When I purchased the A4, the owner had a 2 inch-thick stack of receipts of everything and anything that was done to the car. After sifting through them I put together a list of the major items that he had repaired/replaced to get a general sense of what the history on the car is.

My top concern was when the TB was done last. Looks like it was performed at 168,000 miles. Current mileage is 206k and change so I have some life left on the TB.

The other great thing is that the car routinely had the oil changed every 3k miles. Just the stack of oil changes alone was huge. The previous owner was more meticulous than I am with records. To my calculations he dumped over $10k in repairs since he owned the vehicle. He purchased it in 2008 so roughly 4 year’s worth of repairs/maintenance.

List:

• Project Mileage Total

Rear Sway bar and wheel bearings - 160,000 - $423.00
ABS Sensor and 2 front sway bar links - 161,000 - $353.00
Timing Belt, water pump, Upper seals, tensioner, belt damper - 168,001 - $2,059.00
Rear wheel bearing - 173,201 - $325.97
Cruise Control replace - 173,232 - $351.00
Exhaust Sleeves - 175,870 - $178.00
Ignition Switch - 179,160 - $270.00
Right Lower Control Arm/ball joint - 184,073 - $315.00
Power Steering Pump - 192,516 - $400.00
Front rotos and pads - 194,652 - $280.00
Left Front Wheel Bearing/Alignment - 194,652 - $384.94
Control Arm Lower Rear - 195,839 - $261.00
New battery - 196,072 - $140.00
Right Rear CV Axle - 196,860 - $232.00
New tires - 197,203 - $639.00
4 wheel alignment - 197,227 - $200.00
AC Compressor - 197,337 - $1,257.00
Valve Cover Gaskets - 197,258 - $310.00
Heater Core replace - 203,114 - $902.00
Forward Upper Control Arm - 203,517 - $476.00
Alternator - 204,899 -$452.00
Total - $10,208.91


Also discovered that the windshield was replaced and the car was repainted in 2011.

New Windshield- Aug-09 - $219.00
Vehicle Repaint- Nov-09 - $1,613.00

In total the previous owner spent upwards of $12,000 to maintain the vehicle. I think I know why he got rid of it!!

 

that is redic
140 for a battery!
200 an alignment!
1257 for an a/c compressor!

You have a little life on your tb which is good assurance. This goes to show how much doing the work yourself will save you.

 

I was dumbfounded at some of the rediculous prices paid! The guy was meticulous with records and upkeep, but I think he got taken for a few rides. 70% of the work was done at the same indy shop too.

I did notice that the VCG were done at 197k and I just had them done 2 weeks ago along with the tensioner/valley/cam seals and caps - so they did not do a good job replacing them. And they didn't do the tensioners/valleys/cam seals when the did the VCG. Why friggin bother?

The cool thing is all of the front control arms and supports (both sides) are new and upgraded to the better design (whatever that is?).

Now onto my new project - determining what is leaking up front. "Oil" spots in the garage but darker in color. Doesn't seem be be fresh oil and it is not coming from the VCG or tensioner/valley/cam seals. Thinking motor mounts or axle seal oil? Maybe it is the remainder of the residual oil finally coming off the splash guard from months of the VCG leaks. Going to brake clean underneath and pinpoint that ****. Fun times.

 

check the rear main seal, that can cause oil leaks. or the transmission output seals.

An indy shop charging dealer prices is ridiculous.