mkaresh

Thanks to this forum and its admin, TrueDelta has been providing the most up-to-date reliability information on the S4, with numerical stats (not just dots) promptly updated four times a year.

Participants simply report repairs the month after they occur on a one-page survey. When there are no repairs, they simply report an approximate odometer reading four times a year, at the end of each quarter.

To encourage participation, panel members receive full access to the results for free.

To sign up to help (if you haven't already) click the link below.<ul><li><a href="http://www.truedelta.com/reliability.php">Car reliability research - need more Audis</a></li></ul>

abednego

I'm a member of this, although I don't own an Audi. Yet. It is extremely worthwhile, especially if you consider that this type of data is usually not free (aka Consumer Reports, etc.)

I have NEVER gotten one spam from them, just an occasional email reminder that if I've been to the garage to update the stats.

I like the site, I like the service, and I'm hoping more folks will sign up.

mkaresh

Thanks, Abe, I certainly appreciate your helpful comment.

In a few weeks we'll start previewing the next set of results to participants. More always helpful.

Car reliability research

mkaresh

There are now a total of 784 A4 and S4 owners signed up. So in the future we should be able to report results separately for them. Since they sold fewer S4s, it will be more challenging to get to the minimum sample size with these cars. Help us get there:

Car reliability research

5timeaudiowner

I have been participating in TruDelta since purchasing my S4 two years ago. It is a great site with useful data. I would definitely prefer to have the dat for the S4 separated from the A4.

mkaresh

Thanks for putting a word in.

I'd also like to separate the S4. Still need more S4s to do this. Luckily, a separation shouldn't be absolutely necessary until these cars are out of the warranty period.

Latest results for the A4 and S4 together are here:

Audi A4 / S4 reliability comparisons

mkaresh

921 A4 and S4 owners now signed up. An excellent start, but more S4s are needed to eventually post separate results for it.

Auto reliability research

abednego

Signed up my '08 S4 several months ago. C'mon S4 owners, sign up! It's dead simple to use and be done with, and it will help ALL of us in the future.

zznalg

Michael, Do you have "a sense" of the B7 S4's reliability with the limited data you have? I may be trading one of my vehicles in for one. Thanks.

mkaresh

I'm currently in the process of finalizing some updated results. I split the A4 and S4 within this data, and we still only have enough responses for the S4 to provide partial results for the 2005.5-2006. We could also provide partial results for the 2004, among B6s. Sample size would be 20 for the 2004 and 16 for the 2005.5-2006. The 2005 and 2007 would be a few responses short of the minimum for a partial result.

In all four cases the S4 would have a slightly lower repair frequency (i.e. better) than the regular A4, with the difference too small to be statistically significant. So we'll continue to combine the results, but now with a note that the difference between the A4 and the S4 isn't significant.

With powertrains the differences tend to emerge among older cars. In earlier years repairs tend to involve more minor, shared components.

So the main point of getting more S4s involved now is to be able to note this divergence if and when it occurs.

Overall the B7 appears to require fewer repairs than the B6, and far fewer than the B5. Overall it's about average.

Car reliability research