A high mileage 2001 Audi A4 Quattro 2.8 for my son

[WIL84911]

Will look at this car today. Car is a manual with almost 200K miles, seems to be well maintained but am getting nervous based on feedbacks about 1.8. Anyone have any insights regarding 2.8? I remember me and my wife dumping lots of $$ in repairs on her 93 Passat with a VR6 and this is probably the same engine. Thanks in advance.

[RedBaron]

I have a 2001 A4 2.8 that I recently bought in December. It had 120k miles and overall seemed to be well maintained with every single option available. I have done some work on the car already (coolant temp sensor, rear wheel bearing, coolant flush, etc) and I recommend looking for the following.

-Is the car leaking any oil? If so, the PCV system got clogged and the valve cover/tensioner gaskets blew. A guide to fixing the system is found in this link: Updated: V6 PCV system replacement (now with suction pump!)

-Does the coolant temp sensor work? If not it is a ~$30 part and a decent amount of work.

-Any suspension sounds? The front suspension is notorious for having parts that need to be changed around 100-120k miles.

-Rear wheel bearings are a common wear item on the car.

-Has the timing belt been done in normal intervals (70-80k?) Did they do a complete service (Thermostat, Waterpump, rollers, belt)? Were they OEM parts???


After looking on the forums when I was purchasing the car, it seems that there are a lot of examples with 300k+ miles and virtually no engine problems. They are certainly more reliable than the 1.8.

Overall my advice would be that if you do like the car to buy the Bentley manual and a VAGCOM interface. Out of all the cars I've worked on (Subarus, BMW, Volvo, Porsche) the Audi seems to be the most difficult. Parts are fairly inexpensive.

Here are a few helpful links...

AudiWorld Tech Articles (Resources -> Tech Articles)

Audi A4 B5 2.8L V6 Timing Belt Replacement | Removal And Installation | | Happy Wrenching

[WIL84911]

Thank you RedBaron!!!!

[kaisen]

Originally Posted by WIL84911

Will look at this car today. Car is a manual with almost 200K miles, seems to be well maintained but am getting nervous based on feedbacks about 1.8. Anyone have any insights regarding 2.8? I remember me and my wife dumping lots of $$ in repairs on her 93 Passat with a VR6 and this is probably the same engine. Thanks in advance.

No, the VR6 is a narrow-angle 6 and VW-only

The 2.8L is Audi/VW and a very conventional engine. It's proven to be a good motor and by 2001 it was 9 years old, but with 5-valve heads.

The 5 speed is highly preferred as the automatic was problematic.

Be prepared to spend money on timing belt change and all the links in the front suspension. Otherwise, they're like any other car.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Do you or your son DIY? Because there's no way in hell I would recommend that anyone buy an old, high mileage German car (especially a VW product) if they don't DIY. I would bet that you will easily exceed the purchase price of the car within a year if you pay someone else to do the work.

[WIL84911]

Originally Posted by kaisen

No, the VR6 is a narrow-angle 6 and VW-only

The 2.8L is Audi/VW and a very conventional engine. It's proven to be a good motor and by 2001 it was 9 years old, but with 5-valve heads.

The 5 speed is highly preferred as the automatic was problematic.

Be prepared to spend money on timing belt change and all the links in the front suspension. Otherwise, they're like any other car.

I see. Thanks for the clarification. Yes it's 5 speed and timing belt/water pump already addressed.

Originally Posted by onewhippedpuppy

Do you or your son DIY? Because there's no way in hell I would recommend that anyone buy an old, high mileage German car (especially a VW product) if they don't DIY. I would bet that you will easily exceed the purchase price of the car within a year if you pay someone else to do the work.

Yes we try to do what we can ourselves. Thanks all...

[RedBaron]

Originally Posted by WIL84911

Thank you RedBaron!!!!

No problem! Let us know how it turns out.

Originally Posted by onewhippedpuppy

Do you or your son DIY? Because there's no way in hell I would recommend that anyone buy an old, high mileage German car (especially a VW product) if they don't DIY. I would bet that you will easily exceed the purchase price of the car within a year if you pay someone else to do the work.

+1 That's pretty much the reason why the previous owner of my car sold it. He was bringing it to a dealership that did things the WRONG (hack) way.

[gatotom]

Bought my wife a new 98 A4 avant quattro 2.8T in 98. She drove it for 170 thousand miles and the only real pain in the ass problem was leaking oil, the motor ran like an Elgin watch.

As Red Baron pointed out the problem is really a pcv valve problem causing the cam gaskets to leak. I had this car repaired twice only to have it leak in about 3-4 months after fixing. The front suspension struts were replaced as the rear wheel bearings and also the ABS needed a re-solder job.

Since then have replaced with a 05 A4 quattro 1.8T avant and I drive a 06 A4 quattro 2.0T and both have been reliable. To my knowledge the 1.8T was a problem with sludge buildup due to not changing the oil enough, run Mobil1 with no problems.

I do the timing belt replacement and its actually a nice project for a rainy sat., have plenty of beer to keep your wits. The 1.8T is easy the 2.0T is easy too except for the thermostat, what a total pain in the german engineering design.

[WIL84911]

Thanks again all! I will let you know how it goes.

[Tim Hancock]

As a hardcore DIY type who has not paid to have any of my old high mileage vehicles repaired in 15 years, I would have to vote no on the high mileage Audi as being a car that is readily DIY'able. Nice driving car..... @#$%# to work on.

Blown coolant line.....Another reason to HATE @#$%$# Audis

A few pics from my Audi hatefest post above.

[gtc]

Wow, you can just remove the front end? How convenient!

[fanaudical]

In my opinion, Audi took a step backward in reliability with the 2.7L turbo motors. They also took a step backward on accessibility with the body styles starting in '98. It is necessary to remove the front bumper and pull out the front clip in order to gain access to the front of the motor.

I have cars with both the 12v 2.8 (200k miles) and the 30v 2.8 (145k miles). Both have been very reliable. No major engine work on either. Maintenance (and staying on top of it) is key to long-term ownership.

However, I would be very careful about picking up any Audi without good maintenance records and a reasonable understanding of how the previous owners treated the car. Verify that timing belt replacement also included replacement of idlers and the water pump and thermostat. (The water pump is driven by the timing belt. A worn out / seized water pump is bad news on a 30v full-interference motor...). At 200k, it will be time for full cooling system flush, hose replacement, and radiator/heater core checks. Also validate that the PO was using the appropriate coolant as non-VW/Audi coolant has a tendency to destroy head gaskets.