Audi/VW/Saab reliability

[poolshark5226]

Hey friendly cornerers, I'm looking for a new car.
Right now I'm mainly looking at the following-
a 1998 A4 2.8 Quattro, a 1999 Saab 9-3 SE, some 99/00 Jettas, and 95/97 GTI's.
I understand that all of these cars are european and won't be cheap to maintain/repair, but which one(s) would be the most cost effective? Thanks in advance.

[wad04]

i have a 2001 saab 9-3 se. if you have any questions just aim me.

[MarkM]

The order of cheapness to maintain will be

Jetta
GTI
Saab
Audi

Though the last two are probably interchangable.

What you want to use the car for is more important as you would not normally include a Jetta in the same sentence as the other 3, even the GTI is a boy racer compared to the last two. Even though the modern version has been throttled in terms of performance.
Milage would be in more or less the same order as above but this time highest milage to worst.
Due to the more widespread use of the Audi engine in other cars the odds on finding someone who knows how to do what needs to be done would be the A4. The Saab is a niche market car even in Europe, where as the Audi is all over.
I would also hazard a guess that the Saab would come out the highest insurrance (regardless of age) due to the parts issues. I know that would be the case here in Europe and I am closer to the parts stores than you.

[poolshark5226]

As far as what I want the car for, I want something that I can rely on to get me from A to B when I need it to, but also is a lot of fun to drive. I absolutely love driving, and the feel of European cars (especially German ones) to me is better than anything else. I don't plan on racing the car or anything, but a fun ride is important to me.
The car would be stick.

the Quattro is my number one choice but it seems unlikely that I'm going to get it--I've read wayyy too many horror stories. Occasionaly dropping some cash to make sure everything works isnt a problem for me, but I've read of people spending upwards of $700 each time the car goes into the garage..which is often.

[MarkM]

Then get the GTI, be aware you will get torque steer but then since America only has 90* bends and straight lanes you won't notice it too much

[warbeak2099]

The SAAB has intense torque steer too. I'd pick the Audi out of all those. Then the SAAB.

[Cameo]

One thing i was told was..."the more of something you see on the road the easier it will be to get parts for". So i vote Jetta.. I really like mine.. costs a bit to get it serviced and parts but all in all a dandy car.

[wad04]

while the saab does have some torque steer, its not enough to choose one car over another. if you really think its that bad, you can always buy cheap upgrades to prevent it.

[i_baked_cookies]

the saabs torque steer is pretty harsh, but i like torque steer so ha. but yea, you should look into volvo. i had a 1998 volvo s90 (last of the RWD volovs), and it had 198,000 miles on it until i sold it, now i have a 2002 volvo s40 with about 60k on it, still running great. theyre expensive to fix, but they will last forever. performance on the s90 was terrible except in the handling department (fun as hell in the snow too). the s40 that i have now isnt that bad, still a volvo, but it gets going faster than a civic or a focus and it has some nice torque steer too. plus it was cheap... 15k used w/ 51,000 miles on it... loaded. oh yea, cost effectiveness. my volvo has a 1.9L turbo inline 4... gets about 270 miles on 11 gallons... ~27 mpg.... awesome considering i have a lead foot. oil changes at the dealer are about 50 bucks. has a 100,000 mile warranty (standard if you buy from the volvo dealer... better than their new car warranty). i will own volvos my whole life (but thats just me).

i test drove a saab 9-3se and gti, both were nice (and faster than the volvo), but the price, warranty, interior quality, looks, and cost effectivness of the volvo won me over.

[wad04]

torque steer really isn't a problem unless you're accelerating hard and turning at the same time.

[MarkM]

I too would pick the Audi but the costs of owning one have to be included, so for what this car is said to wanted for the GTI fits the bill better than the others

The Jetta will do as an A to B car but the gutless performance is the trade off together with horrible handling.

The GTI, quick and nimble but the torque steer (although with the now limited power) is still a factor but would add the "fun" element that is being used as a consideration for buying.

Saab...you have to love Saab's to want to drive one, high package included but they are just strange.

Audi, performance but at a price, servicing and parts plus the A4 was supperceded for a reason, similar to the TT versions all look the same but not equal due to the differring engine combinations. Very vague the control on modern Audi's so "fun" would be unlikely when comparing to the other models listed.

You would get looks since the more common european cars would be BMW's but you really have to buy pretty new to get all of the upgrades/recalls fixed for BMW's. A Mercedes could be an option but now we are getting into a different area of costs, but Merc's need to have uprated suspensions packs to stop handling like boats in a storm. Any European spec car will feel very hard due to the way they are set up here, I drove a Neon in Canada, now I know this is a budget car but it was gutless and wobbled around bends if you pushed too hard...I have also driven the same car here and it was like two different makes as comparitively it handled.

[wad04]

ok saabs are kind of like a macintosh computer. hardly anyone has one and very unique.