Hello everyone, I'm in the market for a new car and have been looking at A4's for awhile now. I have finally found one that I like and is in my price range. I was wondering what are some things that I should look for before buying the car. It is a 2001 1.8t, no quattro or anything and is completely stock, at least from what I can tell. Any advice would be much appreciated.

 

ORIGINAL: bentframe

make sure the suspension is good....worn control arms will squeak, tie rod ends will clunk when you hit bumps, cv joints will click during low speed turns (if you're on the gas), open up the oil cap to look for signs of oil sludge...do the same for the power steering fluid, as well as the coolant. sometimes people top them off or refill them with regular fluids and that can cause big problems including sludge issues....test the cruise control, the switches are known to fail (typically it's an easy fix, a good way to knock a few bucks off the price ). make sure the sunroof is fully functional as well as windows (check each door's switch individually)..listen on the freeway for a humming/grinding sound for failing wheel bearings..oh, and leave the radio OFF during the test drive, test the speakers before or after driving....also consider the mileage on the timing belt, they need to be done every 60-90k miles....search the forums, there are TONS of threads on all this stuff...

 

I test drove the car yesterday and it seemed to have a problem with the cv joints when turning right. The dealer noticed the problem too during the drive and they are repairing it right now. Should I be worried about the rest of the CV joints? Also should I be on the lookout for any other problems now that this has been identified? The car has 55,000 miles on it and otherwise seems in good condition.