Overview & Reviews

The Audi A4 holds the distinction of having single-handedly revived the Audi brand. Launched in the mid-'90s, the compact A4 quickly became a favorite among luxury car buyers thanks to its beautifully finished cabin, sharp handling and available Quattro all-wheel drive. Although the A4 has offered these core characteristics from day one, it has become increasingly polished and high-tech with each successive generation. No matter which year you're looking at, the A4 promises both engaging performance and suave style inside and out.

The sedan body style has been a constant for the Audi A4, but depending on the vintage, you may also find wagon and convertible variants. Turbocharged four-cylinder power is typically found under the hood, yielding both reasonably spirited acceleration and satisfactory fuel economy. In road tests, we've consistently praised the A4's refined character, with more recent plaudits going to its spacious backseat, which has adequate room for full-size adults.

User Reviews:

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  My first and last Audi - 1998 Audi A4
  By Once A Mistake - July 4 - 10:00 am

  I bought my Audi new in 1998 after comparing it to the BMW. To me, the Audi "felt" like a more sturdy car. Needless to say, my Audi has been anything but sturdy. A design flaw keeps the front-end of my car flapping in the wind most of the time. My salesman has never seen or heard of this problem. The service people see it all the time. I pay to have it fixed - at least twice a year. Friends laugh when I get out of my car and pound my bumper back on with my hand. A new warning indicator lights up every other month. Audis response? $$$Ca-ching... I paid my car off 6 months ago. Now my monthly payment goes to repairs.

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  Cannot go wrong with A4 - 2002 Audi A4
  By art55 - July 4 - 10:00 am

  Practical, comfortable and safe sports sedan. This is my second Audi, and I am definitely "hooked" on the brand. Strongly recommend for consideration if you are looking for entry level luxury sedan.

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  Sweet machine - 2009 Audi A4
  By radman21 - July 3 - 2:43 pm

  This is my third A4 in four years, passing them on to the kids or trade in on lease. The 2009 Prestige is one sweet machine. Better performance than than older (2006 and 2007 A4) with more torque and horsepower with highway mileage 33 mpg level road at 65-75. Also looked at BMW with AWD but run flats and many thousands more $ just not worth the difference, (and I have had BMW 3 series in the past). Great cruiser at 90 mph and around town. It is bigger than older A4, as big as I can tolerate. $37900 with 0.9% and 1 k down a great deal, than 4200 off MSRP, I will buy it rather than lease.

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  Loved it--but too many problems - 2001 Audi A4
  By Loved it - July 2 - 1:26 am

  Traded my mom an IS300 for it in 9/04 w/ 24k. I just sold it w/ 97k on it. Steering feel & accuracy was great, superb handling & brakes, great road feel & heavy weight. I had a manual trans and sport pkg so it was a blast to drive. Felt expensive & used great materials/assembly. But always in the shop, I had 21 repairs in the 4.5 years I drove it & it needed another 3 repairs (2 of which I previously replaced). Every year the ignition coils needed to be replaced & the engine "sludged" up (repaired under warranty). Lots of road noise and wind rush. Lots of features and thoughtful touches throughout. Great MPG. Uber expensive to fix and maintain (and Im not cheap either).

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  Best car Ive ever owned! - 2000 Audi A4
  By RickB - July 1 - 4:21 pm

  2nd owner of a Audi factory specialty built 1999 A4 with all 2000 model year toys like nav, xenon, recaro seats, ESP. Best car Ive ever owned! Only two dislikes and they are minor. Otherwise a very solid car that Ive driven throughout Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Croatia, Slovenia, Italy, Holland and France. I definitely recommend a 2000 Audi A4 Quattro, and would also say to buy winter tires and summer tires then rotate to avoid AWD tire issues.

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  Audi A4 - 2009 Audi A4
  By Dave - June 30 - 6:03 am

  I purchased the A4 with the Prestige package, awesome car. Handles great and has much better performance than previous A4s. The only complaint, automatic transmission seems to shift too early in the lower gears and sometimes feels like it cant make up its mind between 1st and 2nd gear.

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  Be sure to test drive prior to purchase - 2009 Audi A4
  By Guy Coates - June 28 - 10:41 am

  This is a great looking car and fun drive but has one major flaw. If you attempt to accelerate fast from a dead stop by mashing the accelerator, the transmission hesitates for a full second before the turbo kicks in. This can be dangerous when attempting to make a left turn in front of approaching traffic. I was told by the dealer that this is a common complaint because of the tiptronic transmission and cannot be corrected. You simply cannot throttle the vehicle hard from a stop and there is no fix. They said that I would get used to it. Be sure to test drive the vehicle before purchasing. I only test drove mine for a few miles.

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  All Season Driving - 2003 Audi A4
  By Michael - June 28 - 10:05 am

  At 76,000 miles, I am very happy with this car. The interior design is very ergonomic and everything is oriented to the driver. Trunk space is huge. The exterior design is simple, yet elegant. Quattro AWD makes the car suitable for any driving conditions and the car is more than capable of performing in the corners - it just stays controlled at all times. The 1.8T engine is a little under performing considering the brute weight of the vehicle, but an ECU upgrade quickly fixes that issue. What you lose in engine performance, you gain in fuel economy where I get an average in the low 30s on the highway - approximately 27 mpg over all. Original and stock clutch is still going strong.

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  1.8T is a little underpowered - 2002 Audi A4
  By 1.8T-Fan - June 27 - 2:00 am

  This a great car and for the first eight months I absolutely loved the performance in this car. Then I bought my wife a Turbo S Beetle which has the same engine and I got to realize that this cars weight counts against having the 1.8T motor. The A4 has a lot of turbo lag under 3000 rpm which you dont feel in the Beetle with the same engine. I have a manual shift and quattro and it has the best roadholding in the world. Awesome motorcar. Next time, Ill go with the 3.0 or the S4, although at least this way I dont get the speeding fines I would with the 3.0

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  Near Perfection - 2003 Audi A4
  By mlbean - June 27 - 2:00 am

  Ive dirven them all. The 330 The G35 The IS-300 The 320 None of them compare.