hello all. im thinking of buying a used 98 a4 2.8 quattro. could someone tell me if there were any significant changes between the 98 and 99 models ( i test drove a 99 a4 2.8 q and loved it )? . second of all has anyone had any mechanical problems with this car ? the car im looking at has 20K miles on it and would have 1 year of warranty/maintance left on it......

I have a '98 A42.8QTip, 52K miles. It's being traded in the next few weeks for a new silver/silver '00 S4, originally due late Sept, dealer now says mid-Oct.

In two years (purchased two years ago this week - the first '98 at my dealer) the only maintenance it's had, in addition to regularly scheduled stuff, has been 1) replace a sticking ignition switch (at about 48K miles) and replace driver's side seat track because of a little rocking (also at 48K miles). Oh - I had to replace a turn signal bulb and the wiper blades. Apart from those minor issues -- no problems at all.

I'm not aware of any mechanical changes at all between '98 and '99 for the A42.8Q. The major changes I recall for '99 included different cup holders, a different model stereo, and maybe some different paint jobs. (Pearl White was discontinued for '99; I have a pearl '98.)

This is my sixth Quattro, second A4. previous A4 was '96 2.8 12v Quattro Manual. No repair problems whatever with that car the entire time I had it. Sold it to a friend at about 55K miles. He still has it, now around 75K miles, still running strong.

Quattro's seem to take about 10K miles to completely break in. Until then, the engine power is still down a little, as is gas mileage. At 20K, they're just getting warmed up.

The only reason I sold my '96 in '98 was because the 2.8 30v engine, with more bhp, had just come on the market. And the only reason I'm unloading my '98 is because the S4 has arrived!

DMoore
'98 A42.8QTip
'00 S4M (soon, I hope, dammit!)