The Audi A4 has been around since 1994 and is one of the best-selling Audi models yet. This compact-sized luxury family sedan promises to offer the luxury associated with models such as the A6 without being overly large, or expensive. The A4 is also a relatively reliable model overall, but some model years are better than others. So, what is the best year for Audi A4?
It seems like the 2015 Audi A4 is the one getting the most praise and is therefore the best used Audi A4 to buy. The 2018 model is right behind the 2015 A4 because it offers a slightly revised look and a few upgrades here and there without being any less reliable. The third best A4 model year is 2019 as it is more or less a 2018 A4 with a mid-cycle refresh.
These three are the ones with the best scores out of all Audi A4 models to date. Older pre-2015 Audi A4 models are now almost 8 years old and were never really all that popular because they were more or less the same as the A4 that came out in the mid-2000s.
Either way, if you are interested in buying a used Audi A4, consider these three model years because they seem to be valued correctly and are the ones most people are satisfied with the most.
Below are the best year. You might want to know about the worst Audi A4 years too.
2015 Audi A4
The 2015 Audi A4 represents one of the biggest upgrades over the previous model in the history of the Audi A4 lineup. There are many engines to choose from and all of them seem to be sophisticated and adequately powerful, even the diesel options. Most customer satisfaction surveys rated the 2015 A4 as the best year for an Audi A4 since the model first came out in 2015.
The engine, the transmission, the electrical systems, and the brakes all received top marks while 2015 did get considerably lower scores for the suspension and the drive system. Some also reported issues with Bluetooth connectivity and other infotainment features, but all of these are just niggles.
The 2015 A4 also gets a first place because it represents the best value out of all used Audi A4 models. It is the very first model year of the 5th B9 generation of the Audi A4 and therefore is the one with the most affordable price tag. All in all, 2015 is the best year for an Audi A4 because it combines the best value and the best overall customer satisfaction score.
2018 Audi A4
The 2018 Audi A4 represents a more mature version of the 2015 model with almost the same customer satisfaction score. However, the 2018 A4 seems to have gotten some criticism over the brakes, more specifically the brake rotors which corrode easily and cause the brakes to vibrate and lessen the car’s overall comfort footprint.
The reason why the 2015 is better than the 2018 is also because of the price as the 3-year gap between the two represents a relatively large jump in price. This is understandable because the car is 3 years newer, but overall, there aren’t too many differences between the two and only hardcore Audi enthusiasts are able to tell the difference.
The 2018 model seems to have gotten the best scores in the fuel system area, the transmission area, engine cooling area, and in-car electronics. We have already mentioned the brakes as the biggest sore point of the 2018 A4 and if the brakes weren’t an issue, the 2018 could have easily rivaled the 2015 for the number one spot.
2019 Audi A4
The 2019 Audi A4 also resides in the B9 family but is a mid-cycle refresh model which further polished the B9 and even solved some problems, such as the brake rotor corrosion, which plagued previous models. The 2019 got a new face, new lights, a larger infotainment screen, an updated virtual cockpit system, newer name designations, and an overall polish to the engine palette.
The transmission, the engine, the suspension, and the fuel system are the ones with the highest satisfaction scores while rattles and squeaks in the interior are the ones with the worst score yet. Even though the mid-cycle refresh did solve the corrosion problem, the brakes on the 2019 A4 still had issues, but with the brake lines.
The price of the 2019 A4 is considerably higher than the 2015 and even the 2018 model because it is a mid-cycle refresh. However, the 2019 comes with a fair bit of kit directly from the factory which eases up the price difference a little bit.
What problems does Audi A4 often have?
FAQ Section
Is the Audi A4 a family car?
The Audi A4 is indeed a family car and many deem it to be a better family car than its main rivals, the Mercedes Benz C-Class or the BMW 3-Series. The A4 offers enough space on the inside, even for older families thanks to spacious rear seats, a really accommodating trunk, and lots of family-friendly features throughout.
These include USB ports, lots of storage spaces, good visibility, wide-opening doors, easy entry, enough space to mount child seats, IsoFix anchor points across all passenger seats, and many more.
Is the Audi A4 a safe car?
The Audi A4 has always been a really safe car because it continuously gets a stellar 5-star safety rating from most car safety crash testers such as IIHS or Euro NCAP. Both of these rated almost all A4 models with 5-stars thanks to great build quality and great passive crash protection systems.
The software side of things is also taken care of really well, but the issue is that it costs quite a bit of money to upgrade to those systems.
Is the Audi A4 better than BMW 3-Series or Mercedes C-Class?
These three have been trading punches for quite a while now and it seems like the Audi A4 is the one that balances its market appeal as it is more luxurious than the BMW 3-Series but not as luxurious as the C-Class. On the other hand, the BMW 3-Series is the sporty one out of the bunch, but the C-Class is the least sporty one.
This means that the Audi sits in the middle between these two in various segments. It may not excel in as many areas as the other two, but it also does not fall short in almost anything.
