TroyNVie

I'm new to the forum and new to Audi. I am looking for a reliable, safe "second car" for those rainy/snowy days, as well as those days when I need to carry more than one bag of groceries.

I have found a local 2002 Audi A4 with 120,000 miles that appears to be in very nice condition. It has an automatic transmission and a 1.8T engine.

The seller says they recently (within the past 6 months) replaced the following items: timing belt, water pump, factory ignition coils, brakes and battery. My understanding is that a family member is an audi dealership technition and took care of the cars for them. As a result, they do not have any records because he did the work for them at his house after hours.

I plan on keeping the car - should I decide to purchase it - for the next 2 years or so and drive it about 15k miles, total.

What questions should I ask?
If I have a mechanic examine the car, what should I ask him to look for?
Are there parts that break or need to be replaced often in the 120k - 150k mile range? If so, which are the most expensive and what are some rough estimates for repair?

I am NOT mechanical nor am I a DIY type. Ultimately I would like to have a car that I do not need to worry about regularly breaking down.

Any advice and guidance is be much appreciated.

Gingerbread man

If you search these forums, you'll find your question answered about every 2 weeks. B6 A4 weaknesses: engine/turbo if improper oil was used (or not changed often enough), suspension (check control arms, it's easy), electronics (coil packs, ...). The belt was done which is a good thing. Drive the car and then scan the codes to see if anything serious pops up. If the car was maintained properly, you shouldn't have too many problems. If it was maintained poorly, you might be out more money than you paid for it.

P.S. It's kind of depressing when people start buying B6s for 2 years or 15K...

a4b64u2

imho, this is NOT the car for you then. The cars are great when they work but frankly they are some of the least reliable cars I have seen. I cannot believe what my a4 has put me through and if I didn't enjoy wrenching and fixing stuff myself and have backup cars, it would be a miserable experience.

If you go to a shop to have work done or even worse a dealer, you will be pummeled. That I can assure you of.