I made the move - new A6 owner
#1
01-23-2006 | 02:52 AM
Thread Starter
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1st Gear
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 11
I made the move - new A6 owner
After leaning towards the A4 Avant, and getting some opinions on this post about them, I changed my mind and went A6 Avant. Really
because of less cost and typically less maintenance problems ('97 was a very good year for both VW and Audi).
I took the risk and bought one off Ebay 200 miles away, and I think its going to work out nice. You may have seen it, but I'll have to get
pictures up soon. 1997 A6Q Avant, tornado red, 81k miles, one owner, immaculate interior and exterior, $6350. The front struts are gone
but I anticipated at least 2 things in any purchase of an Audi nearing 100k - suspension and timing belt. There are no other non-working
parts that I've found.
Now for the interesting story. I was driving it back yesterday on 95 through CT, and it was really windy. In a highway construction area,
an enormous tarp came flying over the center barrier and as I caught a glimpse of it from the corner of my eye, it slammed into the car,
covering front windshield. Must have been 12 feet long. I was in the center lane, heavy traffic, 60 mph. I'm sure the guy behind me was
thinking everyone was going to die. It then flew up over the car. There were large "scratches" all over the left side of the windshield
and on every piece of glass to the back window. Luckily, I found out that the scratches were just plastic reside that I was able to get off
with a citrus solvent and heavy rubbing. Followed by some scratch remover polish, a car wash, and some polishing wax, and it looks
better than when I picked it up. A bit hairy on the ride home though since the front struts are toast; any dip and the car would bounce
up and down.
I'll be around on the forums. -Steve
because of less cost and typically less maintenance problems ('97 was a very good year for both VW and Audi).
I took the risk and bought one off Ebay 200 miles away, and I think its going to work out nice. You may have seen it, but I'll have to get
pictures up soon. 1997 A6Q Avant, tornado red, 81k miles, one owner, immaculate interior and exterior, $6350. The front struts are gone
but I anticipated at least 2 things in any purchase of an Audi nearing 100k - suspension and timing belt. There are no other non-working
parts that I've found.
Now for the interesting story. I was driving it back yesterday on 95 through CT, and it was really windy. In a highway construction area,
an enormous tarp came flying over the center barrier and as I caught a glimpse of it from the corner of my eye, it slammed into the car,
covering front windshield. Must have been 12 feet long. I was in the center lane, heavy traffic, 60 mph. I'm sure the guy behind me was
thinking everyone was going to die. It then flew up over the car. There were large "scratches" all over the left side of the windshield
and on every piece of glass to the back window. Luckily, I found out that the scratches were just plastic reside that I was able to get off
with a citrus solvent and heavy rubbing. Followed by some scratch remover polish, a car wash, and some polishing wax, and it looks
better than when I picked it up. A bit hairy on the ride home though since the front struts are toast; any dip and the car would bounce
up and down.
I'll be around on the forums. -Steve
Welcome to the forums! Would like to see some pics when you get a chance...
#7
01-23-2006 | 03:24 PM
Thread Starter
|
1st Gear
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 11
RE: I made the move - new A6 owner
Here is a picture from the Ebay listing. I have to take some of my own but we are getting 8" of snow right now. The pictures will have limited life span of 30 days I'm guessing for as long as the listing remains on Ebay.
Hopefully the pictures will come through.
I just lifted the car up in the garage on all 4 corners to feel for any play. I could not feel anything when yanking the wheels around. The rear struts look intact with the boots, and pass the bounce test. The fronts miserably fail the bounce test and feel awful on the road, plus both boots are sagged and exposing the struts. I'm also guessing by the clunking that the strut bearings are shot. I've had shot bearings before in a VW and this feels to the same to me. However, and this is probably best left for another forum thread, but can I assume that not feeling any play is a good sign that the control arms/tie rods are passable. In my hours of reading Audi forums, I have read that many people with C4 platform Audi's have thought the worst with all kinds of noice and awful feeling in the front suspension, only to have it all cured by a simple strut cartridge and bearing installation.
[IMG]local://upfiles/14150/CA4582562E8D42E1A07A22AC38731A11.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]local://upfiles/14150/AFE96B4F85A24058AA46CEFE784DEBD4.jpg[/IMG]
Hopefully the pictures will come through.
I just lifted the car up in the garage on all 4 corners to feel for any play. I could not feel anything when yanking the wheels around. The rear struts look intact with the boots, and pass the bounce test. The fronts miserably fail the bounce test and feel awful on the road, plus both boots are sagged and exposing the struts. I'm also guessing by the clunking that the strut bearings are shot. I've had shot bearings before in a VW and this feels to the same to me. However, and this is probably best left for another forum thread, but can I assume that not feeling any play is a good sign that the control arms/tie rods are passable. In my hours of reading Audi forums, I have read that many people with C4 platform Audi's have thought the worst with all kinds of noice and awful feeling in the front suspension, only to have it all cured by a simple strut cartridge and bearing installation.
[IMG]local://upfiles/14150/CA4582562E8D42E1A07A22AC38731A11.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]local://upfiles/14150/AFE96B4F85A24058AA46CEFE784DEBD4.jpg[/IMG]
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