Hi there, my friend sent me this video of a car I'm interested in purchasing. This is the only issue with the car, I was told that a mechanic claimed it was a boost leak. Does anyone have any idea what this could be?

I apologize for the terrible quality, I'm hoping maybe it will give someone a small clue of where to start looking, as I am very new to Audi's in general. I'm not sure of CEL code(s).

http://youtu.be/iRsZJriNNr8

Thanks

Doesn't sound like a boost leak to me, although I'm not an expert.

Let me tell you a story if I may..
I wanted an A4 SO bad. I searched online for weeks. No one was more determined than I was. I researched everything to the point of addiction. I knew so much about a car I was yet to buy.

I went to see a couple of them, determined to overlook the issues because in my head the car was much better than it really was. I almost bought a pile of junk when compared to what I have now.. I waited a bit longer and bought the best car I could find- and she's perfect. No issues at all. She's never been touched- no one has ran gauges or put an exhaust or anything, and that's great. Don't loose hope, there are plenty of Audi's for sale that don't have issues like this.

Also,
the exhaust sounds funny, no? Are there no Check Engine lights?

I certainly appreciate the story. That's exactly what happened when I bought my s2000 a few years back.

The only problem is that I need a car ASAP, like this week, due to a few unforeseen circumstances and how imperative it is that I have a car for work. That's the only reason I feel like I'm rushing around. I'd be happy to get something that's easily fixable, but I do understand why you're saying what you say about this car specifically.

Gahh.. The seemingly neverending search.

The exhaust sounds like he's running an open down pipe or a 3 inch all of the way back. I agree that it definitely doesn't sound stock.

Due to the quality of the video, I can't see if there are any CELs... Do you see the yellow light on the dash in the video? Is that where the CEL is on these cars?

I've been through that a couple times, but it always works out. It's better to suffer now to not suffer with a bad car later.

Is the car close enough for you to go visit?

It's about 3 hours away. If it were to work out, the drive is no big deal. I was honestly considering just taking it to a mechanic while I was up there.

The guy claims his mechanic says it's a boost/vac leak, which (in theory) isn't a difficult fix. But I am very new to audi's and can't seem to find any other info on this type of issue.

In theory why didn't the mechanic quick fix the leak?

I too drove 3 hours for an Audi that was amazing, but had misfires. Have the guy go to the local auto place to read the codes.. I'd start there.

May we know how much the car is?

Haha your guess is as good as mine. I think he just had him look at it to diagnose the problem but didn't want to spend any money on labor fees. I honestly have no idea why, because if he fixed it, it could have been sold for more than he's asking which is $2500.


Thankfully, I found another one which is muuuch cleaner with no issues and looks to have been maintained with records. The only downfall is that it is a 98 with 160k miles (compared to '99 w/ 145k on the one with the "leak") for the same price.. which, if everything goes correctly, I'll be picking up tomorrow

Wow.. 160k? Do you have the craigslist (or whatever) link?

..I paid $3k for my 2000 with 100k on it- perfect condition.

It's from a stealership, I plan to talk them to $2100. Is that a bad deal? It is in great condition though.