If you have any knowledge of working on cars at all i would get the 1.8t over the 2.8. I've had my 2000 a4 for a year now and put 16,000 miles on it. The only thing i've had go wrong so far is a flasher relay which was a cheap fix. The timing belt isnt a bad job to do, you can do it yourself for about 300 bux in a day.