As a new member as of today I am currently in the process of purchasing a 1996 Audi A4 2.8 V6 5-speed with 83,000 on the clock. I'm hopefully going to take a closer look at the car this afternoon. I was wondering to the vast knowledge of the Internet, if there are any major issues I should be worried about before taking it to the mech.

I have attached a less than stellar photo of the car in a parking garage, everything looks to be in very good condition, but as the saying goes looks can be deceiving.

 

The timing belt should have been replaced, along with the waterpump and associated pulleys. Check front suspension, tie rod ends, control arms etc. Have a scan done to see if there are any stored codes. Take it to an independant Audi mechanic for an inspection.

 

I got in contact with the owner and he gave me a lot of info on the assorted bugs he's had. He has taken care of the regular maintenance including the water pump and timing belt,so that's a plus. The radio he says is intermittent and the rear drivers side door has an issue with the locking mechanism. All in all no big deal. The one thing he told me he was getting fixed though was the rear differential seal. Question is should I be too worried about the leak?

 

Assuming it is the output shaft seal on the rear differential it isn't very hard to replace. I did mine a couple hours. Sounded like a common problem when I was looking into it. So far mine has held up since the replacement. Just keep an eye on the area for additional leaks and keep the differential fluid topped off.