"acarr260" (acarr2601)
02/12/2016 at 13:35 • Filed to: None
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"acarr260" (acarr2601)
02/12/2016 at 13:35 • Filed to: None | 0
| 17 |
A friend of mine has a 2001 Audi A4 that he’s looking to sell soon. I’ve asked for and received first dibs on the car and he has not listed it anywhere yet. It has 89k miles on it. It has had a lot of recent maintenance, including the timing belt, fluid flushes, brakes, tie rods/control arms/suspension, plugs, wires, valve cover gaskets. He indicated that it has these issues: sunroof controls need cleaned, instrument cluster pixelation, and a slightly sagging headliner. A couple of days ago, the CEL came on, and he is having that scanned next week. The only other issue is that it takes a bit to start when it’s cold. He thinks that is caused by the coolant temp sensor. It also needs both keyfobs programmed. The car looks great, and it has been well cared-for all of its life (enthusiast owned since new). Should I be too concerned about the cold start issue? Since the timing belt job was done at around 1000 miles back, should I be looking forward to 80k miles of trouble-free driving? I’m an Audi noob, so any advice would be much appreciated. Thanks!
Steve in Manhattan
> acarr260
02/12/2016 at 13:38 |
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The answer here is the Car Guys’ answer: pay an Audi specialist for an hour of their time and have them go through the car as if their 16 year old daughter was going to be driving it. Make a list of what it will cost to fix everything.
davedave1111
> acarr260
02/12/2016 at 13:48 |
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I have no idea about the market where you are, but here that’s a sub-£500 banger, to be run as long as it lasts without any further maintenance or fixing, and then junked. If you’re buying it on a similar basis, you should get a bit of a bargain because cars like that are priced as if they’re potentially die-tomorrow rubbish, whereas your friend would presumably warn you off if it was about to die. (Any other one that’s not about to die will also be a bargain on that basis, though.)
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davedave1111
> Steve in Manhattan
02/12/2016 at 13:49 |
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I doubt it’s worth as much as an hour of an Audi guy’s time. Well, probably more than an hour, but not by enough to make it worth spending that much on.
0pihl
> acarr260
02/12/2016 at 13:54 |
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The heat/AC controls are a weak point. And expensive-$1000-to replace.
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acarr260
> davedave1111
02/12/2016 at 14:01 |
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I’m in the USA (Indiana). That car around here could range from a beater ($1k USD) to a nice example for $5-6k USD. This one would be closer to the top of the market.
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acarr260
> Steve in Manhattan
02/12/2016 at 14:02 |
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A PPI was my first thought as well if the car looks as good in person as it does in pictures.
bobbe17
> acarr260
02/12/2016 at 14:05 |
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1.8T Passat FWD here at 200,000 miles. I’ve had no major issues so from the description with maintenance up to date I would think it’d be low risk. However it is a VAG product so it’s a flip of a coin if it’ll be bullet proof or die tomorrow.
As was mentioned, it’d likely be worth a look over by an independent that specializes in German/European cars. Probably cost you a little more than $100.
Future next gen S2000 owner
> acarr260
02/12/2016 at 14:06 |
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Remind me to never own an Audi.
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Steve in Manhattan
> davedave1111
02/12/2016 at 14:08 |
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You wouldn’t spend $200 to find out that the car was sound, or that the car needed $4000 worth of work? Recommended the exact same thing to a pal who was going to buy an S4, and it turned out it needed an engine. Money well spent.
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Steve in Manhattan
> acarr260
02/12/2016 at 14:12 |
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Yeah, like I said elsewhere in this post - friend took my advice and found out that the S4 she was about to buy needed an engine. QED.
The Ghost of Oppo
> acarr260
02/12/2016 at 14:12 |
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Is it the 1.8T engine? The cold start problem and CEL could be from a coil pack gone bad, which is common for these cars.
should I be looking forward to 80k miles of trouble-free driving?
No, absolutely not. Any electrical issue you can think of is a possibility. Turbo problems like the wastegate actuator are in play, as well as O2 censors, and other exhaust problems are common as well.
And even if any of these are fixed, it is totally possible for the replacement parts to break at pretty much any time. Sorry to be a downer, I just wanted to be honest.
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davedave1111
> Steve in Manhattan
02/12/2016 at 14:35 |
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Not if the car’s worth $500 or thereabouts. At $1000 it might be worth paying him to spend half an hour just checking it’s not going to die tomorrow - but basically in that price range the chance of getting something half-dead is already priced-in. At £500-1k, if it starts, stops, and steers you’re alright, and it doesn’t need a mechanic to tell you that.
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davedave1111
> acarr260
02/12/2016 at 14:38 |
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Would it be close to the top of the market if you didn’t know the seller? If not, a fair price is a bit more than he’d get selling it to strangers. There’s a lot to be said for buying from a mate, but only because you avoid the normal gamble of buying from someone who might be trying to hide a serious fault.
At the end of the day, you probably don’t want to be the guy making the mistake of spending too much on an Audi that’s at the stage in its life where it’ll need a lot of money spending to keep it on the road. The $1k beaters probably offer better value.
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Steve in Manhattan
> davedave1111
02/12/2016 at 14:56 |
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Watch “The Money Pit” and then get back to me ...
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acarr260
> davedave1111
02/12/2016 at 15:08 |
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Yes, all of his cars are 95% sorted and in excellent shape when he sells them. He’s only selling this because he found a wagon that he wants.
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acarr260
> The Ghost of Oppo
02/12/2016 at 15:10 |
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That’s what I was expecting to hear, unfortunately. Why are cars that are fun so much trouble?!
pip bip - choose Corrour
> acarr260
02/12/2016 at 22:59 |
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run away!
run FAR away!!