Hi everyone,

New to the Audi scene now that I just picked up an '02 A4 1.8 Quattro with 65K miles. Love the car and feel of it, but mostly the color...red lol. I noticed that the previous owner kept a record of when the car had been serviced by Audi. However, the last entry was at the 20K scheduled maintenance.

As mentioned above, the car now has 65K miles and I have no clue as to what has or has not been serviced. I am thinking of taking the car to an authorized mechanic and have them check car out. Maybe that way I can save a few bucks and not have a huge bill from Audi.

But besides an oil change and a tune up, what other things should I look into so that I can continue to keep the car in good shape? (belts, pumps, etc.)

Also, I remember reading about some recalls Audi did on certain models. How would I be able to find out if my car has had those recalls done?

Thank you so much in advance and I look forward to spending a lot of time here.

Regards.

 

first, make sure the service wasnt actually done. the dealer did all of mine and never stamped the book... even when i asked. if you know the dealer that most likely serviced it you can ask them. also, really all the car HAS to have is oil changes. its possible they did that somewhere else, or on their own.

i would seafoam everything (oil, intake, and fuel) and then do the oil change. if you take it to the dealer they will probably come up with 10k worth of stuff to do! i would have them inspect the timing belt though.

 

Call or go to the dealer with your VIN and they should be able to pull up all service done at dealerships and all recalls performed.

Timing belt is one that should be done soon.

 

audi dealers dont share service info. you have to contact each dealer, at least thats what i was told. recall info is shared though.

 

Um.. Audi shares with Carfax and service techs here have posted repair histories if provided a VIN, so that cant be correct....?

 

Any dealer should share the info, is a consumer thing...

 

Or, maybe the previous owner done services other the dealer after 20K miles. I don't go back to dealers for any serivces after my warranty expired (had free maintenence program while warrenty still valid). It doesn't mean my car is in bad shape. I still take care of my car very well; perform most services by myself or Audi specialized indy shop.

 

Wow, you guys are awesome! Thank you for your responses. I can see that I will gain a lot of knowledge from this forum.

First, I will contact Audi with VIN and see where that takes me. It could be that either the dealership stop stamping the book, or previous owner went else where for maintenance. Either way I don't want to drive car too long with out having it looked at and have a piece of mind.

As far as an authorized mechanic goes, are any of you in the So Ca. LA area that know of a good one?

Thanks again everyone.

 

you def need to find out. if you dont, or there is any issue with oil change schedule, you need to seafoam the current oil and then do a fresh change, and only use full synthetic. oil sludge is a real problem, and it will kill your motor.

i use royal purple.

 

Great! Thanks a lot Shane.

I will pick up some seafoam, oil and filter to change it out this weekend. Never used seafoam before, but I will search the forums and see what I find.

Not sure what kind of oil is in there right now, but it does look like it needs a change. Is there anyway to determine if the oil inside now is regular or synthetic?

So far this is my "To-Do" list
Buy:
-Seafoam
-Synthetic Oil (5w30 ok??)
-Oil Filter (any brand recommended?)
-Spark Plugs (any brand recommended?)
-Cap n Rotor
-Air Filter (K&N Perhaps)
-Have car inspected by Auth. Mechanic
-Get hole in wallet

I'm loving this forum!