Dolamite

Lately there has been a flux on prospective buyers looking for advice on things to look out for on the B7. It's always nice to know that the platform has interest and is getting easily affordable on the front end. I'd like to say that everyone understands that this is an Audi forum and it's a place to share and find info or even shoot the breeze with whatever's on the mind of an Audi owner. However, there's a redundancy coming from the same genre of posters, the first time B7 buyer. I'm really glad for these people and hope that their searches come to a fruition in the form of a well maintained vehicle, but what's bothering in the same token is that there is absolutely no research attempted, at least it doesn't appear that way from what I've read.

I'm not saying that these people shouldn't come with their questions, after all, we're not here for ad-banners right? But I think this a fundamental flaw that effects the forum and poster. Have some real interest in the darn platform. By that I mean build up your knowledge and get your creative juices flowing so that you'll find that an engine like the 2.0T is actually pretty easy to understand. Now I'm not expecting everyone to end up learning to change out a block, but what I am saying is that once you start utilizing the thousands of previous threads your posts will become more valuable to others that read and reply. You'll have a better starting point to ask your questions. It's a collaborative effort is what I'm getting at.

Everybody enjoys sharing knowledge. It gives them a sense of pride and tests one's ideas and theories against the others as well...it's how we learn on these forums. Unfortunately it's really disconcerting when not a handful of posts before there is the same damn question that's been answered a plethora of times.

So do yourselves and this forum a favor and do your due diligence to allocate your concerns and help others help you. Then you have something to base your learning curve off of. By golly this forum needs more of that if you can't tell. If you're the type that needs everything spoon fed to you, then man, you've gotta do some soul searching and to be honest an Audi with miles on it isn't the car for you unless you like paying dealer services. We're lucky that there isn't a ton of things that only a dealer can service on the platform; these cars are pretty wrench friendly for the most part. So please DO YOUR RESEARCH you lazy bastards! lol

Also, I can't stress this enough. Get yourself a vagcom unlimited version. It will literally pay for itself. They aren't cheap $350 U.S., but I'm going to be brutally honest. If you can't afford this on top of any payments or what have you on the car, you have no business owning/buying an Audi. The first thing I'd do if I was bent on owning a used A4 is get my hands on one or have a friend who does, use his dongle(cable) - without a second thought. Screw any handheld code reader; I don't care if you can hook it up to your damn iphone. I have a handheld reader as well called the vchecker and I'll tell that they will not pickup every code...important ones that paint the full picture of what's wrong and their capabilities are very limited. It can't even do the things that it says it does...no joke.

With the full version vagcom you'll be able to do very important things like basic settings, adaptations, temp readings, parking break unwinding, clear codes of course, and a myriad of things that makes a powerful and indispensable tool. You'll also have the upper hand when you take it to a shop if you have to(many shops don't even have them). It even gives you access to their technical support and forums as well. I'm not a spokesperson for them, but I am a proponent of the product. To be fair there are unlicensed/pirated versions out there, but you wont have access to support and it won't upgrade if you need to. You won't be able to get the right one on ebay....that's all I'm going to say. You're better off getting the real thing.

So ultimately, please spend some time with the search engine. It's only going to make you a better owner if you want and the forum will appreciate it. And if you've got your eye on a used Audi, test drive it thoroughly and scan it afterwards! Do it twice if you have to, some codes are finicky just like the car. You never know if the owner/dealer is erasing those codes or clearing the check engine light on you..that in a Forest Gump's voice. If you can't do this for yourself then it's your gamble.

Good luck!

JMichael123060

Thanks for you insight, I will need to look into the Vagcom software and the needed hardware to go along with it. By the way I already got the car but now the real fun begins.