2006 Audi A4 User Reviews

Pros

Excellent cosmetics in and out, MPG, Amazing Handling,

Cons

Turbo Lag

Purchased As Used

I bought this car with 1,200 miles and love it. I've now had it for about 2.5 yrs and still dont have any problems. the car handling corners with ease, the quattro system is quite stunning. I don't get the gas milage i expected to but it is still alright considering the motor which has some umpff once it gets going. the car has quite a bit of torque at merely about 2k rpm. i get about 26-27mpg on average with highway miles accounting for half. the car does only have 30k on it so im not sure how it will hold up if i decide to keep it till 100k or so but i do have a 100k 6yr warranty so it doesnt matter.the interior isn't that durable, the aluminum is thin, and my tan interior stains very easy. i am considering buying an wrx sti. for what i paid(32k) i could have gotten a used one. The motor is way better and has less lag, and don't forget the extra 100hp. it probably handles pretty similar....read morehide

Pros

Highway economy, aerodynamics, tfsi, turbo, handling (with performance tires.)

Cons

Front-heavy. e-brake/armrest collide. but you learn to live with any car's flaws.

Get this with manual gearbox if you want to get the most out of this turbo. Automatic trans is pointless if you're looking for a sports car. Ergonomics sold me on this car, the light steering is very precise and for wet conditions ESP + quattro is wonderful, even the front-wheel-drive is very safe and reassuring. fit and finish is top notch for the 29k i spent on this brand new. Audi even threw in $500 huper optik tint for free. the stock audi system, audi symphony, is quite good as well, better than the Bose in other cars i've had from the late 90's. Oh yeah, you wouldn't mind driving the up to 500 miles this car delivers on a single tank of premium fuel....read morehide

Pros

Styling (exterior and interior), std features, smooth ride, effortless steering, CVT, Sport susp.

Cons

nothing horrible so far...

Purchased an 06 A4 2.0T with CVT and MultiTronic shifting. I absolutely love this car! This is not a car to purchase if you want to go fast, or race anyone from a standstill; go with a WRX STi. This is a car that is sexy, sleek, and when needed, it can deliver some exciting driving! One of the reasons this car is slow off the line (noticed that in other reviews) is that the CVT is adaptive; that means that it is going to start off slow, but if it detects a hard stomp on the throttle, then it will respond accordingly. Unfortunately, that response is about a half-second longer than most regular transmissions, so it SEEMS that it's slow off the line, but that's really due to the CVT. Again, this isn't a car that was built for the dragstrip, but put it in 'S' mode, and you're at 70 miles an hour VERY quickly...and loving every second of it!
I purchased my car CPO (Certified Pre-Owned) with 17K miles for $26K. For the money, I am thrilled!...read morehide

Pros

Good looking car.

Cons

Bad intermittent hesitation making this car very unsafe! Will NEVER purchase another Audi!

Car hesitates when merging with traffic and then surges and jerks when it regains power. This is very unsafe and dangerous for driver and passengers. I have taken to dealership twice, first time they drove it 2 miles and said "car is running to manufacturers specifications" Second time they kept car not even 48 hours and told me the same thing. Dealership doesn't want to invest time into finding this cars problem. This car is unsafe and Audi doesn't seemed concerned. I spoke with a supervisor with Audi Customer Service today and he informed me Audi would contact me in 48 hours to let me know if I can bring the car back to dealership for futher testing! In the meantime I am stuck with an unsafe vehicle to drive. As a consumer, I have never been treated this badly. I thought choosing a Audi was a safe decision, but I was wrong....read morehide

