When I got my A4 i got the timing belt replaced and the oil changed within the first 2 days. I strongly recommend both, because if the timing belt breaks, your engine is basically shot.

Once replacing the oil, check the level once a week to see how fast/slow its used. if the level drops substantially, you obviously have a problem.

When i bought my car, the ABS light would blink for the first couple minutes that I turned it on. I took it to a mechanic who previously worked with audi" who told me that the ABS is going bad and no longer works correctly. He also said that this is a somewhat frequent problem among A4s from this time period.

Another frequent problem seems to be the cruise control. My car's doesn't work, and i know several other audi owners that have posted on this site have had the same problem with it. Its not a necessary fix, but if you plan on driving cross country it might get annoying.

if any of your friends/relatives are mechanics, you may want to have them check it out and see what they conclude about it. to me it seems out of the ordinary that you got the car for 2 grand less than kbb. my rule of thumb is to never buy a car you plan on using as a daily driver if it is priced under 4000. being that you got it a lot lower, i would be skeptical and possibly even expect something to go wrong.


...i never knew they made 1.8t with quattro. i thought it was only the 2.8 v6 with quattro. Look underneath your vehicle while it is turned off for the axle shaft. The shaft simply looks like a large bar going from the front to rear axle. If you see an axle shaft running from the front to rear axles, you have an all-wheel drive vehicle.

 

they do make 1.8t with quattro my 2001 audi a4 is quattro.. and on the auto check on ebay says the car is a quattro so idk maybe that car is quattro

 

Hmm, lift you car off the ground and gas it? ^.^
Anyway, it doesn't have the embling inside, which usually Quattro cars do have..

 

but if he changed the trim than it shouldnt have it..

 

Hmm... I'm hoping that's not the case. It was advertised at a Quattro, and the trunk lid has the emblem... Is there any visual evidence as to whether it's a Quattro that I can see aside from emblems?

 

Check for a drive shaft... the trim inside has been replaced, so no badge there, and possibly the quattro badge was removed from the grill, or the grill has previously been replaced.

Also possible that the guy has no idea what he's talking about, or he's trying to pull a fast one on you...

 

Ah, sorry, thanks alexmurphy! I didn't check the second page. Hopefully there's nothing wrong with i, but I bought my previous car ('02 Galant) for under $4K as well and drove it for well over a year with no problems, but I suppose every case is different.
I do have a good friend who owns an auto repair shop, so I should be able to have it looked at and repaired for a fraction of the cost. I've got $1500 more for repair costs and paint (which I can also get done for extremely low cost).
I've still got to check it out before I pay a cent for it. I'm heading over to check it out Saturday morning.

 

Oh, you haven't bought it yet. Good. (The title says "just bought"). Yeah, definitely get that sucker checked out good before you pay anything for it. If it's not really quattro, I'd walk away. Quattro is the absolute best thing since the invention of everything!

 

if the engine isnt sideways, its most likely quattro.

at least thats how it is in basically all other cars

i have never seen a FWD a4 (glad i haven't )

if you cant tell for some reason look under the car, and if theres 4 drive shafts, you've got a quattro.

 

Alright, thanks guys! I'll be sure to check thoroughly for everything.
And I really hope that the trim on the rear passenger side is just a reflection, because it would look pretty funny, and I'm guessing it won't be so easy to find a piece that looks identical to the rest of the trim.