I've heard coil packs were prone to failure in these cars. Is this something that is more common in one model more so than another?

 

AWD is a must. There was a coilpack recall early on, these cars are now about 10yrs old (still great) so most of the recall coils have been replaced

 

2.8 ftw!

Depends on what you're looking for. If you don't want power upgrades and just a really reliable car, the 2.8 is for you.

 

Dead pixels... is there a cheap fix for these, or do you pretty much need a new instrument cluster to remedy this?

 

Oh, and I finally came across a black A4, with black leather, and a 5 spd manual trans.... and it had a missing cylinder head. The search continues...

 

Tim where do you live?! I sit on a computer 10+ hours a day, I can help you search!

 

I have a black on black 2.8 30v Q/M. I couldn't find one locally in Canada after looking for months, so I actually bought mine in California. It did seem at the time that black/black was harder to find. Silver on black was far easier. Honestly, it seems pointless to buy an Audi without quattro, but that's my opinion.

I get an average of 25mpg in the summer and about 28mpg in the winter, mostly a tire difference, but also because of the extreme cold.

You absolutely need to find a car where the maintenance has been kept up. I swear, the majority of things go wrong at around the 70-100k mark. Here's what I've replaced so far in 3 years:

Timing belt/waterpump/thermo stat/idlers/tensioners etc (the complete job)
Valve cover gaskets, and then plugs because the oil leaked on to them
Cam seals
PVC Hoses/spider
Oil cooler
Cam chain tensioner seals
Passenger camchain tensioner (real expensive)
Coolant temp sensor
Pads and discs all around

The above was what I absolutely had to replace, and just what I remember, lol. Things I recently discovered I need to replace are:

Rear wheel bearings
Whole front control arm setup
Shocks and springs (shocks are nearly dead on non-sport)

I don't mind maintenance, but that's thousands of dollars I could have spent on fun things instead. So make sure you get one with a good history. Mine was okay, and I compromised on that a bit to get the color combo I really really wanted.

 

Thanks. I'm in the Baltimore/DC area looking for black/black leather, V6 with a 5 speed. Preferably '00-'01, for between $4-$7K. (saving for a wedding, so I don't wanna spend more, or make payments) Hoping to find something w/less than 100k but a little more than that is not a deal breaker. My last BMW lasted until 260k miles until someone totaled it - while it was parked...

I'm not afraid to get my hands dirty, so small mech problems (brakes, shocks, belts, etc) don't really bother me.

 

Iz you trollllllin'?

 

Well I would assume a car that weighs over 3,000 lbs and only makes 150 HP, that would be true. That's why if I went the 1.8T route, I would only be interested in the '01 for the extra 20HP.