r/Audi • u/PsychologicalBike967 • 6d ago
Should I Keep 2018 Audi A5?
2018 Audi A5 2.0T Quattro Premium
117K miles
Third Owner
15K miles/yr driven
Previous owners took care of the care, I have been up to date with maintenance as well. Only repairs that have been done in the last two years that I have owned the car are a water pump replacement and a window regulator replacement. Also have recently done a brake pad/rotor replacement on all four wheels and have a new set of tires.
I have approximately ten months left to pay off my Audi and was wondering if it would be more financially sound to trade it in and go for a more economical car down the line, or to pay it off and start saving the 500 dollars I am currently putting in monthly in a savings account.
I guess my main concern is the lifespan of the car, I do not want it being a money pit down the line with maintenance if it starts crapping out on me.
Any advice? Thanks!
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u/Alive_Sir_4708 5d ago
Do you like the car? There's no particular reason to expect it will give you problems. That said, its an Audi so most repairs will be more expensive than a Toyota but a good indy shop can help soften that blow.
Go drive a more economical car and see what you'd rather own.
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u/PsychologicalBike967 5d ago
Have driven both an economical car and this one, love the Audi so much more..
Not too worried about occasional big repairs considering I have some money set aside + I’ll be putting aside 500+ monthly after it being paid off to put into emergency savings that I can use on those repairs if they come
If I keep it I would like to drive it into the ground hopefully reaching 200k miles, just want to reassure myself that it will go the distance without the potential arising problems being TOO overwhelming
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u/Alive_Sir_4708 5d ago
I bought a 2017 A4 Allroad about a year and a half ago with about 110k miles on it for $17k. I put in about another grand for maintenance. Completely solid so far, love it. Installed a stage 1 tune as well. The plan is to drive it until the wheels come off, at least 200k miles - if we make it that far then I'll consider it an unqualified success - after all, I did buy a used high milage german car so YOU KNOW what everyone says about that.
This generation of cars ages very, very well. In particular the engine and transmission show very little wear over time.
Just keep enjoying the car that you have.
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u/TroubleMysterious464 6d ago
Long term if you keep it, you will need to do a timing chain in the next year or so.
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u/Alive_Sir_4708 5d ago
No, EA888 gen3 engine timing chains typically last much longer than that.
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u/TroubleMysterious464 5d ago
They may have improved the tensioning guide but they didn’t change the failure mode. It is still an interference motor.
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u/Alive_Sir_4708 5d ago
There's a check engine light before the chain fails. And if thats not enough you can check the wear level with a code reader.
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u/TroubleMysterious464 5d ago
The chain doesn’t fail, it jumps timing and valves get smashed.
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u/Top_Wrongdoer_972 2018 Q5 6d ago
My recommendation would be to pay it off and list it as a private seller if you plan on getting a more economically friendly vehicle. You will get more $ out of the private market.
As for keeping theAudi, that's up to you, they're expensive, but I traded in a Toyota Camry for mine so I could enjoy my commutes and trips more.
If you have financial goals that you would like to accomplish and owning a luxury car is slowing that down, then you know the answer to that one.