intro

Hey guys,

Know nothing about the 2.8 or Audis in general, but went to look at one today with 212,500 miles on it. Automatic for the lady. I've already made up my mind that I'm willing to take the risk on a higher mileage vehicle, and I've read these can go 300+ so unless someone suggests otherwise...

The car was solid, drove well, suspension felt tight, brakes were good, no rust. Coolant temp seemed to climb fast but then stayed steady.

Here's what I found though:

- The steering column was squeaking a bit.
- Heat doesn't blow hot.
- Yellow coolant, not g-12
- Power steering reservoir was basically empty.
- Nor record of recent timing belt, but inspection showed it to look pretty recent.
- Smelled oil leaking through the vents.
- Missing rain cowl.

It's a small used car lot and the guy is asking $2000. Is he asking too much? There's no records aside from him saying he did the valve cover gaskets and a basic tune up.

Seems to me like it will need the following:

Timing belt job, water pump, thermostat.
Possibly a new rack.
Heater core.

Looking on Kelley and Edmunds it seems a dealer can get away with asking more but I had to bring this down to rough or average with all the work it might need.

Can this guy really be trying to get so much for this car? I'm tempted to offer $1000-1200 and see where it goes.

Thoughts welcome.

clancy

Tend to agree with your price offer. You did not say the year. The heater cores are known to need to be replaced. Read this old thread. Plan on replacing this tough to access heater core if you want heat.
https://www.audiworld.com/forums/a4-...place-2858900/
I would look for another A4 with fewer costly issues. There are many around.

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It's a 98.

Pmulls870

I would take a risk on it with the low offer. Offer him $2000 if he completes the timing and heater core replacement. Steering rack can be done at home, its not bad.

clancy

A car of this age with these issues likely has others you will discover after triage on the most acute. Like suspension components. Or a weak trans. But if you are not intimidated by DIY then it is a great car to drive. Definitely the best in the snow...

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He hasn't had other offers so went down to $1500 and said that was his limit.
I countered with $1200, and that I couldn't do more than that because of the attention it needed. He responded with $1400 and I had no response after that, today he emailed me accepting $1200. Should I go for it? Would asking for a pre-purchase inspection be out of the question at this point just to make sure nothing major is going on?

Re: The heater core- I've seen videos online of people using some very powerful mixture (lime?) and hooking up two tubes to the connections and thoroughly flushing the core, seems to work. Anyone know if this is temporary?

One thing I'm a little nervous about is I've never had a 4 wheel drive car so have very little understanding of those components.

clancy

Personally I would have no interest in taking on a project car like this. There are plenty of less sophisticated cars that would not be such a gamble. Honda,Toyota for example.

David.Norton

Heater core both plugs and the plastic breaks down between the two lines, replacement is pretty much the only solution. As far as the AWD I wouldn't worry about that, those parts are pretty reliable. The issue is these cars can be expensive to fix, and they are complex which makes them unreliable as old cars. If you like doing your own work they can be fine, I still have the 98 I bought new, but there are more reliable and cheaper old cars (my wife's 2.2l Subaru for example).

intro

I hear what you're saying about the car being more sophisticated, it definitely seems more involved than what I'm used to working on, but I will say I've gone as far as pulling a motor and transmission out of a 98 Golf and putting it in an 85 Scirocco. I've come to know my way around the 2.0L VW motor pretty well.

Should I be so intimidated? Ideally, I would get something that would require little attention for a while once some basic maintenance was done. Perhaps you're right and I'm looking at the wrong cars though. I wish cost wasn't such a factor.

intro

Early 2000's Subaru Foresters were calling my attention to them. I've heard good things, but is it true the timing belt job is like $750 in parts if done right?