pkillur

Greetings all - I'm a noob to Audi cars. I have spent years with BMW's and Chryslers. I have the opportunity to purchase a 97 A4 with ~94k on the odo. Are there any gotchas to look out for ? It's a 1.8T quattro. Just had a new clutch and new wheel seals and the timing chain changed.

I am wondering if there are any telltale signs the turbo is going bad. The car drives really well, the shift (manual) is smooth and responsive, and the power curve doesn't seem to lag anywhere. However, I'm nervous about the turbo simply because I've never owned a turbo'd car and I have had friends with 100's and volvo's have their turbo blow out their entire engine so I'm a little gunshy. The engine sounds fine, but a little loud under high RPM but I can't tell if it's the aftermarket exhaust (big pipes) or latent turbo issues.

The car is pretty inexpensive because I know the guy selling it (under 5k) - but then again I don't want to waste a couple grand if there was an issue I could spot ahead of time.

Prospeeder

Use synthetic oil and change it every 5,000 miles it will treat you well. These are very good cars if maintained.

RSutter67@yahoo.com

well seeing as how the gotchyas have been dealt with timing,clutch hopefully water pump you should be good to go.signs on the turbo would smoke but they're cheap to find a used one for those 1.8t's.my only concern is oil pump screen due to sludge problems hopefully you have the records for oil maintenance.if they are up to par with synthetic it shouldnt be an issue.

dcrick

I used Mobil 1 every 5k and got over 200k on the motor in a 96 2.8L engine.

turbo510

The 2.8 is easier on oil than the turbo 1.8, so I change Mobil-1 every 10K miles, and the oil comes out looking pretty good at that. 263,000 miles on it.

To the OP; you say "wheel seals". The FWD cars have grease seals fitted to the rear hubs, but Quattro's have sealed bearings. Does the current owner mean new wheel bearings? You also mention the timing chain changed. There is one at the back of the cylinder head, but more important is the timing belt and tensioner, rollers, and coolant pump driven by it. That's a gotcha right there if at 97K miles it still has the OE timing equipment.