First let me say hello as I am new to the forum. My wife and I are looking at a 96 A4 2.8 Quattro 5spd in our area that is for sale. It has 180,000 highway miles on it and the asking price is 5700$. The interior and exterior are in excellent condition. Supposedly the only things changed up to this point are the clutch and AC evap, though I would hope the timing chain and other necessary PM was done. I was looking for some opinions on this car as this will be our first Audi purchase, if we decide to buy.

Thanks

 

The timing "belt - not chain" should have been changed twice by now.
If not you are definitely due for that - which is a $1000 job done at a shop.

Thats a lot lot of miles. Look for suspension (control arm) creak when driving.
Tie rod ends will likely be shot. Wheel bearings is also something look out for.

If you are looking for an inexpensive car, don't buy an old used audi for cheap - you will have to spend money on maintenance and repair. They cost more to maintain that your avg car. If you do your own work on the car, then by all means go for it and have some fun.

 

I agree with Burrman. The car has a lot of miles on it, and that means a lot of maintenance. Audi's aren't like Honda's, and require a bit of babying. For the price, you could easily find the same car with a little over 100k miles. Another thing to keep in mind is that the 96 an 97 12v engine, while incredibly reliable, is not a modifier's dream.

 

Thanks for the advice. We decided to pass on this one.

 

Isn't the 12V the same engine as the VW VR6? Lots of mods available for that one. Wouldn't they work on that engine as well?

 

The VR6 is a narrow angle 15 degree V6 block while all Audi V6 are 90 degree blocks. The VR6 cylinder head is a one piece design - the Audi two separate heads on each bank. The VR6 is also mounted transversly.