My wife and I are shopping for a new car. We narrowed our choice down to 2 cars. 2004 A4 1.8T 6-speed Quattro and 2005 Mazda 3 GT 5-speed.

Obviously, they're not in the same class. I owned 2001 Audi A6 4.2 before, sold it this past May. It has been pretty good to me as far as reliability is concerned with just a couple of things here and there (O2 sensor, crank sensor). I noticed that brakes wear out a bit prematurely in the back, every 20,000 kms.

Anyhow, the Mazda is a pretty good car for a non-Audi :) I love the audis with my heart. I am wondering how the reliability of the A4 with 1.8T engine is...

I heard about oil sludge, and turbo leaks. The A4 has 82,000 kms and the Mazda 3 has 52,000 kms. The mazda does not have a timing belt - it has a timing chain.

So, my fellow Audi enthusiasts, have your A4s been good to you or have they been eating up your wallets?

great reliable cars. The last one was a 2004 Mazda3 sports GT which my wife actually hated because it was so low. She kept hitting curves with it : (
Not the safest of cars either, unless the one you're looking at has side airbags. Another thing we didn't like was how flimsy it was. Poor traction as well, light front end, no traction control or ESP or any of the things we are used with Audi. It was an ok car, but now that she drives a Rabbit, she is happy again. And that is priceless!!!
The Audi has quattro!!! That along with safety and "fun" make it a great choice in my opinion.

Fuel injection, coils. Some electronics such as switches for sunroof...

In your experience, is that something that was more addressed with the 2004 model year?

i have a 97 a4 1.8t, it's been very good for me. Only had one problem with valve cover gasket leaking. Nothing else.

My little sister has a mazda 3 for 3 years now. No problem for her at all. So it's a decision of which one drives better.

I had an '04 A4 and it had a ton of issues. I'd say reliability was horrible. But that's certainly not the case with everyone. In either case, I still enjoyed the car and got another.

I really don't see the comparison though... they're completely different cars. If they were the same price, I wouldn't even think about the decision, I'd get the A4. Aside from reliability, which obviously could be costly, the A4 would blow away the Mazda in every category. Just the quattro alone should seal the deal!

to Ontario eon's ago and worked for AT&T Canada for a number of years before moving off to Telus.

He always told us about the 3 ferries from Vancouver that had to be taken to get there.

Cool.

and rear brakepads wore out. All these were replaced by dealer under warranty.

In the 4 I have sold, only a 2006 with 21Kms did not have signs of corrosion beginning at the rear fender lip edges. This is a big one for me and is one of the main reasons I have been driving Audis for 10 years. Audi's body prep/paint process is, in my opinion, the best in the industry.

With that being said, the Mazda 3 is an otherwise well-built vehicle, from what I have seen, and is under-rated when compared to other cars in its class, such as the Honda Civic and Toyota Corolla. Email me if you want more info. I can find you a clean Mazda 3 if you are interested.