Audi A4 Cabriolet (2001 - 2005)
Discussion
Hi all.
My mum is looking to buy a 2003 or 2004 Audi A4 3.0 V6 Cabriolet.
She's trying to decide whether to get an automatic or manual.
I've seen some advertised as "Tip automatic", which I'm guessing is "Tiptronic", and others as "Multitronic".
Could somebody please explain what the difference is and which one is the better of the two in terms of performance and reliability?
I don't want her to get an automatic if it's going to be unreliable or could cost a fortune to fix if it goes wrong.
Any help with this decision would be appreciated.
Also any general advice about these cars would be great.
Many thanks in advance.
My mum is looking to buy a 2003 or 2004 Audi A4 3.0 V6 Cabriolet.
She's trying to decide whether to get an automatic or manual.
I've seen some advertised as "Tip automatic", which I'm guessing is "Tiptronic", and others as "Multitronic".
Could somebody please explain what the difference is and which one is the better of the two in terms of performance and reliability?
I don't want her to get an automatic if it's going to be unreliable or could cost a fortune to fix if it goes wrong.
Any help with this decision would be appreciated.
Also any general advice about these cars would be great.
Many thanks in advance.
Tame Technician said:
Get a manual, end of.
Is the tiptronic box bad too?I just read the "Audi's MultiTronic Gearbox" thread and it's definitely put me right off the Multitronic, but I can't seem to find much about the Quattro's tiptronic box.
Cupramax said:
Not necessarily, the tiptronic is a great box but its only available on the 3.0 Quattro, avoid multitronic like the plague, anything front wheel drive and auto will be multi no matter what some people put on adverts.
Ah, that's interesting... So do all 3.0 Auto Quattro's come with the tiptronic?Is there anything else I should be looking out for when choosing one?
The ones she's looking at are either 2003 or 2004 with between 30,000 and 60,000 miles on the clock. When should the cambelt have been changed and does the waterpump also need replacing as it often does on the Audi TT?
Quattro is tip, fwd is multi, always remember that. The multitronic box is never fitted to quattro cars. The tiptronic is a conventional auto where as the multi is a CVT gearbox. I'd expect cars of that age to need a cambelt by now, pretty sure the 3.0 has a belt, not sure about the water pump. A4 cab's are pretty bomb proof, the only issue I've had with mine in 4 years is the lower front suspension arms needed replacing, A4's are heavy on these due to the engine being very far forward in the chassis.
Cupramax said:
Quattro is tip, fwd is multi, always remember that. The multitronic box is never fitted to quattro cars. The tiptronic is a conventional auto where as the multi is a CVT gearbox. I'd expect cars of that age to need a cambelt by now, pretty sure the 3.0 has a belt, not sure about the water pump. A4 cab's are pretty bomb proof, the only issue I've had with mine in 4 years is the lower front suspension arms needed replacing, A4's are heavy on these due to the engine being very far forward in the chassis.
Ok, thanks. I'll make sure the car has had the cambelt and water pump changed and if it hasn't I'll get the price knocked down and book it into my local Audi specialist to get it done.
She was (and still is) also interested in the Audi TT and I know that it too needs the cambelt and water pump done something like every 5 years or 60,000 miles. However, whenever we viewed a TT which hadn't had the cambelt changed, the owner or garage always claimed that it wasn't needed until something like 115,000miles and they refused to acknowledge that it should be changed every 5 years or so regardless of mileage!
Is there anything that I can take with me, such as an updated Audi service schedule or something as proof that this work does indeed need doing every 5 years/60,000 miles to use as a bargaining chip?
Edited by GSDog on Wednesday 12th May 23:11
Edited by GSDog on Wednesday 12th May 23:19
We recommend that your cambelt is replaced every 5 years or 75,000 miles, whichever comes first*, to ensure optimum safety and performance.
- Not applicable to A2 or V8 RS6 models. Details refer to 2004 model year onwards.
Tame Technician said:
We recommend that your cambelt is replaced every 5 years or 75,000 miles, whichever comes first*, to ensure optimum safety and performance.
Thanks, that's exactly what I was looking for. - Not applicable to A2 or V8 RS6 models. Details refer to 2004 model year onwards.
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