So I'm in desperate need of a car, and after searching for a couple days, I come upon a 1996 Audi A4 2.9L Quattro Automatic, complete with an aftermarket cd player (head unit?), leather seats (only 1 tiny crack), and a moon roof. Now according to the all-knowing blue book, this car is selling under price and should be a good deal, it seems in excellent condition, but the only problem is there is 114,000 miles on it. A few of the things he mentioned to me was that he bought new engine mounts (said the engine would vibrate in idle), brakes, recharged the A/C, and a few other things (all of which he has receipts for), the only thing is the radiator has a leak. He says they found it while he was doing other work (has the receipt once again) and would cost $200 bucks to plug up, but with me not knowing anything about cars, I'm not sure if this is really true. I'm wondering if I should go and buy the car (I literally start work on Monday and have no car) outright, or as my friend thinks, agree to buy the car upon receiving an estimate of how much the radiator will take to fix.

I know I could buy a Toyota and Honda like everyone says I should, but I feel like I would rather drive something else that what everyone else is driving, no matter if I have to put a grand or two in this car over a couple years.

Oh, and on that note, anyone have any guesses how long it would last? (Oh and Carfax said it was registered to a company, has 5 previous owners, and was registered in two states clear across the country).

 

i dunon about that but this is just me
do u kno if they changed the belts and did the regular maintaince
and damn 5 owners i might mean nuthing though but still

and u mean to say 2.8 V6 rite

 

5 previous owners, and was registered in two states!!!
I would leave that car alone and try to find something else.

Good luck

 

yep...keep looking. i just sold my 96 a4 fwd auto 2.8 w/ every option, 81k miles for 6000.

 

the radiator leak isnt a big problem, and i dont see how it will cost 200 unless its coming from a seam that cant be welded, then you might be looking for a junkyard replacement. as for the five owners, that just sounds like bad juju. look at autotrader to seel if you can find something in your area reasonably priced that will set you apart from the standard daily drivers.

 

5 owners = bad news.

Look more, a better deal will be bound to pop up.

 

Well this morning I called up the local Audi dealership and spoke to a VERY nice technician named Brian, his concern was of the timer belt and the water pump, as they both seem to go bad around the mileage that the car has. He also said that they would not repair the radiator but just replace it, and for that they charge a cool $800. Upon going back out today and checking out the car, I see that the previous owner had actually replaced the water pump and timer belt as of January of this year, as well as spent 2k or so in repairs for different things also in the year. Well that convinced me to buy the thing, so come Monday it will be mine (it's in very good conidition interior wise), my last question is about this radiator. Do I go to Audi and get it replaced, or to a local trusted mechanic and get it fixed?

Oh and I wouldn't consider replacing it a big deal as the car is already $1000 dollars under my budget, and that was before the owner knocked an extra $200 off today because of the radiator!

Fieldy: Who's the girl? :-p

 

good lookin' chick w/ a tease internet site As I explained to someone else before - I promised ppl a hot chick in new sig and thats what that's there for... my car is in there too.

 

So what, you paid 6300 for it? Seems high to me... yikes.

Control arms done yet? I've got my fingers crossed for ya, bud! Welcome to the wonderful world of Audi...

 

do the radiator yourself..