I am new to this group and planning to buy a Audi A4 1998 2.8 L 60 K driven and manual. In the forums and edmunds the long term mechanical reliability for this car as poor. What is the average annual maintainance cost for this beauty and what are the problems expected in next 3 yrs. I plan to drive 10-12K per year.

 

reliability should be good. The only thing id be worried about are the control arms on a 2.8. They can go bad before 80k miles. about $550 to replace yourself and about double that if a shop does it. Audi's are costly to maintain if you take it to the dealer, not cheap at a random shop, and affordable if you DIY. That car should be doing fine at only 60k miles.

 

i bought my '98 A4 2.8L 2 years ago with 50K miles....I've got 92k now and i've had to replace the timing belt, 4 control arms, and a wheel bearing...FYI

but i freakin love my car and will never shy away from buying another audi...routine maintainence needs to be done on all cars, things fail/break...whatever...you will still be driving an exceptional ride!

 

yep, buy it, provided they do not want to much.

I wouldn't pay more than 8000 for it. What are they asking?

 

How much does the timing belt change cost. I heard that it need to be changed before the scheduled 90K miles. The Private party is quoting it at $10K. Based on the actual market value, edmonds, nada i am thinking of quoting 7.5.

 

service history mate?? has it got one?? has the timing belt been changed if not buy for 8k or 9k with the belt changed

 

Its a 98, so you'll need to do the t-belt right away. That year has a bad tensioner, known to fail prematurly.

Average cost if you dont DIY is about 800-1000. If you DIY, its about 300 for all the parts.

 

The guy has the complete service history details. T belt has not been changed but he has changes some other belts. Is there any way to get the tesioner checked or should i get it replaced immediately after purchasing the car.