First Post, Possible A4 Owner
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1st Gear
Joined: May 2015
Posts: 1
First Post, Possible A4 Owner
Hey,
First post and I hope to be here for a while.
I've been searching for another car lately and after test driving a few E30s and E46s, a friend told me he was selling his 2001 B5 A4 2.8 Quattro and I later took it for a short test drive.. in traffic.
Previous owner worked at a service station and I know he cared for and maintained the car greatly. The engine took a dump on him and had everything rebuilt by a qualified Audi mechanic about 10k miles ago. While it was under the knife he dropped in a sport transmission. Timing belt was done, I think he mentioned tensioner, and everything that could fail in the drive train was basically rebuilt. It felt fast compared to the E46s I have been driving, with similar gas milegae and AWD. Body is straight, interior could use a clean but is in nice condition, and paint is in good shape. A few dings here and there. 145k miles on the clock, with OBD2 throwing out a code for an 02 sensor replacement. I would get bit of a deal on this car, but I know it's been driven hard and I've heard Audis can be money pits. What can some Audi guys tell me about these cars? I've read through a lot of the Newbie guides and such and didn't find a lot about maintenance, more about mods. I'm mostly interested in keeping it stock and clean. I really want to pull the trigger on this one, but obviously not before a PPI.
Thank you for your time!
First post and I hope to be here for a while.
I've been searching for another car lately and after test driving a few E30s and E46s, a friend told me he was selling his 2001 B5 A4 2.8 Quattro and I later took it for a short test drive.. in traffic.
Previous owner worked at a service station and I know he cared for and maintained the car greatly. The engine took a dump on him and had everything rebuilt by a qualified Audi mechanic about 10k miles ago. While it was under the knife he dropped in a sport transmission. Timing belt was done, I think he mentioned tensioner, and everything that could fail in the drive train was basically rebuilt. It felt fast compared to the E46s I have been driving, with similar gas milegae and AWD. Body is straight, interior could use a clean but is in nice condition, and paint is in good shape. A few dings here and there. 145k miles on the clock, with OBD2 throwing out a code for an 02 sensor replacement. I would get bit of a deal on this car, but I know it's been driven hard and I've heard Audis can be money pits. What can some Audi guys tell me about these cars? I've read through a lot of the Newbie guides and such and didn't find a lot about maintenance, more about mods. I'm mostly interested in keeping it stock and clean. I really want to pull the trigger on this one, but obviously not before a PPI.
Thank you for your time!
1st Gear
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 226
From: Fallbrook California
If you trust your friend to be honest about anything and everything, and the price is OK, then you should be fine. I bought my much older A4 ('96 2.8 12-valve) 10 years ago with 125,000 miles, and it will pass 260,000 this weekend. It has been for the most part very reliable; the only serious things have involved the fuel pump system. The OE pump quit at something over 200K miles, and very recently a pump wire in the tank broke, and the internal tank supply hose had to be replaced. It's common to have control-arm problems at higher mileages, especially if driven hard.
For me, the car has been cheap transportation, but then I am used to maintaining them, have a garage available, and adequate tools. As an example, I had a front wheel bearing getting noisy, and if taken to an Audi specialist, or especially the Audi dealer to change both sides, would likely be hit with $1,000 charge. Instead I got two new bearings for $90, took the suspension castings out and to a NAPA machine shop, where they charged $60 to change the bearings. So if you can do basic maintenance and the car is sound, go ahead and get it.
For me, the car has been cheap transportation, but then I am used to maintaining them, have a garage available, and adequate tools. As an example, I had a front wheel bearing getting noisy, and if taken to an Audi specialist, or especially the Audi dealer to change both sides, would likely be hit with $1,000 charge. Instead I got two new bearings for $90, took the suspension castings out and to a NAPA machine shop, where they charged $60 to change the bearings. So if you can do basic maintenance and the car is sound, go ahead and get it.
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