Well, MTNDRIVR... I don't believe in corporate ethics.
I don't believe in the tooth fairy, either.

Corporations will get away with whatever they can to keep their costs down and profits high. That Europe has stiffer regulations than the US has nothing to do with the corporate ethics of Audi.

And US companies, that may seem all helpful now, are simply scrabbling to survive in a world where their designs, and reputations, are horrible compared to imports.



You still have no evidence to back your claims that Audi's are less reliable than other cars. How many Audi owners never even go online because they have no special interest... or nothing to ask about?

My son has a BMW Z3 coupe. He has had far more trouble with his car, mechanically , than I have had with mine. Four repairs in 1 year.


Also- the folks who post here are very often folks who have done some serious modifications to their cars. They are the ones who drive their cars the hardest, squeezing out as much performance and fun as possible...
You would expect them to uncover more issues than the folks who just buy a car and drive it stock.

Sorry... you must have some axe to grind...

I test drove every other sports car in its class... and a few above its class... And the TT handled the best and was the most useful. Not to mention the much better internal design aesthetic.
I looked hard for complaints about the 2005 3.2 TT
Looked even harder for negative feedback on the DSG... I waited 2 years for problem reports to surface.
I didn't find any.

It may need repair some day... but so what? Every car driven will need repair someday.
And I could care less about AOA's issues... by the time I need any repairs... the warrantee will be over and I will be going to a specialty shop.

Previously Christopher Pardell wrote:

Well, MTNDRIVR... I don't believe in corporate ethics.
I don't believe in the tooth fairy, either.

Corporations will get away with whatever they can to keep their costs down and profits high. That Europe has stiffer regulations than the US has nothing to do with the corporate ethics of Audi.

And US companies, that may seem all helpful now, are simply scrabbling to survive in a world where their designs, and reputations, are horrible compared to imports.



You still have no evidence to back your claims that Audi's are less reliable than other cars. How many Audi owners never even go online because they have no special interest... or nothing to ask about?

My son has a BMW Z3 coupe. He has had far more trouble with his car, mechanically , than I have had with mine. Four repairs in 1 year.


Also- the folks who post here are very often folks who have done some serious modifications to their cars. They are the ones who drive their cars the hardest, squeezing out as much performance and fun as possible...
You would expect them to uncover more issues than the folks who just buy a car and drive it stock.

Sorry... you must have some axe to grind...

I test drove every other sports car in its class... and a few above its class... And the TT handled the best and was the most useful. Not to mention the much better internal design aesthetic.
I looked hard for complaints about the 2005 3.2 TT
Looked even harder for negative feedback on the DSG... I waited 2 years for problem reports to surface.
I didn't find any.

It may need repair some day... but so what? Every car driven will need repair someday.
And I could care less about AOA's issues... by the time I need any repairs... the warrantee will be over and I will be going to a specialty shop.

*I think you've hit the nail on the head...anyone buying a car and expecting never to have a problem is from another planet and - yes, yes - I am aware that japanese cars are considered 'bullet proof' (whether built in Japan or the US!) but I am sure they too have their share of problems. However, I do believe that it is at Corporate level that Honda, Toyota et al have a completely different ethic towards their customers than that demonstrated by AoA to date. What happens after you've parted with your money is what determines, to a great extent, your satisfaction with your purchase.

I get the distinct impression from my few dealings with the customer service dept of AoA that they'll mouth any platitude to a customer with a complaint - provided they don't have to put anything in writing or - heaven forbid - actually lay out some money to resolve an issue. No, AoA, in almost complete constrast to their main competitors, have to be dragged screaming and yelling through the Courts before they'll do the right thing!

I would say that the management of AoA is at fault in the way they have chosen to resolve a couple of fundamental reliability issues with MK 1 TTs (and A4s using the 1.8L Turbo engine) by choosing a short term "gain" instead of the long term "goal" of customer saticfaction. I agree with Christopher in that most Audi owners are probably very happy with the reliability of their car...a situation which rapidly changes - for the worst -  if they have any need to seek help from AoA!!!

Long rant.  Seems you're agreeing with me, sort of, then not.

There was only oneobservation I was making: It seems that the number of complaints in this forum don't jive with the reliability poll results in this same forum. 

And jeeze, for the second time you choose to attack me.

"...you must have some axe to grind..."

"I think MTNDRIVER is suffering from a form of confirmation bias." 

Argumentum ad hominem.  What's with that?  What an angry boy you're being!  Wrong forum for play like that.

Enough, I'm done with you on this subject.

mtndriver

technically...it wasn't an ad hominum... because it wasn't an argument...it was a personal supposition on your motives for posting an argument you could not support.


I GAVE you an argument.. the simple fact that folks are more likely to post with a problem than to "say everything's just fine".
You offered no effective counter.

If you have had personally bad experience with an Audi YOU purchased... then that gives you an axe to grind- you are likely to see confirmation of your experience in ambiguous data like the number of complaints on a forum for TT owners.

It was not a personal attack.
If I bought a lemon, I might tend to see things the same.

I'm getting in on at the end of this thread, but I wanted to share a few points because things have been said that I don't agree with....

I love my 04 TT Quattro S-Line, and I agree it's not perfect, but it's certainly not worse than any other car I've owned and quite a bit better than some. The TT is fun to drive and gets much better mileage than my 99 Silverado pickup.

I've owned three M-B's sedans, good cars but boring. Excellent customer service.

I owned a BMW 635CSI, worst car I've ever owned (yes even worse than the 83 Trans AM I had as a kid). It was fun to drive. BMW has excellent customer service, but you pay for it. BTW: (BMW stands for Bavarian Money Waster). The reason BMW has such good customer service is they need it!

I've owned several Honda's, good cars but boring. In response to the statement above that there are no corporate ethics, I would disagree. Honda has called me and told me to bring my car in to fix things I didn't even know were a problem. They didn't charge me and gave me a loaner. And no they were not items required to be fixed under mandatory recall. They were things the Honda engineers found failed before they thought they should. So yes, some car companies have ethics.

I have had little to no trouble with my Chev pickup, it has almost 200K miles on it and the local Chev dealership has been very good to me. I don't think that American cars are lagging behind the Imports in quality anymore. But keep in mind a $20K econo box is not a $50K Audi, you get what you pay for.

I owned a Toyota Avalon and until I bought my wife a Lexus ES330 it was without a doubt the best car I've ever owned. Lexus has great customer service, Toyota could use some improvement, but in all honesty, we only ever took the car in once to have it fixed. So maybe there customer service rep's don't get much practice. The Lexus dealership will send someone to get my car to have it serviced. That's customer service!

Before I bought the TT what I really wanted was a Cayman S with the Tiptronic transmission ( in Dallas a standard shift car will wear you out). I drove one and that transmission sucks. Whomever at Porsche is in charge of transmissions should be shot! If it comes down to anything with a Tiptronic or a TT with DSG, I'll take the TT. Who in their right mind would pay $70K for a car that won't shift properly? Don't tell me Porsche's are better than Audi's.

With all the cars I've owned, is it's the dealership that matters most. Those are the people that you're going to deal with when you have a problem. Now when it comes to Audi the few times I've had the TT in I received very good service. They gave me a cup of coffee while I waited, washed the car when they were done and set the clock (which I couldn't figure out how to do). I have no complaints. If you put up with bad service you'll get bad service. If the dealership you frequent doesn't get it done for you find one that does. But don't condem the whole lot because you have one bad experience.

rogerb