I decided to go with an Allroad for my next car.

It will be wider and lower, turbo upgrade, and 'de-rusticated' (i.e. black allroad plastic in body color to mimic A6 Avant look). DIY as much as possible, budget as low as possible, cash flow stretched out over time and phases.

I drove 2 cars today:
2002 silver, manual, 150k miles. $6,400 asking. Not less than $6k final
2003 maroon, auto, 100k, $10k asking. Not less than $9k final

Silver: felt tight, has some rust under the alu trim on the doors; brake dust baked wheels, light switch badly worn, 2nd line on radio scrambled, some exhaust noise (assume flex pipes?). High RPM clutch drop in 5th gear resulted in slipping (no slipping under regular power in any gear, clutch feels smooth, no chatter).

Seller said one of the shock is going bad (I did not notice). Air suspension not sagging. A quick search listed new rear shocks for $500/each. Are 'shocks' also "special"? I assume the 'airbags' are only used as the 'springs'.

Engine runs and sounds smooth, no smoke or leaks. No oil consumption.Totally dealer serviced locally. Last timing belt at 80k or so.

Maroon: felt very tight and solid. Heavier in steering. There was a very slight 'gear tooth feel' when only slightly moving the steering wheel; or 'pulsation' from the pump. Low steering fluid? Dirty rack/pinion? Bad power steering pump. Very slight (most won't notice at all). Cannot be felt when car is standing. Exterior is very clean, no scratches.

The automatic did not work so bad (I have seen more sluggish auto boxes), but its still an auto (i.e. convenient and low fun).

Interior very good, but also some (much less) paint missing around the light switch and under the radio. Must be a really weak point on those Allroads.

Timing belt was NOT yet changed. Manual calls for 105k change (for all engines; I always thought 70-80k is the recommended interval?)

The darker maroon hides the 'allroad rustic look' better than the silver (this work could therefore be delayed on the maroon).

Applying my plans:
- manual can handle higher power level. RS4 level (450 hp or so) on stock internals, upgraded clutch (so weak clutch on the silver manual not such a big issue).
- if high miles on silver manual lead to engine failure, good used engine would receive upgraded internals to 500+ power level (BT).
- bad wheels from silver would be used for snow tires; new wider wheels with performance tires added
- maroon auto would receive K04 upgrade and minimum required mods for 'auto acceptable' power levels
- wider wheels/tires later

In general: how can I verify that air suspension is good? I want to keep this feature and NOT convert to standard suspension.

Are 2002 and 2003 the same model? Steering sure felt different (2003 heavy, 2002 more lively).

How high can I push the auto trans (power level, turbo level)?
How high can I push the 2.7T on stock internals (is RS6 turbo the limit)? Southbend Stage 4 clutch.
What power level (turbo size) for a daily driver (I know my 1.8T turbos; what comes after RS6 turbos?)? Beyond engine and clutch, when are other components becoming the limiting factor?

Since 580hp RS6 are common place, auto trans seem to have some justification for existence?!

Can the auto be 'massaged' to handle power levels (for a good chunk of money, i am sure there are places out there the beef up the trans sufficiently) AND inject at least a bit of fun (it would help dramatically if someone could program the auto to absolutely hold gears in manual mode 'no matter what' with only low and high rpm override; has that been done?)

Obviously, a nice, clean manual in great color with under 100k miles for $9k would end my dilemma. But finding a common A6 manual 2.7T is already difficult, finding a manual Allroad is almost impossible.

Please chime in freely with opinion, suggestions (what else to look out for when buying an Allroad), pros/cons, options, alternatives.

 

The Auto's seem to commonly lose reverse gear (that'd suck worse then having to deal with a clutch). Also aren't clutches only supposed to last 150k miles or so? If yes then it's time for a new one and you might as well upgrade to a better one as it'll still be cheaper then the upgrading the auto. In my opinion i'd use the money you'll save getting the silver one on your upgrade parts now so you can enjoy it fully rather then be upset at your sluggish auto box and not have the money to sink into a transmission chip to pep it up.

-Tyler

 

The maroon is out (when I left the lot (1 hour parked), the car looked like this (below). Note how low the front left sits! Leaking airbag, I am sure.

My thoughts are exactly along your lines. I have a $5-$6k 'advantage' with the silver, 150k miles AR over a 100k miles in good condition. Plus, this one has a full local service record. Plenty of $$$ to get my mods done (the clutch will be replaced anyway to handle the power increase; timing belt not a biggy since the engine and clutch have to come out as well to install the larger turbos, injectors, and front mounted intercooler; the power condition stock wheels will be my winter wheels, the bad tires replaced with snow tires; a set of wider and taller wheels with performance tires is planned anyway. The little rust under the bottom door trim can be fixed when the car gets painted (plastic font/rear bumper, black fender extensions in body color). The bad pixels in the 2nd line of the radio display is easily fixed with a reconditioned OEM radio (ebay, cal $100), the head light switch cover either new ($130) or a good one from a part out car.
I will offer $5.5k cash, get the car on his dealer's hoist for inspection and air bag 'soap water' test, plus full VAGcom scan for any codes.



I will try to get him down to $5.5 and then go for it

 

I got a radio from these guys (symphony 1 is for 01, Symphony 2 is for 02 although i'm told they will both work in the same cars, wires are the same, so pick the one you want)

http://www.ecstuning.com/Audi-All_Ro...terior/Stereo/

And i've seen but can't find currently, the round headlight switch that commonly wears out for sale on that site. I know they also have some that will allow you to turn the fog lights on no matter what or offer extra outputs for running lights ect.

-Tyler