Had the car about a week & a half now. But its got a little over 80k now & I know some say do the belt around 75-105k. Is there any way at all I can see if it was done? Is the belt accessible anywhere to check its condition? Or maybe I can see if the water pump looks newer?

Anything would be great. I know its a very expensive job (not very DIY on this car) and even more expensive if it jumps a tooth...

 

Well a spot of good news (not regarding the belt) is that after many phone calls to local Audi dealers I found out some history. I am on Long Island NY. The previous owner had many services done at a dealer in NJ, including the 80k service. It was serviced there for the past 3 years, and they even did little things there. I like knowing it was dealer serviced. Plus they said it seemed to be a CPO for that owner. Also a good thing. Prior to that (intil 48k miles) it was serviced in Ohio at a dealer there. Obviously under warranty. So a lot of dealer activity, and mostly at the same ones. But no records of timing belt yet...

 

The belt wasn't replaced,... Dealer does it after 105k and believe me they ain't going to do it a 1/2 of mile earlier then that

Also transmission fluid is not lifetime so you have to replace it as well (+ the differential)
Everything is DIY on every car, there is nothing impossible for an auto anthusiast! Get the timing belt kit from blau parts, and do the thing yourself, of take it someplace.

 

ps/ you can take off belt covers and see it, but in my experiense, it always looks the same, so you can;t tell how old is it. I've bever seen anything abviously horrible like they show on those sample pictures on the net.

 

I had mine done at 89k and had the shop save all the parts. Timing belt and serpentine looked fine. No noticeable wear. Even the water pump looked good. I went with the Blauparts kit for price and because it came with a metal impeller on the water pump.

 

The chances of the timing belt being done at 80k if it was taken to dealerships throughout its repair history are about 0%, especially since if service was done through a dealer it was likely under the original warranty program and/or CPO. Warranty won't cover it, and dealers wouldn't do it anyway until 105k.

Small chance they might have taken it elsewhere but if it was resold at 80k they wouldn't have spent the $ to do it. It's certainly worth it trying to get the repair history of the car if you can, though.

This is one of several reasons why KBB pricing tends to bereally deceiving; a car that had everything done at 80k miles (timing belt, tranny flush, plugs, all the other good stuff) along with an owner who has cooled the turbos and such is worth a lotmore at 90k or even 100k miles than one without any history that's sitting on a dealer lot at 80k right before the service - especially if you can't DIY. As much as I would have liked a 2.7T or 4.2, I wasn't comfortable with the repair history of any of the ones that I saw and got the 3.0 instead...that had had the timing belt done. A few minor things that I need to work on, but after having the joys of buying a car at an auction once I knew better this time.

 

I am a proud new owner of a 2001 A6 4.2. Searched for about 1 year on autotrader, cars.com and ebay for the exact car, but ended up settling on the 01 versus 02 which I really wanted, but it is black/black and loaded so I am happy without thesteering wheel shift and exposed dual exhaust.Got such a great deal on ebay for a high mileage car (site unseen)I couldn't resist and I planned to throw a few $$ at it. My "new" A6 had 103K miles when I bought it in March. Other than the odometer, it looks like a 20,000 mile car. It is an original Beverly Hills dealer purchased and serviced car and I bought it from Los Angeles so the miles do not concern me too much, especially since I live in Alaska andthe mileage will be about back normal in 18 months. I contacted the dealer, but after 50K miles they had no records on the car.

My first concern was what services do I need to do now. An antifreeze leak the next week answered my question. I asked the mechanic to call me when he had the front pulled off ofthe car and engine. While he was changing the water pump I had him replace the timing belt, tensioners, idlers, front seals, thermostat, serp belt, etc, andanthing else recommended forthe 105K service. Along with a new battery and few other inspections and services I was out a couple of $K, but I know now where the car stands for services. The old timing belt looked in great shape, no idea if it was ever changed, but I could barely makeout "Audi" print on the belt. At least for the 4.2 I do not think a timing belt change is recommended until 105K miles.
For me being new to the Audi and needing the car repaired quickly this was not a DIY job, especially when I saw the labor to access the parts. After reading some of the other posts to your original queston I will definitetly be checking out Blauparts and colleting tools to start DIY work.