76p930

I want to look into becoming an audi guy again after about 7 years of decidedly non Audi cars.
Looking at a 97 a4 quattro manual v6. Guy says it has a coolant leak and didn't know much about it. he's not driven it much since he bought it and said a mechanic told him it would be $8k to fix the leak? Does it sound possible or maybe a mechanic trying to get rid of a car he didn't want to repair?
It's otherwise a nice car with bearings needed up front. Nice otherwise.
Are wheel bearing's up front hard to do on these cars? Thanks

turbo510

No leak could cost $8K to fix, but you should figure where it is coming from before buying the car. You also should do the timing belt job, including coolant pump, unless you had proof that it was done within 50K miles or so. Front wheel bearings are not particularly tough, I just changed them out on my '96 for around $150, which was $90 for both bearings, and $60 for the press work at NAPA. The suspension castings have to be removed if the bearing is pressed in hydraulically. If you intend to have a mechanic do this job, perhaps get an estimate first, and shop around.

Highmile

Great car. As turbo said, that sounds like a bogus estimate. Even the most bothersome coolant leak on that car shouldn't be north of $800, so I'm not sure how he arrived at $8000. It's an old car, but a great car. Spend $200 on the bentley service manual and tools. Research repairs online. You will be happy owning a '97 a4 2.8 5mt if you can handle doing some of the work yourself.