02' Passat/01' A4
 

Sup guys, i've been looking at some audi's and vdubs lately and i don't know which i should buy. i'm looking for some suggestions.
02 Passat 1.8t 5speed; 96k miles on it or 01 A4 1.8t 5speed; 92k miles.

Reliability wise, where do these cars stand? Honestly, if i buy one of them, the mods i plan to do are minimal; giac chip, intake, exhaust, nothing more than that really.

I'd appreciate any suggestions/advice.

Thanks

Its the same exact car, haha...

I have an auto A4 for sale, but doesn't sound like your interest.

yea i want a manual

troll is right, these cars are very similar, i think it would need to come down to what color you like more and body condition

Right, i've know that, they are pretty much the same car internally. But what i was asking was where do the cars stand reliability wise if i do the mods i wrote previously? I just put up those two because those are the ones i found. Maybe i worded it wrong but i didn't want to know if the audi is more reliable than the passat or vice versa.

VW is up with toyotas and hondas with reliability, messing with the ECU could lead to other issues (blown DV, CELs, etc). but thats a chance you take with chipping any car. So cliff notes its just like any other car, you never know what might happen down the road. Watch out for possible electrical issues (the gremlins) vws are known for getting some electrical issues, so make sure everything works before buying.

Thanks Bro!

I think that may be taking it a bit far.

Issues I've heard happening (and seen happen to people I know)

o2 sensors
wiring
lights
radio
power accesories (locks, windows, etc.)
coil packs (if applicable)
turbos

And this is on stock cars.

it is hit or miss with any car. you could buy a brand new honda and have nothing but issues with it. mechanically they are pretty damn reliable. electrically is where you want to keep an eye out (which i mentioned above). I had a 95 jetta that had some electrical issues but still ran fine, its now a friends field beater and still runs great. you are going to hear some good and bad stories about every make and model. just unfortunately VW gets a bad wrap for their wiring.

those other problems are kinda minimal and are just annoying mainly...

the turbos might last well into the 100s... or die soon, depending on POs maintenance routine.
another main thing to look out for is the timing belt.. Especially 1.8ts. the interval for maintenace is 60k for these and you should be checking when this was changed... what was changed etc.. Stay away from listening to bad stories from people who dont even own one, or had one bad expirence(to them, it could've been a dumb problem) and decided to give up because they are to dumb to fix it. That being said audi/vws to need some paitence, because the maintenance scheduals are much closer than some other makes etc, and have some dumb(but fixable) problems. Just keep up with it and it will be fine. You might wanna find one with less miles for more money though.. still check all the same stuff. The chip(flash) will cut your turbos life in half too btw.

as for any make it all comes down to maintenance, if the car has been well maintained then you have nothing to worry about, I have a 2001 A4 and it has never given me any problem that is not related to mods I have done, and even then the problems have been minimal.
here is my car for reference
http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u...4/photo-26.jpg