Pros

All wheel drive, cool design, galvanized body, solid performance for 4 cyl

Cons

reliability, unsettled road manners, interior space

I bought Audi 2004 few years ago and I always liked the look of it. The perfromance was solid for a 4 cyl car and the car was excellent in snow, and slippery road conditions. However I was really dissapointed with reliability of the A4. I owned bunch of Audis and I still own 1990 Audi 100 quattro with close to 200k miles. The car drives like new after all these year and besides normal wear and tear I never had any problems. With the new A4 i was constantly visiting the dealer because of various issues. The car has 50k miles now and it's been in the shop at least 15 times. Some of the issues were broken gas gauge, one morning car wouldn't start and after towing to the dealer they told me it was the dashboard that malfunctioned and caused engine to shut off after few seconds. I had the same problem month after but this time they said it was the door key that had to be re-programmed. Next thing that went were the car speakers.The speakers were blown at least 3 times and I never turned up the volume past half mark. The other thing is very bad quality of the
windshield wipers. They go bad after 6-8 months and they can't be replaced with aftermarket parts. So evey time I had to get new ones it cost me $60. The car drives nice, but after driving BMW series sedan, Audi felt very unsettled with steering wheel needing constant correction. What's wierd is that I never had that problem with my 1990 Audi 100. Also, the A4 is very noisy at high speeds and 2nd gear is hard engage in during low temps.
Now that car is out of warranty with 50k miles on it I'm thinking about trading it in for a Subaru or BMW simply because I'm affraid I might get nailed with huge repair costs....read morehide

Pros

Good handling and performance, Great looks!

Cons

Gas mileage is horrible, 12 - 17 mpg. CVT transmission causes rough acceleration froma stop, noisy

Bottom line, the 2006 Audi A4 2.0t with the CVT transmission - the engine is noisy and the CVT has a herky-jerky acceleration start from a stop because of the chain drive transmission. The gas mileage is lousy (12-17 mpg). The tial pipe tips ooze black soot, the dealer says this is normal! The handbtrake interferes with the center console, to you have to fold it out of the way to apply the handbrake. steering wheel is too small. No amenities, e.g. a place for your sunglasses, etc.
it is without a doubt the worst car purchase of my life and I'm 65 years old (driving since 16)! Lexus and Infiniti offer far more car, performance with luxury galore, comfort and value for your hard earned dollar.

Bill Debley...read morehide

Pros

Nice design, comfort, good list of options, powerful engine, beautiful braking

Cons

Engine (V6) extremely noisy, handling disappointing

When my 2001 A4 2.8 hit 5 years, I decided it was time to look for a new car, especially that the new A4 was again (finally) offered in 6 sp manual, which had not been the case since 2002. When I test-drove the car, I was amazed with the engine and all the features available. I decided to keep my 2001 due to low trade-in $$$ offered by my dealer. After close to one year, I still can't get myself to sell my 2001, and I'm locked in my 2006 A4 lease for 45 mo. Now I alternate between the two and I'm always astounded at how much smoother my 2001 runs... handling, braking, snowy conditions, engine noise. The look and features of my 2006 are great (got pretty much everything, except the nav system...).

The 2006 feels solid and comfortable but the engine roars aggressively at the slightest push of the accelarator. But on a stretch of road at 200km/h (130mph), the 2001 wins hands down, the car sticks to the road like no other. I have yet to decide what to do with my 2001 in the future....read morehide

Pros

Performance, handling, AWD, Economy, Looks, Brakes.....

Cons

Rough idle in gear at idle, hesitant off the line when cold

I just bought the A4 2 days ago so this may be premature. I bought this for $26k used w/22k miles. I love everything except the severe hesitation off the line when cold. DO NOT try a quick start cold or you could get into trouble! Once the engine is warmed up performance is great for an auto. If I could have found a manual I would have bought it instead.. The car handles awesome and sticks to the road like glue. Equally impressive are the brakes which have good feel and are strong. Bought an Audi because my Passat was T-Boned by a 3/4 ton Ram Diesel. Considering the severity of the impact the care was in remarkable condition. Since the Passat was essentially an older variant of the A4/A6 I wanted another car of that quality. The A4 delivers....read morehide

Pros

MPG especially HWY driving, Styling, Uniqueness factor, interior fit and finish, warranty

Cons

Jerky start from a stop when in "D", loud scary grunting noise when I step on the gas hard

