I am looking to buy an A4 and in my price range I have seen either 2001 or 2002 A4 1.8t. I noticed 2002s were refreshined I guess you say. I was wondering mainly if these cars are reliable in stock form? This will be my DD and I might add exhaust and a filter, but not much more.

Just let me know (I heard fuel pumps, timing belt, control arms?) people have issues with and exactly how expensive is service? I will be driving 20k miles a year and all the '02s I am looking at have 40-50k miles on them. Found one 2002 A4 with 42k for $15,500 and I should have jumped on it, but wanted to see what owners say about reliability, etc.

So if the car hasn't had the timing belt replaced, about how much does that cost to replace?

 

DIY: about a day of your time and $300ish worth of materials

at a shop: somewhere around $1,000 maybe a lil less.