Hi

I live in New Zealand and am lookng to buy a 97 Audi A3 1.8. Apart from the obvious things to look for when buying a second hand car, is the anything of particular importance I should look out for relevant to this car. Its from a dealer an has been imported into NZ from Japan 1 year ago. Its been at the dealers for 6 months aparanty. Its asking $8,999 NZ dollars ($6,409.80 USA).

Thanks in advance.

Cheers
Tim

 

How many miles/kilometers are on it?

 

It sais 81,000 on the clock. Its a digital display - is it possiblethey can clock these ?

 

Sounds like a good deal. The odometer should be accurate, it is incredibly difficult to alter the reading on digital odometers. Most of the people on this forum are in the US, and we didn't get the A3 until 2006, so we never had an option for the 1.8T. We do have the TT with the 1.8T, so you could do some reading in that section. Also the GTI Mk4 in the US had the 1.8T so you could read up on some of the VW forums (vwvortex.com is a good place to start). We do have the A4 with the 1.8T here, it is a longitudal engine (vs. the transversal in the A3) but the internals should be fairly similar. You should expect to replace the timing belt after you hit 100,000 miles. The labor for that job is going to run you a bit. My friend had to do this a while back on his A4, and if I remember correctly he paid about $150 for the parts and $400 for the labor (USD). Otherwise the biggest concern I've heard about these engines is that they tend to build up sludge, but if it's been maintained properly and not used for short trips too much you should be fine. Other than that, I would suggest checking for leaks (particulalry around the oil pan), but that holds true for any used car.

Definitely read up on the TT board or a VW forum, they can probably offer you better advice that is specific to your engine.