My 2009 A4 Experience

[DPD314]

Evening all,

I've had a 2009 Audi A4 Premium since 03/2012 and just wanted to share my experience in regards to maintenance costs and issues. This site has always been a wealth on information and has certainly saved me thousands with your tips (indy mechanic recommenations, preventative maintenance etc) so thought I'd give back what my non-wrenching body can give.

Service Done	Date	Mileage	Out of Pocket $	Notes
Bought Car	March 1, 2012	8000	$25,000.00
Audi Care	September 12, 2012	18600	$877.40
25K Service	July 19, 2013	28712	$148.81	25k Service - Light bulb/Trim replaced.
Tire Replacement	March 7, 2014	N/A	$181.90	Blown Tire
Tire Replacement	January 4, 2014	N/A	$706.00	4 New Tires
Oil Change/Light Bulb Out	January 2, 2013	47786	$237.11	Dealer hate starts
Tire Replacement	June 21, 2014	N/A	$172.20	Blown Tire
55k Service	January 28, 2015	59178	$703.22	55k Service, New Coils/Spark Plugs/Started Oil Consumption Test/Door Latches broken
Audi Care Plus	January 28, 2015		$1,273.30	Bought Audi Care Plus
Oil Consumption	February 23, 2015		$0.00	Stage 2 Fix for Oil Consumption
Turbo Failure	May 12, 2015	64641	$0.00	Turbo replaced under warranty/65K Service
Replace Intake Manifold	May 19, 2015	64950	$507.72	This when I started using an indy shop - saved me thousands on just this repair. Thanks Drive Auto
Oil Leak	July 29, 2015	68711	$614.84	Timing Case Cover
APR stage 1	November 14, 2015	75045	$640.93	APR Stage 1 Flash - waited for warranty to expire
Brakes Replaced	November 21, 2015	75534	$991.43	4 Brakes/Rotors replaced
75k Service	November 10, 2015	74805	$0.00	Jack Daniel's stole baby clothes out of my car and I'll never go back.
Door Latches Broken	January 9, 2016	78453	$765.89	2 door latches replaced.
New Battery.	January 19, 2016	78765	$270.01	New battery
Transmission Serviced	February 15, 2016	79453	$561.41	Transmission Serviced
Timing Chain Tensioner	July 28, 2016	83594	$1,087.33	Preventative Maintenance - Timing Chain Tensioner replaced with updated model
Oil Seperator	March 6, 2017	88684	$256.49
Rear Main Seal Oil Leak	March 28, 2017	89224	$1,239.49	Rear main seal leak.
95k Service	March 30, 2018	$422.44	Spark Plugs/Oil Change/Bulbs
Tire Replacement	November 1, 2017	N/A	$682.00	4 New Tires
Tune up	May 31, 2019	107259	$827.14	Water in trunk - tail light replaced, fix broken fog lamp, tune up
Timing Chain Tensioner	August 14, 2019		-$1,087.33	Timing Chain Settlement - Pay me 1087.33
Tune Up	December 12, 2019	112612	$212.08	Oil Change/Coolant Flush/Tire Rotation
Brake Job	July 16, 2020	116553	$1,231.23	4 new brakes/rotors
TIming Chain Tensioner	August 28, 2020	117078	$1,559.92	Timing Chain went - timing chain kit/oil leak fixed.
	102 Months	117100 miles	$40,082.96	$392.97 + Gas/Insurance a month

When I got the P0016 code (right after a job interview) my heart sank cause I've seen that code so many times. Ony my way to the interview I noticed the engine sounded a little rougher and had less power. At least it got me there though. Had that towed to my indy shop and thankfully no engine damage. Just got my car back and still feels great. Been shopping for a new car and honestly I don't think I will be looking at another Audi. I will also never buy a new model year again - I hate to be the guinea pig that all the issues fall on.

Still a couple issues i have to get fixed ony my car, and my number one frustration with this car is the inablilty to stream music from my phone to my stereo. I've tried so many different options with no sucess. Gonna keep riding this car till it dies. Its been great in the snow.

FOr my indy shop I was using Drive Auto Works in Clifton, and now I believe they rebranded or seperated, but its now called Euro Addiction in Clifton. Felt like I always got a fair shake there.
-DPD314

[COar]

So $15k over 8 years. Looks like roughly half is either expected maintenance or wear items.

My last car was a 2007 Volvo S40 T5 AWD which I bought in 2012 and sold shortly after I got my allroad last January. I racked up about 80k miles in that time (purchased @ ~95k). I also tracked costs and by the time I sold it, I had spent a bit over $10k between wear items, mechanical failures, and stage 2 upgrades. And that was doing 90% of the work myself - if I went to a shop/dealer for everything and paid Volvo OEM prices, I'd be pushing the $15k mark.

