My parents are going to the local dealer to get a 2005 A6 next week and they offered them $7,500 for there car. I am going to buy it and wanted to know a few things before doing so. I have read that at around 60,000 miles it's time for a new water pump and timing belt but what else should I get? I have also read that while going thru the gears you could run into some problems (changing gear at low rpms, strange sounds etc). Is there a particular year that is worse than another? This will be my second audi so I know they can do strange things but I wanted to know if there is anything wierd with this year model before buying it.

 

Never heard of any problems with gears - from what I understand 99 model only came in the 2.8 engine?

Timing belt and water pump should be replaced between 60-75k/mi. You should also service the transmission and have the gasket, filter and fluids replaced and the magnets cleaned off of any debris. I'd also service the differentials. Please note that Audi says that the transmission uses a 'lifetime' fluid and does not need servicing. This is NOT the case. A few owners have performed the service and sent off the used trans fluid for analysis. The analysis results showed regular wear of transmission components like that found in any other serviceable transmission. Point is: get it done.

Inspect the rotors and pads. The OEM Audi rotors tend to 'warp' pretty easily and the pads wear out pretty quickly. You may want to consider replacing the air filter, and fuel filter. Both are relatively inexpensive and easily performed.

Good luck. The 2.8 motor is fairly reliable despite being a bit leaky at the cam seals. Enjoy.

 

Hey arts it sound like you know what you're talking more than me but the dealer recommends timing belt replacement between 90 and 105,000 miles. Job cost about 1,200. I just had the tranny fluid and filter changed and took a hit for about 600. love the car though.

 

I know they say to do the timing belt / water pump on the 2.7T every 100K km's (or 60K miles). But thats because the timing belt drives the water pump and since the engine is an interference engine (not value safe heads) you run the risk of taking out the entire engine for the sake of a water pump.

Is that true of the 2.8? Not sure if it uses the same setup.

Usually timing belt worries are more for a manual trans than an automatic. (If you miss a shift, can exploit a bad timing belt.) Thats not to say you don't need to change them, just less risky in general.