Tlynch10

Hey. I am looking into buying an A6 With the 2.7 liter. Has 140k and he's asking $4700. I have never bought an Audi and am looking for some help on what to look for as far as mechanical issues and if it's a good buy. Any help would be amazing. Thanks

the_duke

Search function. Lot's of info. You could literally spend weeks reading. No way to put all of it in this one thread. Bottom line is that it's a 2001 with 140k miles. Things will break. Does the current owner have service records? If you buy the car for $4700 will you have money left over to repair what is wrong with the car? If not properly maintained these cars can be a nightmare. If repaired and maintained they can last a long time. Unfortunately many people have transmission issues regardless of how well they are taken care of.

My advice would be to do what I do before buying a new car. Research. Lot's of research. Then you can make an informed decision.

Slappy Rimshuck

I had that exact car for about five years (Quattro, I assume). I second what the Duke said. Be ready for a $1500 repair to just jump up and bite you randomly. Who knows what it will be, but a car that old with 140K...something will happen. For me it was a blown gasket that probably cost $25, but was buried so deeply in the engine that it was going to be $1700 in labor to replace. Also, the transmission leaked and there is no way to add fluid on your own. It is a "sealed" system so I would have had to have the dealer fix that as well if I had kept the car...another $1500 or something for that.


I loved the car overall. I just couldn't afford to have it repaired and wasn't able to do the work on my own. Before you buy, make sure you have a guy you can trust to fix it (if not you) and set aside $300 a month in a savings account to prepare for the inevitable.

snagitseven

Best thing to do would be for you to take it to a good Audi indy shop and have then check it out thoroughly before you commit to buy.

Also, ask the owner if and when he last replaced the timing belt, water pump and tensioners. There is usually no way to tell if a timing belt is about to fail and if it does, you are looking at more money to repair the engine than the buy price of the car. A timing belt change is about $1200-$1500 at an indy and should be done every 70K miles or so or every 7 years whichever comes first.

SloopJohnB@mac.com

Any good indy and most handy DIY people can drain and refill any ZF transmission. Trans leaks on ZF can usually be fixed the same way as any other automatic transmission…replace the leaking seal or pan or other gasket. The ZF has many more problems after 140K miles than just a leak….

CRuby

You didn't say if it had manual or automatic trans.
Comments above pertain to automatic.
Manual trans not as much of an issue, but might be needing new clutch if slipping.