bes4000

I was forced to sell my 4ksq before a move across country. I'm now located in SC, specifically the Beaufort/Charleston area.

I'm looking for information on specific items to be aware of when doing a pre-purchase inspection.

I plan on using it as a second car. My max price is around $8k.

TIA

Turbosport

this forum is actually more for B6 cars (2002 model year and up)...if you check the B5 forum, they should be able to give you the rundown...best of luck w/ your purchase!

siberian

Based on your budget, you will definately be looking at a high mileage B5. One thing you really need to make sure is that the timing belt has been changed. Especially if you are looking at one with more than 60k miles on it. If it has been changed, get written proof, and find out when it was changed, so you know when the next one is due. If it hasn't been changed, then budget about $800 bucks to have it done right away. And make sure that if they changed the t-belt, that they did the water pump and thermostat at the same time. If those things fail, you're looking at an expensive repair bill, not for parts, but for the labor.

There were some other issues that effected the A4 as well, like oil sludge recall, control arm recall (depending on the year)and a few other annoying things. Check the washer fluid tanks for leaks. They all develop some sort of leak sooner or later. There are more things that you need to check, but I just wanted to point out these few specific things that are well-known and well-documented issues with the B5 A4.

FWIW, I have a 98 A4 with 190k miles on it. It has been a good car, and after all those miles, it still runs strong. Although I have had to replace a lot of major mechanical components on it in the last year or so, like the turbo and clutch, those are things that simply wear out sooner or later and replacing them is inevitable.