hey! im 16 years old and im thinking about buying a 1999 audi a4 1.8t quattro. its manual as well. it needs some suspension works and breaks and im doing all myself so that will cut the cost but i was wondering if the matiness would be to expensive and i also see some red flags on the odometer i read 154000 miles and on the mechanics recite it says 169000. i was just wondering if anyone has any advice thanks for reading!

 

If you can do the work yourself then you will save a lot of money. The odometer is a big question mark. Are there records that come with the car? If there are detailed files, I wouldn’t be worried. I have a folder an inch thick with everything I’ve ever done to my car. If the previous owner doesn’t have any records and doesn’t know when things were done and you still want to buy it, plan on doing the timing belt, spark plugs and an oil change immediately. Other than that, check on the usual stuff as you mentioned. You may want to get a pre purchase inspection done to check everything over like the compression, oil leaks, how dirty the under side of the car is.

 

The B5 1.8TQM is a relatively easy car to work on, due to the fact that the engine is longitudinal (so you don't have a transaxle crammed in the engine bay). Also: the engine bay is made to fit a twin turbo V6 (leaving plenty of room to get around the 1.8L I-4). This forum is also rich with information. I can't think of any issues that haven't already been discussed by the members on here. There's an awesome family of Audi guys/gals that are always willing to help.

Personally: I would look for a "facelifted" B5 if I were you (specifically the 2001 - 2001.5). The '99 A4 1.8TQM has 150 hp stock, whereas the 2001 has 170 hp, along with many other advances, for basically the same price.

The B5 is a great car and if you take care of it, it will run forever. I had 350K miles on my first B5 and I was putting 22 psi of boost to it w/o any issues at all. They really are great cars.

G/L in your search!

 

thanks for the response! I will be doing the work myself I thought so to and HES not asking much money at all so I’m little skeptical but it seems like a good deal and runs really good. And yes there is a lot of records from the two years he had it. And the timing belt has been done already which I was glad to hear about. Thanks for the idea I will ask if he would mind me getting one and it will be good to see because I’m from Vermont and rust is a issue lol.

 

Yes as A4TurboGuy has stated, the best year to get is the 2001. So much so that I’ve purchased 4 of them. It has Variable Value Timing, is wide-band and upgraded tuning peaking at 10 PSI as opposed to 5 out of a < 2001 year, out of the box. Also tuneable through your OBD port vs. having a physical chip installed. If you are wanting to upgrade tuning at all, I’d wait for a 2001. If not, then go for it but it sounds like you like to wrench on cars so I’d wait.

 

Hey thank you for responding thank you for that info I didn’t know about that and I’m glad I do now. Because yes I want to do a tune wheels coil overs and a straight pipe. Do you think I could find a decent one under 3500? And I know the timing belt likes to go on these cars is it a very hard thing to change?

 

Absolutely. Just have to keep an eye out. If you get one that needs work, they can be had for under a thousand. I bought my last three for $750 with a blown auto tranny, $850 needing a new clutch and $500 with a blown engine. All were project cars though. If you want a daily, look for one with well kept records but you will end up paying more. My daily has never left me stranded for over 11 years and I just broke 100k miles this year.