Buying 99-01 A4 1.8t. Guidance please.
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Buying 99-01 A4 1.8t. Guidance please.
It's time for a new car because the beater I've been driving for the past 3 years is on its last leg. I'll be honest and say that I don't know an awful lot about Audis. I like the A4 because they're modestly priced, AWD/Turbo, and they look great. I know the used car buying basics about average miles/year and the normal stuff. However, are there any major things I should be checking for or asking the dealers as I'm scouting out a new ride? Any useful information to help guide this purchase would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance to all who reply!
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RE: Buying 99-01 A4 1.8t. Guidance please.
Well...from what I've been able to put together from the innumerable amount of internet searches I've done, anything '02+ seems to be out of my price range. I'm looking to spend between $12-16k and finding something that hasn't averaged over 15k miles/year. Based on price, I'm eyeing the 99-01 1.8t quattros (plus, I have an AWD/Turbo car now and can't drive anything else!). I'd like to be as close to '01 as possible because the mileage is usually less. I've found a few at a local dealership I'll be checking out tomorrow that are in my price range and have the mileage I'm looking for. One is a '99 and it only has 45k miles on it. The other is an '01 with 28k miles. However, the '99 is priced at $13,900 and the '01 is priced at a whopping $19k. That's a difference of $5k for 17k less miles. From what I read online, the options are nearly identical, so I can't seem to justify the extra $5k just because it's 2 years newer. Basically, I just want to make sure I know what to ask for or to look for as I'm checking out these '99-'01 models so I don't end up picking up a car that has a problem that perhaps a certain year always seems to have or something to that effect which could have been avoided. I hope that helps a bit. Thanks for the speedy reply btw!
5th Gear
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 6,508
From: South Bay
RE: Buying 99-01 A4 1.8t. Guidance please.
ORIGINAL: bentframe
make sure the suspension is good....worn control arms will squeak, tie rod ends will clunk when you hit bumps, cv joints will click during low speed turns (if you're on the gas), open up the oil cap to look for signs of oil sludge...do the same for the power steering fluid, as well as the coolant. sometimes people top them off or refill them with regular fluids and that can cause big problems including sludge issues....test the cruise control, the switches are known to fail (typically it's an easy fix, a good way to knock a few bucks off the price
). make sure the sunroof is fully functional as well as windows (check each door's switch individually)..listen on the freeway for a humming/grinding sound for failing wheel bearings..oh, and leave the radio OFF during the test drive, test the speakers before or after driving....also consider the mileage on the timing belt, they need to be done every 60-90k miles....search the forums, there are TONS of threads on all this stuff...
make sure the suspension is good....worn control arms will squeak, tie rod ends will clunk when you hit bumps, cv joints will click during low speed turns (if you're on the gas), open up the oil cap to look for signs of oil sludge...do the same for the power steering fluid, as well as the coolant. sometimes people top them off or refill them with regular fluids and that can cause big problems including sludge issues....test the cruise control, the switches are known to fail (typically it's an easy fix, a good way to knock a few bucks off the price
). make sure the sunroof is fully functional as well as windows (check each door's switch individually)..listen on the freeway for a humming/grinding sound for failing wheel bearings..oh, and leave the radio OFF during the test drive, test the speakers before or after driving....also consider the mileage on the timing belt, they need to be done every 60-90k miles....search the forums, there are TONS of threads on all this stuff...
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