Hrvatski Medvjed

I am looking at my first Audi and would love a little guidance from the experts on this forum. Also thanks, as I'm sure you see a lot of these types of threads.

I've been looking at allroad wagons for a couple of weeks now and found what could be a winner.

2005 allroad 4.2 (140k miles)
Very clean both inside and out
There have been 4 owners, and no accidents. The airbags have been replaced and seem to be functioning perfectly. I'm wondering about the timing chain guides (should I be concerned? ) and a slight oil smell under the hood.
Is there a way to know if the timing chain guides are close to gone?
I'm not certain but, the oil smell seems to be coming from a small leak at the front driver side corner of the engine.
I really liked this one and it seems quite clean, I just wonder about the couple of things I mentioned.
What should I look for or consider?

Thanks for your time. I'm already imagining some of the upgrades I would "need" if this thing works out.

Mike B

I may be wrong but, I think that your V8 may be old enough to have a timing belt instead of chains.
If it has chains and the guides haven't been changed recently, run, don't walk, to your favorite service center and get the job done.
Sounds like a nice car, assuming the price is right.

JustMtnB44

Yes it is wise to be concerned about the timing chain guides. The main indicator is a rattling sound. Most of these V8 engines rattle for a few seconds on a cold start. If the rattling continues, or is noticeable at any other time other than starting the car, there is likely an issue. There is no service interval for this, but after 100k miles failures are common.

Oil leaks are also common, especially the valve cover gaskets. The valve covers themselves have issues with the paint flaking off, which should be removed when replacing the gaskets.

V8 allroads have the same basic engine as your S4, so they all have timing chains.