After lurking, I finally joined. Why? I am strongly considering a 2001 Audi A6 2.7T as I fell in love during a test drive.

Living in the Northeast I am sick of front wheel drive in the snow, need a sporty sedan and love the thought of the AWD.

The A6 I am looking at is clean, 2001 year, never hit, 68K miles, black paint with gorgeous light tan interior. After looking around, I pop the hood and poke around...check the oil, coolant, listen to the engine etc etc. Taking the cap off the valve cover to look inside and was immediately dissapointed to see a few mm of black tar/mung on the oil cap itself. The car has been sitting for a few months and I noticed a bit of grey smoke emitting through the opening for the oil cap.

The car is at a used car dealer and will come with a warranty. The engine was quite strong and tight, I do not believe the smoke was enough to be concerned of and after a test drive, I feel that smoke was such a tiny amount that I was simply paranoid. Still, to peek into the valve cover where the oil cap is and to see black tar is not cool imo.

The car needs brake pads and a full cleaning/detail. I will take her to a shop before I purchase to have the engine tested.

Question...one thing (sounds trivial) but the car is in mint shape, black paint, bone colored interior...but she has a pinstripe on her that makes me ill (it's real paint not a sticker) as it's a tan stripe with a light blue stripe just above. Can I have this stripe removed? Will it be noticeable afterwards that there was a stripe there? Would a red pinstripe or silver pinstripe look hot?

After I get the engine tested, I'll feel better. Am I concerned about reliabilty? Yes. But I get auto parts at cost, do most of my own maintenance and have a great local mechanic too. I only own one car, so if the Audi falls down on me, I am stuck. I am also looking at a BMW 328i (2000 with 50K miles). I loved it too and with it's DSC traction, am I fooling myself to think that snow tires will do the job?

Thanks!