Hi all,

I am going to look at this car tonight.

Audi A4 Quattro

It has 164,000 miles on it and is a 99 1.8T 5 speed manual. You can see from the ad that there has been some recent work done to it. What are some other things I should look for in regards to it? I plan on asking about the timing belt and water pump.

I have been looking for a cheaper DD that gets decent MPG as I just sold a 2000 S10 Blazer because I was tired of filling it up every 3 days and wanted something a little more reliable. I am considering other small cars (Civics, Camrys, Accords, Altimas, etc.) as well. I love the fact of AWD living in Iowa and the Audi's are obviously a "nicer" car than the others I am considering. Also, around here most of the Civics and whatnot are riced out and have tons of miles on them for this same price.

I told the guy I couldn't do anything more than $2500 and he wants me to come look at the car tonight to discuss price in person. I am fairly mechanically inclined and know what to look at for the most part but this will be the first Audi I have looked at. I have read through countless threads on here already and have learned a lot. I know a car with this many miles can be a crap shoot but I am confident I can do any repair that will be needed on my own.

FWIW I have owned four different 4th Generation Camaros (Fbodys) and am currently in the process of building a 2001 Z28 6.0L Turbo car (hence the screen name). I have had my fair share of replacing/fixing parts on previous Camaros, as well as other daily drivers, so I am not too concerned with having to replace things on another DD as long as it gets better than 15 mpg, ha.

With all that being said and the fact that no one can tell me anything about this 99 Audi I am looking at, what do you think ? The pics are horrible and the front bumper appears to be missing the two plastic inserts on both corners correct? I will definitely report back this evening after I look at it as well. Just looking for some advice on what to look for and if the price is ok for the miles.

Thanks all!

 

Wilkommen to the forums!

hrmm. Car looks OK from the pictures. Not much can be gleaned from the description though. I'd be a bit concerned about the "as is" in the description. My gut tells me that means "hey, there is something wrong but I'm not taking any responsibility for selling you a lemon". Audis are pretty maintenance hungry and not really cheap even if you DIY. Parts are murder.

based on the description of what you are looking for, and your price range, you may be better off going with a Honda, Toyota, Nissan etc. Something that is a bit more "disposable" with a lot of less expensive aftermarket parts available.

-IMHO

those pieces missing from the front bumper are the headlight washer caps.

good luck. and if you go with the Audi, there are a ton of good folks/information in the A4 B5 section for the inevitable problems you will encounter.

 

I would ask about the headlight washer caps. I'm not really sure how those could go missing, but where there's one neglected area, there are probably others (be cautious). Control arms are bound to go, so check those out. I wouldn't be surprised if the sunroof didn't work either and would look into that. The small things add up

 

Thanks for the help. I will definitely look the car over good. I'm not too concerned with maintenance and upkeep after dealing with the Blazer I just sold. Had to do wheel bearings twice, shocks, MAF sensor, track down a coolant leak, deal with the leaky oil lines, etc. I want something "fun" to drive in the winter months when my Camaro will be in storage.

Really appreciate the welcome and if I do end up getting it I will be sticking around to learn all about the car.

 

My experience with my Audi is leaps and bounds better than with my grand am 3.4. I swear I fixed that thing weekly. But Audis can need maintenance as well. Yes parts can be expensive but only if your willing to pay high prices on them. I am not. I search for parts and the best deal on them. In the end it takes an extra day to find stuff but its not any more expensive than the grand am, cheaper even if you count less frequent fixings. Maybe I've just been lucky but my car has always ran pretty well. A wheel bearing or two here and there, and a clutch (most expensive fix by far) and its been pretty good to me. I can say I've never been stuck fixing it on the side of the road, and I can't say that about the grand am with the shitty *** worse motor ever 3.4. And I like that quip about liking the Quattro in Iowa. Ha! Move a state north! Good joke for you... What do you call an Iowa fish locator? The other boat on the lake...

 

Ask what brand of clutch he installed. If he got a cheap one from eBay, you're likely to be doing it again.

 

I said I search for cheap parts, I don't buy "cheap" parts. Examples: I've paid forty dollars for *** wheels bearings, twenty cheaper than most other places. I've only paid fifty for a used OEM Bosch maf. Works to this day. As for the clutch, I paid leas than six hundred for the s4 clutch conversion on ecs, including 240mm lwfw. I don't buy eBay **** like that. True I did buy a twenty dollar abs sensor on eBay, but guess what? It works. It if it goes bad tomorrow I'll have zero issue buying another 20 dollar abs sensor versus one for 150 on ecs or the dealership. The internet is a great tool. Use it to tour advantage.

 

Well I went and looked at and drove the car. First thing my buddy noticed was that the rear quarter panel had been hit and repaired. I asked the guy about the most recent repairs and he said, "A friend of mine used to own a shop and did all the repairs, I have receipts for everything." That made me leary right there and he did not know much of anything about the car.

I checked all the fluids and they all looked good. Took it for a drive and everything felt really good and shifted smooth. Clutch did feel good and grabbed well. It built boost well and made no funny noises. It drove straight down the road as well.

Now onto the problems. Almost every light on the dash was on, check engine, ABS, brake, etc. The temperature gauge didn't move, stayed cold the whole time. NONE of the windows would roll down. He said it was a fuse but there's obviously something electrically wrong to keep blowing fuses. It was obviously missing the light washer caps. Also the bottom part of the grill was missing leaving the oil cooler exposed and it too was hanging down some.

All in all, it wasn't a bad car. It just has more problems then I want to deal with right now. I appreciate everyone's help.

 

I'd advise you, since you're looking more for a winter/daily driver than a performance car (you seem to have that well in hand), to look at the 2.8 cars instead of the 1.8T. The 2.8 really is not power-mod friendly but given your other cars that may not matter. The 2.8 is a lot less maintenance-hungry than the 1.8T, as it has no turbo or boost related issues, such as numerous vacuum leaks, solenoid failures, or turbo failure. It doesn't consume plugs or coil packs like a 1.8T does, runs fine on conventional oil (cutting the price of oil changes to less than half), isn't known for sludge issues like the boosted motor, and is faster out of the box (a chip and DV upgrade to the 1.8T will make it about as fast as a stock 2.8).

Just throwing it out there that another alternative is out there that may better serve your intentions.

 

thats all common sort of problems. But i wouldn't pay much more than a grand for it

abs brake light - abs module
temp guage - coolant temp sensor - quick fix
windows - everyone always says its a fuse. needs more investigations.

its not really that bad of a situation just needs to be cheap