I don't regret buying the Volvo nor the mods (as I learned to wrench on that car), but I have no desire to mod a daily driver again. I'd rather buy a proper performance car when space and budget permit.

Do you wish you bought something more traditionally reliable like a Lexus?

[dalmation53]

My mothers lexus has 205k miles now. she bought it with 50k miles in 2010. I service her car for free she's my mother. I have done maf, pcv valve, carbon clean, brakes and rotors 3 times, shocks and struts, leather redye, and new steering wheel due to wear.. This has cost $3000 in 10 years of ownership. such a freaking reliable car. I go for LEXUS NEXT CAR.

[DPD314]

Well for starters wish I could do some of the work myself.

And yeah, a lot of that stuff is routine, and probably would have saved a tonne by going straight to an Indy shop vs dealership from the get.

Reliability is definitely on top my list for my next car. I test drove an is300 but wasn't impressed.

Still, now that my timing tensioner didn't destroy my engine I'll be in my Audi for a little longer.

[NitroViper]

I Bought a 2005 Acura TL for 10k with 80k miles on it and drove it for 6 years every single day. Car never broke down... Only money I ever put into that was oil changes...

[audrobotic]

Yeah if you can enjoy a non-euro luxury car by all means do so. You will save thousands. As for myself Im stuck on German cars but Id take a Tesla Model 3 no problem if I had $35k lying around. The value proposition is off the charts. Actually scratch that Id buy a used 911.

If you must drive a euro then at least look for a model late in the generation cycle and look for something with a decent reliability track record.

Cost to maintain by car brand:
https://www.yourmechanic.com/article...y-maddy-martin

From 0 to 76,000 miles over 7 years, Im roughly at about $2000 for basic maintenance (by the book stuff, including the cost of audicare) and about another $2000 for other wear and failure items (wipers, battery, tires, control arms, bulbs, third brake light etc). Tires is actually one of the biggest line items.

[rcprato]

Yeah if you can enjoy a non-euro luxury car by all means do so. You will save thousands. As for myself Im stuck on German cars

That is my problem, first noticed the "German" car feel in my 05 Passat that had the multilink front/rear suspension and you just can't get that from a McPherson strut/lower control arm set up.

I look for 2/3 year old CPO German cars and then hope you found a good one. Our 11 Touareg was 3 year lease return (bought,serviced,lease returned at same dealer) that we picked up with 40K. Now at 140K and has been a great vehicle.

[SDF1]

Those are rookie numbers for 2009. j/k
I've got the same plus piston/rings, short block, sunroof motor, all 4 door touch sensors, lower control arms, both front wheel bearings, compressor pressure switch, steering rack, coil pack, side auto-diming mirrors, etc etc. stock turbo and rear mainseal is still oem somehow. I'm closer to 60k worth of repairs. Thankfully I paid 8k for extended extended warranty for 10 years. So most things were covered.
Now it's playing russian roulette

[schwiz23]

So many sets of tires.

[Tusktopia]

09’ B8 Lemon club!



Seriously though, thanks for the post I appreciate the effort.

[Spawne32]

Those are rookie numbers for 2009. j/k
I've got the same plus piston/rings, short block, sunroof motor, all 4 door touch sensors, lower control arms, both front wheel bearings, compressor pressure switch, steering rack, coil pack, side auto-diming mirrors, etc etc. stock turbo and rear mainseal is still oem somehow. I'm closer to 60k worth of repairs. Thankfully I paid 8k for extended extended warranty for 10 years. So most things were covered.
Now it's playing russian roulette

ahaha so true

[cuda2000]

You only paid $25k at the start. You got off cheap! I bought my 2010 A4 Quattro brand new. Cost was $43k! And I had all the problems you had plus more. Surprised you havent changed motor mounts, control arms or shocks and struts yet! Absolutely you could buy a Lexus with fewer problems. But nobody is going to say "wow nice car" about a 2009 Lexus. I still get the "wow nice car" comments all the time. Lexus is like a stainless steel refrigerator. It is standard accepted mid grade luxury. You have to be slightly crazy and loyal to own a German car. I have 96k miles on mine now and I do not plan on getting rid of it any time soon.

2010 Audi A4 Quattro, Check out my upgrade and maintenance videos Cars and Coding here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...4DHrYwEPid0aZb

[rcprato]

cuda2000 well said ! My 2009 Avant gots the "wow, nice car" comments at 150K and still drove awesome. Better than a Lexus on day 1 IMO. Replaced 2 weeks ago with a 18 SQ5 so I'm all in on owning a German vehicle.

Owning a German car is a Love/Hate relationship, not for everybody.

[beantownb8.5]

sooooo im looking at these numbers....

