cea295933

Hello,
I wondered if I could appeal to the expertise here with a question on a used '03 A4 Avant (auto with sports package and pretty well loaded) with ~80K miles on it. The dealer I'm purchasing from is someone my family has worked with in the past and that we trust quite a bit. As far as we can both tell from the car's history, it was serviced regularly and turned back in to the dealer, most likely as a trade-in. The timing belt has already been done, and otherwise the car appears to be in good shape. I should say up front that I am not the type to do my own repairs, and that my previous car -- a '94 100S sedan -- was a bit of a headache: constant electrical and exhaust problems. I commute 40 miles each way every day, mostly on highway, and would like a car to do that comfortably, and one that will be safe for my soon to be growing family. I guess my question is: what is the likelihood that this car becomes a reliability headache, per its reputation according to some, and spends a lot of its time in the garage draining my meager wallet? Thanks in advance for any help and advice.

happy_nfshs

I wouldnt reccommend it at that mileage because I bought my a4 sedan at about that mileage and your likely expect some common maintenance issues at around 80-100k that need to be done to the car. It's best to buy the car at around 110k+ that way the previous owner has done most of the jobs before selling it.

With mine the axles were worn, front enginge mounts were also worm, all brake pads and rotors as well, I did have to install a new water pump but that might have been a more rare issue, but since you mentioned the belt was already changed typically the belt and water pump are changed together. Get quotes for those and see if it falls under your budget.

lyleswk

I guess I difer a little bit on the Audi specifically. If you buy any 100K car, you will have issues. Whether it is a BWM, Mercedes, Toyota, Honda, Ford, Aston, etc it is a machine and machines breakdown. I have 197K on mine and wouldn't trade it. Is it reliable? Well, my 17 and 16 year old both drive it every day and I have no qualms about them driving it, at night, to friends houses 30 miles away, etc. Have there been wear issues? Yes...but then again it has 197K miles. My Mercedes has 205K, has a bad "reputation", and I take my family on trips and let my wife drive by herself without fear. Will the control arms need replacing at 100 or 110K? Yep. Heater core before too long? Yep. Another timing belt at 160 to 170K? Yep. Door harness go out? Probably. Aft coolant flange leak? Likely. I could bore you with the list of items on my Mercedes and Nissan, but won't. Will any other car have a list of wear items? Yep. Trust me, the other manufacturer shops are just as busy and VAG shops.

So, the question is what are you comfortable with. If you aren't comfortable with a high mileage car, don't buy one. If you are, buy one. If you love the Audi (I do), buy the Avant...and then drive it every once in a while to see if your wife is not catching something going wrong with it.

My 2 cents...

MaxD

I also have an '03 A4 Avant, 1.8t Quattro, Sport package.

Bought it with 69,000 miles on it. $10K. Turbo was shot when I bought it, and the timing belt had not been done. Broker swapped in Chinese turbo for free and I did the timing belt/water pump myself (not a lot of fun). Car had oil leak at rear main seal which I had a local indy shop replace ($1,300). I have also performed a litany of smaller "repairs" and "improvements" myself.

1. Tailgate solenoid
2. Crank position sensor
3. Engine coolant temperature sensor
4. Headlight bulbs
5. Taillight bulbs
6. Turn signals
7. Installed boost gauge
8. Installed iPod stereo integration

With all that, I love the car. It's fun to drive, great in all conditions, safe and sporty.

The A4 1.8t's bad reputation is somewhat undeserved IMHO, thanks in large part to the sludge issues which were the result of manufacturer error on service timing and people running non-synthetic motor oil for ridiculous intervals.

Bottom line is, stuff will break on this car. It's highly unlikely, given the service history you describe, that it will be anything catastrophic. Much more likely is a series of annoying "alerts" issued by the over-engineered German monitoring system. And although the vast majority of these minor repairs can be performed very inexpensively by anyone with even moderate mechanical inclinations, if you're off to the dealer for each one, be prepared to part with lots of $. I perform all routine maintenance (oil changes, brakes, bulb replacement, filters, etc) myself. I like doing that stuff. If you don't, you might be better off getting an 'appliance' car (Toyota, Honda, Hyundai, etc).