Whats up all. Im new here, obviously. This site's pretty cool...lots of informative stuff too. And the people seem helpful, for the most part...I've been searching & reading stuff on here for about a month or so now...Maybe longer...

Right now, I have a lightly yet tastefully-modded 03 WW EVO & am done w/ it...reason being, I'm getting married & getting into a new place. Not to mention the horrendous Mitsu customer service that gave me major headaches...& still continue to do so ...but thats another story for a whole other day..
Trading/selling it is just the obvious thing to do. I will miss it, but life goes on...Now I've been looking for an alternative. Something w/ great looks, good reliability & decent handling. I'm trying to stay away from the "mod-a-ble" cars...yet something thats got "some" *****. & its ok if they're not
that big lol...I've had the GS-R to the Type R (which will always have a special place in my heart ) & now the Evo...I want luxury-sport now. Plus I'll know when I have my little one I wont have to worry about he or she hitting their head on the ceiling from the harsh ride. Dont get me wrong, I
love all my previous rides, especially the ITR & this EVO (which is just absolutely fun to drive)...But sometimes there comes a time in your life where you just need to stray away from
that...for now at least

Well as the subject states, Im looking to buy...a 97-01 1.8T that is. I've done the basic research on the yrs/models/makes & have been looking around for one...in either Silver on blk or Blk on blk. Either or. Man. or Auto. I prefer Silver on blk, but I also like the Blk on Blk as well.

Well tonight I went out & drove one. Its an 01 1.8t Q Blk on Blk w/ approx 99k. Selling for $10,900. KBB shows $15,460. My 1st impressions upon seeing the car was "Damn that thing's pretty sexy". The exterior looked pretty clean, granted it was dark out w/ medium lighting. Its a 1 owner w/ highway-mostly mileage. Although the thing needed a jumpstart, but that's something I'll have to look into should I get serious about purchasing the car. The interior looked great, from what I inspected. And all the buttons seemed to be working.

Now I've read that the clutch sits kinda high...but damnnn was I suprised. Xtra long (in comparison to other manual cars I've driven...could also be because I'm so used to the ACT in my Evo). Anyhow, handling was pretty tight...not as much body roll as I initially expected to be honest w/ you all. I was expecting to be rocking from side to side on the highway. Not so...Power delivery seemed good. Strong & confident. It was pretty smooth, engangement was easy, almost reminicent of my old gsr. *Definitely gets points if you compare something to a honda gearbox...in my book at least you do. The suspension felt confident & eager for more. And the instrument panel lights were nice & bright red...sweet.

Now here comes the criticizing. It may just possibly be this particular car I drove. Or maybe it could be a widespread issue. And that is why I'm here to ask you guys & to get your valued opinions/advice:

1. While warming up the car for a couple min I noticed the coolant temp didnt move...not even budge. I asked the salesman about the "problem" & he informed me that "Some Audis take forever to warm up. You could drive to NY & back & it'l still be on the low side". I cringed. Hmm, I've never
heard of such a thing.

2. There was a "shaking/vibrating" thing going on via the clutch when in 2nd gear and accelerating. As I accelerated or got out of 2nd, It disapeared. I asked the salesman why is that so. He told me "You need to make sure its IN there". I did, twice it happened.

3. Shifting from 2nd to 3rd gave a "grind". Not all the time, though. Definitely sounded & felt gear-related. I asked the salesman & he informed me "The clutch was replaced last yr, as also new tires were put on recently". Maybe I wasnt engaging the gears correctly? I dunno...But the tires are definitely new, but as far as the clutch goes...I have no idea...

4. Excessive exterior wind noise (which I've read somewhere is somewhat notorious in these models) & some squeaks in the interior somewhere which seem to be from the back. All, which are pretty minor to me.

In conclusion, & I wonder who actually read all of this lol...Should I look elsewhere? The guy claimed he should be able to get it lower. Are those issues I mentioned worth hassling about? Should I look into the issues to have them resolved or just walk away? All the other places w/ 1.8ts (meeting my requirements) are an hr or so away so I thought I'd look for the closest 1st...this place is 20 min from my work.

Any input/advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

 

In regards to your 1st question, My old B5 (2000) A4 would be at ragular temp within 2-4 blocks of me leaving the drive way. Granted I didnt leave the drive way until the RPM's dropped below 1000.

My current A4 is pretty much the same. I'm sure you will get more stories about this from the other guys on here but I've never heard of these cars taking forever to warm up.

2 & 3 sounds like there is something going on with the clutch, I'd be a little weary of it myself, but I have no mechanical experience to back up that opinion.

The squeeking and stuff happened in my B5 when the back seats where not latched correctly after I hauled a bunch of crap and had them folded down, other than that it was pretty quiet with the windows up. With the windows down at highway speeds it was pretty damn loud heh.

 

Wow, your story is ditto to mine. I sold my 03 WW Evo as well with just over 20K miles about a month ago, mainly because I couldnt stand the harsh ride. I just bought an 01 Audi 1.8TQ Triptronic Black ext beige int about 10 days ago. It had 52K miles on it and the previous owner bought it as Certified Pre-Owned, so warranty upto 100K miles! I absolutely love it, the ride is smooth and there is enough power in the manual mode when I need the extra torque.

The Audi you test drove doesnt sound too good. The main reason being its got 99K miles!! If I were you I wouldnt buy an A4 with more than 60K miles. I picked up mine for $13.5K, so there are definitely deals out there.

Good luck!

 

I would strongly advise a s4 or a stage 3 A4 coming from a evo.

 

Don't you love salesmen. i wouldn't worry about it, but I, personally, wouldn't buy from a salesman who gave me even the slightest bit of BS

 

as for the slow warmup, yes thats true. I'm almost at school in the morning before my car has finally warmed up. the vibration in second gear? no, that should not be there at all, along with the grind. and as for the windnoise, i havent noticed alot of wind noise at all. actually i get alot of comments on how quiet my car sounds inside and out, until you turn the A/C on! in florida tempurature the radiator fan is on high if the ac is on at all.

To help the car warm up faster, let it sit till it drops under 1000rpm like previously stated. after that just keep your rpm's as close to the 2400-2500's as possible until its warmed up. at that point its fine