If you take away stuff like preventative maintenance- tires, oil changes, brakes, etcetera.... I only see about $5k worth of unexpected stuff, not including the time spent dealing with these issues which im sure can be a huge pain. I see timing case cover, rear main seal, door latches, a tail light.... the timing chain is debatable but say we add it in for arguments sake, thats about $5009 not including nickel and diming here and there. thats $.04 per mile of unexpected fixes and repairs, and im not sure if broken door latches can be found 100% at fault of the manufacturer.

I also discount any engine issues a bit after you went APR stage one. Yeah yeah, I know what some people will say about this, but the fact still remains that if you put out-of-spec stress on an engine, it will cause higher wear on an engine. Who knows, it could have put extra strain on the timing chain and rear main seal... maybe you wouldnt have had those issues if you hadnt gone stage one.

Either way- if you modify a car you need to be aware that youll most likely have extra maintenance or repair costs. IM stage one as well, and i wont be shocked or angry when something breaks or fails because of my decision. As for cost of maintenance, if you didnt do the research about what regular maintenance costs are for a car before buying, thats kind of on you. if you want to get a honda accord, hell yes your maintenance cost will be much lower. In my opinion same with acura or lexus, because they share components with toyota and honda. Maintenance and parts costs for these cars are high, you need to be aware of that before you buy a car or any car.

[SDF1]

I have to rant... The look of the car and the driving experience on German cars is amazing but I find the reliability unacceptable. Makes no sense...

One of my friend's little brother got a 2010 Lexus IS 350AWD. He drives that car like grand theft auto every day with almost over 200km last time I checked and the only thing he has done is 3x brake, air filter and oil changes and the driver window motor but that's probably because of the tints he put on. That is it... It's embarrassing to say German engineering infront of him. Seriously...
Oh and his resale value is also much higher than my car.

[schwiz23]

You only paid $25k at the start. You got off cheap! I bought my 2010 A4 Quattro brand new. Cost was $43k! And I had all the problems you had plus more. Surprised you havent changed motor mounts, control arms or shocks and struts yet! Absolutely you could buy a Lexus with fewer problems. But nobody is going to say "wow nice car" about a 2009 Lexus. I still get the "wow nice car" comments all the time. Lexus is like a stainless steel refrigerator. It is standard accepted mid grade luxury. You have to be slightly crazy and loyal to own a German car. I have 96k miles on mine now and I do not plan on getting rid of it any time soon.

2010 Audi A4 Quattro, Check out my upgrade and maintenance videos Cars and Coding here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...4DHrYwEPid0aZb

I watch your videos all the time. I appreciated the tip on the special jack (that allows stands to slide in place)! Thanks for putting content out there!

[FlyPenFly]

From the 2009-2014 era cars... the only German cars that were remotely reliable were probably Mercedes and Porsche. Mercedes had solved their balance shaft issues that was their bane in the early 2000s. There are some problems with early M276 engines and timing chain not getting enough oil at startup but they fixed that very quickly and is an easy fix relative to our Audi timing chain and tensioner problems. Porsche solved their IMS bearing issues also from the early 2000s and their engines were actually pretty darn reliable from 2009 and up with no wide spread issues.

BMW had very widespread issues with their turbo inline 6 overheating even at stock necessitating redesigns of the engine bay and cooling systems and were also possibly the most prone to carbon buildup.

[FR_A4]

Since I am looking for a new commuter this thread has great info.
Sticking with the 2009 and up or even 2005 up years, what car would offer the great driver experience without the hassle of the B8?

[audrobotic]

Since I am looking for a new commuter this thread has great info.
Sticking with the 2009 and up or even 2005 up years, what car would offer the great driver experience without the hassle of the B8?

First gen TSX. Can be found with manual and endlessly modded. Needs an oil change once a decade.

[COar]

First gen TSX. Can be found with manual and endlessly modded. Needs an oil change once a decade.

I haven't driven one but I'm willing to bet the NVH is not great on those. I also recall them having a horrendous turning radius for their size. They were on my radar when I was shopping for my last car, but were promptly taken off when I learned of the turning radius, as well as the general lack of horsepower (and FWD). Honda makes some great manuals though.

[DPD314]

You only paid $25k at the start. You got off cheap! I bought my 2010 A4 Quattro brand new. Cost was $43k! And I had all the problems you had plus more. Surprised you havent changed motor mounts, control arms or shocks and struts yet! Absolutely you could buy a Lexus with fewer problems. But nobody is going to say "wow nice car" about a 2009 Lexus. I still get the "wow nice car" comments all the time. Lexus is like a stainless steel refrigerator. It is standard accepted mid grade luxury. You have to be slightly crazy and loyal to own a German car. I have 96k miles on mine now and I do not plan on getting rid of it any time soon.

2010 Audi A4 Quattro, Check out my upgrade and maintenance videos Cars and Coding here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...4DHrYwEPid0aZb

Honestly, I can't remember my out the door price, but I think it was between 25-30k. Everything else I had well documented...for the most part.