Well, this place is one of those small used car dealerships. The owner's son has the exact model only in yellow. They actually know a good dealabout the car but they haven't serviced it. It is sold "As Is". On the trade in offer, that was me. I will go 1/13/07 to do a full check up on everything. I will pull the valve cover and inspect the sludge. Everywhere under the car. Definately will check the timing belt, alternator, and pretty much everything else. I will also take a drive through neighborhood, city, highway, and then beat onit a little. I will make a list of all the things I found to be in poor condition and then post it on here. I will also take pics of everything. Maybe I could talk him down based on my findings. The sad part is that this is the only1998 A4 1.8L TQM that is being sold around the metroplex. I am in love with these cars and would hate to loose this car. I read that the 1997-98 years are the best for tuning and what not. I could care less about how the interior looks, I just need a good base vehicle to work with. I am mechanically capable and love working on my car. Check back on Sunday for a detailed report. Thank you guys for all the advice.

 

I was in your shoes about a month ago...I honestly wanted a four wheel drive turbo 5spd...and I had a budget of twice what I paid for my car...one thing you have to know is audi's need alot of attention! and if you don't keep up with all the maintenence that your audi NEEDS, you will find yourself with an unreliable car...I finnally found the car I wanted on craigslist...there were pics and from what I understood after talking to the guy, the car was a dealer baby down to the oil changes and all was documented, I am the third owner and I have every receipt, I bought the car for 6,500 dollars and the outside is nice and the inside is brand new...its a 1998 1.8tq 5spd...the car had 89,000 miles on it and I drove it for a week before I had it checked out....the dealer told me I needed to do the timing belt and said I had 3 incredibly small oil leaks...I agreed and 2 grand later I am up to suff, and with the extra cash i had after buying the car I bought a new set of tires and now it's time for a chip and a dv...

just want to let you know you should not "blow your wad" on an audi, because if you don't alway shave an extra grand laying around for whatever, you may end up not having a vehicle for a while...obviously you are a DIYer, but be prepared for a whole new world if you havn't worked with eurocars...

I'd have to agree with acetrebo, keep looking! If you buy a car that has not been kept up, you will be spending countless housr and money getting it caught up....

good luck!

 

Hmm, this is interesting that everyone is saying pass. Where else other than autotrader, craigslist,and cars.com can I look for used cars? I did a search last night for the same type of A4 1.8TQM and only found one all the way in South Carolina. Are they hard to find? See, I am only 18 so I dont have alot to spend. But I do have that LHS plus about 2 grand. I found out that this Audi has a bonded title and the dealer bought it from an auction. After checking out the LHS and saying he wont pay no more than $5000 for it, I told him about all I found wrong on the Audi. He came down $500. So now I would have to pay him $1215.85 total. He said he could do a no interest payment way. Here are the things that I found wrong with the car.

-When started it makes a "beep-beep" noise but nothing shows on the dash. After about a minute it makes the "beep-beep" noise again.
- Feels a little laggy when I stomp on the pedal and in 4th and 5th it doesn't accelerate too fast.
- I got underneath the car and checked out the suspension and there were no cracks or stress marks.
- I found the rear differential has a small leak.
- The oil filter is a NAPA one and has sludge drips on top.
- Exhaust was welded a couple of times.
-Looks like it has been just driven, not really been serviced.
- Oil is very dark.
- Found an exposed wire clump with a wire unplugged at the front left underneath the car.
- Underbelly pan was in the trunk.
- Found what seems to bea leak(but could be sludge)in the back break line.
- Missing hazard button cover but the hazards work.
- Missing passenger door stick.
- The hand rest top can be taken off, seems broken.
- Blown front right speaker, rest work
- Driver seat rail back right cover missing.
- The seats are in great condition except the driver seat is torn on the cushion.
- Climate control doesn't work. All the control work and I hear it doing something under the hood but no air is circulated.
- Rear ashtray broken.
- Found one dent on front left fender.
-Gouges on the front bumper.
- Scratch on the rear bumper.
- Rock chips andscratches on hood.
- At the center of the hood there is a faded circle that had one popped bubble so the paint is peeling.
- Tires are worn out.
- Inside of valve cover is brown but not dark brown.
- No service records, no knowledge that timing belt was changed, low fluids everywhere.
- Only one key.
- No knowledge of previous owner except that the bond company drove it for 60k miles.

here are the pics of everything.
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a27...d/DSCN2231.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a27...d/DSCN2230.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a27...d/DSCN2229.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a27...d/DSCN2228.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a27...d/DSCN2227.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a27...d/DSCN2226.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a27...d/DSCN2225.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a27...d/DSCN2224.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a27...d/DSCN2223.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a27...d/DSCN2222.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a27...d/DSCN2221.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a27...d/DSCN2220.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a27...d/DSCN2219.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a27...d/DSCN2218.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a27...d/DSCN2217.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a27...d/DSCN2216.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a27...d/DSCN2215.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a27...d/DSCN2214.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a27...d/DSCN2213.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a27...d/DSCN2212.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a27...d/DSCN2211.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a27...d/DSCN2210.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a27...d/DSCN2209.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a27...d/DSCN2208.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a27...d/DSCN2207.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a27...d/DSCN2206.jpg

Is there any chance that this could be good for me. I am in love with these cars and this is the only one I can find in my area. This sucks, I really wish I could find more than one. Thanks for reading.
turbo_snail.

 

ehhhh, i wouldnt go for that unless you can bragin the price down about 1500 more
thats going to cost you alot to fix

some one drove the **** out of that car and didnt do any maintence

 

bro, this isnt the one for you. Sit back another one will come along. If you can get around another way for a bit sell the LHS privately. The look for a well maintained documented A4privatley. You can tell alot more from a car by the current owner. he will probably have maintenance receipts. Look for 5k full synthetic oil changes. Completed timing belt job. Maybe some control arms replaced. Just basic maintained. I bought mine 98 1.8t for 6500 , 110,000 miles, one owner not a fault with the car everyting works as it should. The things that I had to fix within 1 month of owning were, Timing belt (owner sold the car because audi dealer recommended the service) cost of $350 , rear brake pads $50, rear wheel bearings $100, spark plugs $40, air filter $20, cabin filter$15, all work done myself . Keep $1500 on side after buying a car. Just my 2 cents. Good Luck and be patient.

 

^^^^^^^^+1

 

Wonderful advice from all. I tallied up the amount of labor and money it would take to get this thing rolling in good condition stock, and that is a killer. I did some searching around and already found better audis at the dealers. Maybe a trade in is still possible. But I will definately pass on this one. Too many headaches from just thinking about it.

 

So what year/years should I focus on? And are the TT's any better than A4 if both with quattro and manual. Which ones have more after market support and are generally cheaper?

 

An A4 will be cheaper than a TT, and the A4 will have alot more room in the car, the backseats in the TT are for insurance purposes as far as I am concerned(a full sized adult reallt doesn't fit back there)...just keep your eyes out for a B5 1.8tq 5spd... I could take a couple months to find the right car, but when you do, you definately won't be dissappointed.

good luck!