I'm up in Spokane. I'm going to wait a month or so to get mine so if you want I can look around on craigslist for you. I have nothing better to do haha

 

Heh, I used to own an A6 Avant when I lived in Portland. Drove up to Timberline to celebrate our anniversary, spent the night, then drove back down in a good six inches of powder. First time in the snow with quattro, loved it. Still miss that car, but the A4 is almost as nice and definitely more tossable.

 

Note the sig, that's mt hood I'm driving on. Quattro is great in the NW

 

Hey im in spokane also im looking at some around here but dont have the money to buy one of the ones around here just one that seems kinda crappy...

 

Yea, there's not a lot of options up here. Ive been looking aroun the whole northwest at finding some good ones. Just gotta be patient and look hard.

 

Ya i know what you mean what about the 97 2.8 for the 1450$ do you think that looks like a good deal? its in the spokane list.

 

If you have the money, time, and skill to be able to repair it then go for it. It's front wheel drive though.

 

I have a 1.8t that had a sludge issue. It was the POs fault, however it failed a week after I bought the car. I read the manual the night I got it, and knew the symbol for low oil pressure, so as soon as I saw that I killed it, and had it towed to the dealer. (this was before the lawsuit)

All the oil changes were done at the dealer, where they were doing 10,000 mile oil changes AS PER SPEC. Only issue was one was 2,000 miles past due (so 12,000 mile oil change interval), so based on that, they denied my claim.

 

Oh dang i guess ive been looking at so many i just assumed it was a quatro...

 

The sludge problem has been well-known and well-documented for quite some time. I wouldn't let that steer you away from a 1.8T by any means. The sludge really only becomes an issue if you run the small filter and conventional oil, or don't change your oil often enough. That said, its unfortunate that there are many A4's out there whose previous owners did both of these things. The reason there is a class action lawsuit about it now is that the small filter and longer suggested oil change interval were recommended by Audi, and there's no reason your motor should frag itself from following manufacturer's recommended maintenance intervals

You just need to be picky about the car you buy. Ask for maintenance receipts, a carfax report, and any other documentation you can get your hands on. When you test drive it, tell the person selling it to STFU so you can listen to the motor. If it sounds like a diesel, or if you hear a lot of lifter noise or howling from the turbo, stay away. Pop the hood and take off the oil cap. If there is sludge, it likes to collect in the little nooks on the underside of the cap. Also take a close look at the coolant tank. Another common cause of problems in these cars is people mixing regular 50/50 coolant with the G12 thats supposed to be in there. It's normal for the tank to be yellowed, after all its plastic and more than a decade old. If someone mixed coolant it should be pretty obvious:







Just take your time, be very picky and thorough, and you'll be able to find yourself a nice, well-cared-for car.