The car appears to be in great shape, has a clean title, 140K on the odometer, and he's good with my offer of $5150 cash. The owner was pretty upfront and honest, it needs rear disks replaced, new lower front a-arm bushings, and he wasnt sure about a timing belt, coz he has only owned the car since it had 120K. It ran and drove great, had no abnormal engine noise, drove very smooth, and had plenty of power.

This is my first time with an Audi, in fact, it's my first time purchasing a German car period, ive spent years upgrading Honda's, Nissan's and Toyota's, but never any of these.

What do you guys think? Is this a good deal? Is it worth buying with the mileage? I need it to last at least 1 possibly 2 years until I re-sell it or have the extra cash to modify or repair something major. I will be going on several road trips to California from Arizona, so I need this thing to be reliable and last a little while.

I kinda read through the sticky post for new owners, but I would like to know more about my particular situation. I am in fear that this car is a ticking time bomb, and everything is going to break the min I get it home, IE... Turbos fail, leaks, timing belt, plugs, ect..

Please reply me and let me know. Thanks in advance for any info you can give me.

 

Also.... It is not and has not been modified in any way, shape, or form, it's bone stock.

 

any time you buy a used car your are taking a risk. if you buy the car be sure to have some money in reserve for the inevitable problems. if the current owner cannot be certain when the timing service was last done, you should put that on the list of things to do as a priority. this is definitely one of those situations where you should get a pre-purchase inspection. check your local indy shop. be sure they have experience with Audi. some of them will do an inspection for free, most charge around $100.

good luck

 

The big things on a car like this, in my mind, are as follows:

1. Timing belt service - If there is not proof it was done at a certain mileage and date, you need to plan on doing it. When the timing belt is done, the waterpump, pulleys, tensioners, etc. should be replaced. There are a bunch of oil seals that should be replaced also at this point as these engines leak oil from these seals quite often and replacing them while you're in there is a good way to keep that problem away. If any of the rollers/tensioners/waterpump go - your belt will break and you engine will get trashed most likely.

2. Transmission fluid - when was this last changed? I would NOT go more than 100,000 miles on the oem stuff, and I personally try to change it every 50K. Many people say it's not necessary, that it's a sealed transmission, etc. This is hogwash. If it doesn't have a problem, but hasn't been changed recently, I would plan on doing this.

3. Oil changes - what type of oil, and how often. The key here is high quality synthetic oil should be used - Mobil 1, Amsoil, etc. I go 10,000 miles on an oil change with Amsoil, but I do 10K in about 2 months. Many people think I go too long on an oil change. Open the oil cap, look for signs of varnish, burnt oil, etc. The oil changes need to be regular and high quality, IMO.

Beyond this, I would at least get a code reader and scan for codes. I did this once at an auto dealership when I was looking to buy my A6. The guy just about **** when he saw me pull it outta my car. He acted like he didn't know what it was, etc. Turned out there were codes stored for the cats, but no light yet. He had tried to reset the codes because none of the test had run yet. It's rare to find a bad cat, but 2 new cats could cost a couple thousand dollars and scanning saved me from the hassle.

It does sound like you're buying a car that he admits needs at least $300-500 worth of work, and probably needs a timing belt job and transmission fluid/filter change that will cost another $600-700 if you do both jobs yourself. I think the price is maybe reasonable, but I wouldn't think it's a steal by any means....without knowing more about what these cars sell for in your area and the specific car itself, etc.

Beyond that, if this car is well maintained and you are willing to fix some parts as they go, you should have a great car that could hit 300K.

 

all the posts above are right.

you need to find out about that timing belt. if the owner does not know, leave it or tell him to knock 1.5k off the price. Do not take risks with timing belt. once its snaps your looking at atleast 3k if not a new engine.

 

Yeah, I asked him about it just now and he said that "His Mechanic" pulled the cover back and looked at it with a flash light while he cranked it over so he could see it in different positions, and it looked good. he said there wasnt any fraying or damage, and no discoloring. he said it could have been changed before he owned, it, but told me that I shouldnt risk it. So if I get it, I think I will do the timing belt first before anything, and then a tranny flush. Are those belt kits on ebay worth a damn? found the belt with pullies, and water pump for around $220 or so.

 

One thing to remember when changing the belt, you need special tools to align the cams and the crank to make sure they are perfectly in time.

Tool kit on ebay varies in price, shop around can probably find one for about $60 or so. Can't align the cams properly without it.

 

Would all I need is the cam locking tool? found it for like $20 or so on ebay

 

i think thats all you need. i would steer clear of the ebay timing belts.
get the one from ecs tuning or go with the original. blau parts are OK as well. also if yo do the belt use only g12 coolant no universal.

is the tranny auto or 6 speed?

http://www.ecstuning.com/Audi-C5_A6-...Timing/ES6168/

 

It's an auto tranny, and I keep hearing that it's a sealed tranny... So in other words, im not able to drain it and fill it myself?