the CV/driveshaft causing No wheel drive. Even the turbo failure allowed me to get home
 
Only major one I had was driveshaft snapping... Luckily I was At the end of my street and just pushed it back home..
Only other issue I has was ICM. The old cyl2 misfire.. But just drove it 75 miles back home.. Now I keep a spare.
 
Water pump failure 60mi away from home. Water pump has been 8months old and done 10k miles only. Circoli one from eurocarparts... Did not know what I was getting when bought it. They replaced it under the warranty, but no labour covered.
 
i dont think i've ever had a failure stop me dead.

Closest i've come was a waterpump failure on the avant, but i managed to coax it home keeping the revs low.

Even after blowing the turbo on the bora on stelvio we managed to patch it up and keep going!

That better not curse it!
 
Only time I can remember is when the oil pressure light came on, followed by the 3 audible beeps. I was hauling a boat at the time, and the light and alarm were intermittent. Checked the oil level which was fine and opened the oil filler cap to check the camshaft was wet, so I knew it was still getting lubrication, plus engine temperature wasn't rising. Carried on journey after AA quoted 3 - 4 hours! Should have said I was a woman with nippers and they have been there in under 30 minutes!

Turned out to be a faulty sensor. Still replace oil and filter every 10k and use Castrol Edge 5w30 and it's running sweet as a nut at 156k.

Touch wood... so as not to incur the wrath of karma!
 
  • Like
Reactions: PAULF
I've had a catalogue of breakdowns in Blue Thunder, ranging from a blown fuel pump fuse (had to get recovered over 100 miles), an ICM wire popping off when I went over a speedbump (got it recovered as I thought the.cambelt had snapped due to.the noise of the engine on 3 cylinders), a driveshaft coming loose and going bang (recovered 300 miles) and finally a catastrophic turbo explosion < 200 miles after shelling out nearly £3k for a turbo refurb (thanks AET - you are **** at refurbing turbos!) and engine pull.... no recovery that time as I was right by home.

New Thunder broke down within my first month of ownership when I was having all sorts of electrical issues and the car was acting like the battery was dead. Turned out to be high.resistance in some of the big wires under the dash terminal block. Thankfully I had a spare loom and terminal block from Blue Thunder (RIP) sitting in the garage!
 
If your just talking breakdowns/side of the rroad fixing

In the 2.5 saloon (140,000 miles) I had the bottom hose pop off - my error, and the alternator belt went - twice (aux belt tensioner) but I was still able to get home.

The 2.5 Avant (190,000 miles), rock through the sump after BBA ******** my cluster meant engine went tits up as I had no useable oil pressure warning, then last year (whilst I was repairing my aux tensioner!) the overhauled engine let got terminally!

Not bad really as we have had them around 4 years and about 50,000 miles in each - although I do a lot of preventative maintenance!
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: spartacus 68
In my 10 years only needed a coolant temp sensor, wheel bearing and the abs pump replacing. One of the window switches is now a bit stiff so will sort that soon. Car has covered 92k miles and I have owned since 18k.
 
I've had my A4 for over 8 yrs now and have taken the car from 112k to 243k miles.
It's never broken down on me and apart from regular servicing and preventative maintenance the only times it has ever been undrivable have been 2 occasions in the last 6 months when (1) the indicator/hazard relay packed up (2) the wiper motor began to misbehave.
I only fit Genuine or OEM parts, some of the stuff that GSF/Euro sells is shocking.
As the car is now 15 yrs old these sorts of wear and tear problems are to be expected, I have been muttering about a change of car this year but everyone keeps saying don't do it.
My main fear about replacing it is finding a car thats as reliable and as well-built as the older Audis, newer isn't always better.
I still love the B5 shape and tbh its probably been the best car I've ever had.
 
  • Like
Reactions: spartacus 68
The b5 is the sexiest shape imho. Bar The dtm b7 being close. As long as it's able to do everything I want I see no reason to change. I have heard of many people with more modern cars having a lot more issues than us "old" car drivers
 
Last edited:
Totally agree ^^

Nothing even comes close to the B5 from the A4 range !! And if i had to change the B5 it would probably be a B7 2.0TQS !!
 
Broken Byzan said:
The b5 is the sexiest shape imho. Bar The dtm b7 being close.
Click to expand...

Yeah i really like the dtm, especially in sprint blue, but i have no intention of getting rid of the b5 unless it gets written off in a crash
 
  • Like
Reactions: Broken Byzan
audi upgrades
only a tow home once when my water pump failed and took the belt with it
 
sidelined with a MAF failure on the A1 once.
soon as we figured out what was wrong just unplugged it and drove the 300m home!

parked mine in a garden wall once. that stopped it for good though!
 
audi upgrades
Broke a cv joint on mine which I never thought would be an issue with mine being a quattro. I was wrong and I lost all drive :(
 
50k miles in 4 years and the worst yet where I needed a tow was from Cherbourg on the way back from Le mans.
Lost boost and snapped a belt.
Limped it on and off the ferry, then got a lift from poole to plymouth.


There's all the normal wear and tear bits but that's the main..............depends on what happens with the gear box lol
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Audib5fan
S4 reliability
Replies
3
Views
745
VAG-Slag
VAG-Slag
M
2.5 v6 tdi. Reliability?
Replies
7
Views
69K
adamss24
A
S
Newbie looking to buy B5 A4/ Reliability?
Replies
11
Views
4K
Oranoco
Oranoco
B
Overall reliability and quality of Audi A4's?
Replies
8
Views
1K
dann959
D
Daniel Iversen
Best clutch for reliability, Daily drivability and Daily abuse?
Replies
25
Views
2K
mikeya4
M
Top
Back