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Hi everyone! Can somebody with experience please comment on these photos of a possible purchase. The car is a 2005 A4 1.8T with about 130,000 kilometres (80,000 miles). It has a good service history - but that's kind of what I'm worried about, from what I have read! Though, if it's a 2005, surely they will have understood oil sludging problems and serviced it accordingly? But the pics show some build-up on the cap, and some crusty oil around the rim.
That looks like the effect of using lower-cost oil, or lots of short drives, or a defective PCV system. The problem is that sludge can clog the oil pickup screen, and then the resulting low pressure can lead to bearing failures. It's been driven only around 5K miles per year on average, so it could be that the oil often didn't get hot enough to clear out the blow-by moisture. So the price you pay should take into account that it immediately needs the oil replaced with an approved synthetic, and that there may be damage or imminent damage due to the sludge. Whoever serviced that car should have noticed this.
That looks like the effect of using lower-cost oil, or lots of short drives, or a defective PCV system. The problem is that sludge can clog the oil pickup screen, and then the resulting low pressure can lead to bearing failures. It's been driven only around 5K miles per year on average, so it could be that the oil often didn't get hot enough to clear out the blow-by moisture. So the price you pay should take into account that it immediately needs the oil replaced with an approved synthetic, and that there may be damage or imminent damage due to the sludge. Whoever serviced that car should have noticed this.
Thank you for the reply. Yes, I feel also that the service person should have been paying more attention to such a well known issue. It's 2020, man! If I do an oil pressure check before I buy, would that be a safe route?
06-09-2020, 01:20 PM
Possible purchase - photos under oil cap