I picked up my new 06 audi a4 quattro about a week ago. I did a lot of research among the 35k range all-wheel drive sport sedans, mainly Lexus IS 250 AWD, Infiniti g35x, and the Audi A4 quattro (BMW 328xi was not in this because with the configuration I wanted, it would have easily went over 40k before tax). Previously, I have owned BMW 93 525i, and most recently had BMW 93 325i (both were handed down from parents/relatives). I loved both cars and I am a HUGE fan of the way BMW drives (if I were rich, I would have gotten a BMW instead of AUDI because of precedents and I have no idea how AUDI drives). The Lexus IS had aggresive exterior which was backed up by a camry engine: the ride was TOO refiend and senile. no attitude or kick what so ever. the G however, was awesome. I'm not a interior guy but I actually liked its interior contrary to what a lot of others think. The drive was very sporty yet smooth. It was priced around the same as the Audi with similar options but the fact that its MPG was like 18 city and 24 hwy vs 22 city and 30 hwy for A4 won me over. (since I'm planning on keeping the car for a long time, it does make difference to me)

So here is what I have to say about my AUDI A4 2.0T quattro after putting 500 miles on it in 5 days.

First, I am very careful about handling and caring for something that I like. Obviously I did a lot of research on how to break in the engine. The manual says "no full throttle" when you have less than 500 miles. But according to many car experts and auto enthusiasts, they recommended giving it a decent go (about 5k rpm or so) and letting go of the gas to let air flow in ( really don't know the details). So I did that when I had the chance; I did not try to kill my engine every time off of a stop light. The engine sounds pretty good especially at higher speeds and higher gear, but at low gear, it does sound a bit harsh and JETTA like. I do get about 18-20mpg when I use tip tronic at suburbia settings, 24 mpg on major roads with speed lim of 45mph, and about 28-29 mpg on HWY which I really like. The handling is very responsive and tight (i'm really used to the german stiffness from driving bmw) , the quattro was amazing when I took it out for a ride when we (chicago) got that 5-8 inches of snow not too long ago. It really held on to the road and I did not have fishtailing problems I had with the 3 series due to its RWD.

I like the interior and the sound system even though it was a standard system. Nice base and quality. I could care less about placemnet of control buttons and whatnot because that's just not a big issue for me. Back seat is a bit tight I think, but I'm not married nor am I gonna pack 4-5 people in my car daily.


NOW... PROBLEMS THAT I HAVE WITH THE CAR... IT'S VERY JERKY FROM THE START. I DON'T KNOW IF THIS IS WHAT 'TURBO LAG' IS. BUT WITH FSI TECHNOLOGY IT SHOULDNT HAVE THAT LAG. I THINK ITS BECAUSE THE CAR IS AT 1ST GEAR AT STOP, BUT WHEN I GIVE A LITTLE GAS, IT UPSHIFTS TO 2ND WITHOUT LETTING ME GO EVEN PAST 2500RPM ON FIRST GEAR. SO I THINK THAT'S WHY IT'S A BIT CHOPPY FROM THE START. ALSO WHEN I STEP ON THE GAS HARD (IN D, S, OR WITH TIPTRONIC ) THE ENGINE OR TRANSMISSION OR WHATEVER MAKES A LOUD 'GRUNT' WITH SLIGHT TREMBLE OF THE CAR. THAT REALLY ANNOYS ME RIGHT NOW. SO I'M GONNA GO TO THE DEALER ON MONDAY TO TALK THINGS OVER WITH A TECH....read morehide

Pros

Style both inside and out

Cons

Turbo lag, squeaky brakes

Overall its been a joy to drive. Turbo lag takes a bit getting used to. I'm very disappointed however in Audi's response to extrememly squeaky brakes. After the service dept examined the brakes, they deemed that because the pad thickness falls within their tolerance level, other than dusting the brakes, nothing can be done under the warranty. "Squeaky brakes are a chronic problem of German cars" I was told. PLEASE! Then how come the whole city is not screeching in unison?! Even their corporate service dept complied that nothing can be done under warranty. Audi's reputation has been questionable past years. I just wonder if this is the start of things to come down the road....read morehide