Anybody have any comments about a 1996 Audi????

[mapsbmw]

My friend is looking for a new car. We found a 1996 Audi Cabriolet with 80k miles. Reasonably priced (around $8k) and a clean 1-owner carfax.

Anybody have anything to say about the 1996 Audis?

Any help is appreciated....I am going to keep looking online, but thought I check here first!

Thanks guys!

[MR325iT]

My wife had a 96 A4 1.8T. I liked that car a lot and in some ways wish we hadn't let it go, but it started having problems at around 85k and we had another car lined up.

For:
-Was relatively cheap in its day - we paid around 24k
-Solid build quality - very few rattles, interior stayed together and resisted wear well
-Nice ride
-Ours was FWD - handling was still good, though the suspension was a little too soft for my tastes
-Engine sound was nice, and was a great match for the 5 speed auto
-Mixed driving got around 26 MPG
-Can be serviced at VW dealers for less $$$ than Audi (this can be a good thing or bad thing, depending on your POV)

Against:
-1.8T didn't have a ton of power (though they could be easily modified to produce ridiculous power)
-Dealer service ranged from average to poor to completely re-freaking-diculously poor (actually had better experience with repair at VW dealer / independents)
-Problems later in life with coolant internix (coolant and oil), transmission ($$$) and of course, window regulators. There were some issues with turbochargers on this car, we didn't have any)

Anyway, it had problems like any other car with 80k+ miles, but I liked the car and would still consider Audi again at some point.