So a really nice looking 1.8 t Quattro came up on craiglist today for a guy who needs a truck. I have a little concerns because I know if you treat these cars right with regular maintenance they'll be very nice to you.

the timing belt and water pump was replaced by him which is a little unnerving because I do not know his expertise in the matter but what got me more is the cop radar he had.

This leads me to believe he has a lead foot and he is unsure of how many previous owners it has had, although he states there are no accidents I want a carfax to see the maintenance history.

From what it seems he's a bit of an enthusiast and we all like to go fast but he does seem to take car of the car on 5k oil changes although had forgone the transmission fluid replacement at 50k miles.

Getting in the car and driving it felt perfect tho and the turbo was kicking nicely which makes my mouth water but what I don't want is high cost repairs down the line. He can't provide detailed mechanical history as he said its a used car and those are had to come buy...

Please, any suggestions on whether this car looks like it will run fine with the proper care for it for as along as I need it to, Thanks

 

why not try to find him on the boards first? Honestly if u arent ready for high dollar repairs u might just stay away from the audi.

 

So - what did you do?

 

I purchased the vehicle! I brought it to a friend who is a mechanic, he looked it over and said it was a decent vehicle. Later though I brought it to a Bavarian auto mechanic that we had service our Jag and rx-8 previously who said there were quite a few problems with the car.

Most I new about like windshield wipers need to be fixed, change the serpentine belt, wheels need to be aligned and probably springs adjusted too because I don't think the previous owner did that properly.

However he did mention things which I thought sounded more serious like an axle needed to be replaced (I don't know if he was just talking about the torn CV joint or what, he was very vague) and something with the transmission assembly.. or possibly the entire transmission assembly, again he wasn't specific at all. I found it weird that he asked me if the timing belt had been replaced because it had, I guess he didn't want to remove anything to take a look at it.

Overall I'm happy with the car it's been running fine however I hope to get a full and accurate diagnostic soon after I handle the problems I can easily fix myself because I think it's a beautifully designed car and want to keep it running as long as possible (I guess that's an obvious statement for any Audi owner though)

 

I have owned a 2002 A4 1.8t for about 6 weeks and have already dropped a grand into repairs. It runs great, is a ball to drive and i'm hoping I can go a few months without any more significant repairs.BTW mine only has 73,000 miles on the ticker.

 

To the OP: there are going to be parts that are worn and need replacement on any 100+k vehicle. The downside is if the previous owner did not keep up, then you may be hit with multiple repairs. I owned my A6 since 2005 and it now has 235k miles on it. I budgeted about a grand a year for repairs not including maintenance. Maintenance was oil changes every 7-9k, replace the diffy and tranny fluids every 60k, replace the brake fluid every 2-3 years, timing belts and related stuff every 85k. On top of that was an alternator, control arms on one side, brakes and rotors every 100k, a fuel pump at 232k, and the catalytic converters (a waste of money in a non-test state; I should hav driven them with the CEL). On top of that I never repaired the headlight washers or SAIUs. I bought the 2011 A4 with almost 100k and my daughter's 2003 A4 with 69k miles. All used cars are a risk and all need periodic repairs as well as proper maintenance.