Hi everyone,

I am new to the forums and new audi. Looking to purchase an 01 Audi with 78,000 KM or 48,000 miles ... I test drove the car - it sounds nice and it's very clean. Purchasing through a second owner who bought it from an audi dealership.

What kind of upcoming maintenance issues or problems will I encountering over the next 20,000 miles. Should I be getting an per-purchase inspection done.. Any suggestions or advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks!

 

-The timing belt and tensioner have probably never been replaced and are going on 14 years of age. Regardless of mileage, I'd replace them sooner than later. ($250 parts, $800+ labor or DIY for $0).

-Control arms and tie rod ends may be aging($300 parts, $900+ labor or DIY for $0).

-Struts may be aging.

-Fuel filter? ($30 and 20 minutes)


Since you're new to Audi, the 2.8L V6 has 0 performance mods, though it is pretty "reliable." It will not go any faster. No turbo or BOV will make it faster. A supercharger would add a bit more power and an awesome whine, but that's if you could find one and if you could find a tune for it--those are two big if's.

If you want to make it go faster, buy a 1.8L or 2.7TT now instead. Otherwise, the main issues are the timing belt+tensioner, control arms if they're not aging, and....?

 

You might be opening a can of worms with such a low mileage car. Either it's been rolled back (much more likely with a 1 owner car since there's pretty much no records), it's been sitting for months/years at a time, or it's only used for very short trips. If it's been rolled back chances are that there's some other sketchy **** going on with it. If it's sat for a long time all the rubber components would rot, springs would sag, fuel tank gummed up, etc. If it's been only used for short trips the motor would be in similar condition to one with at least twice the mileage, so issues like sludge and oil starvation could come up in the future.

Definitely get it inspected by a dealership or audi specialist, and get whatever records you can find. Call up the dealership it was bought from and ask them for whatever records they have and get a history report.