On the brink of buying...Audi A4 Avant S Line 2.0 TDI Special Ed. (170bhp)

[A4IDM]

Hi fellas,

top forum here, would really appreciate a bit of advice if you can spare a couple of minutes....

Basically, I'm literally in the final stages (looking to sign on monday) of purchasing an approved used A4 Avant S Line 2.0 TDI Special Edition (170bhp) on a 57 plate with 69K from main dealer.

Went out in it today and absolutely loved it, it's got full leather and sat nav and looks awesome with all the black trim on the outside instead of the chrome :D:D

On the test drive I though the brakes were a bit dull and have asked this to be checked, other than that and a bit of steering wheel judder at 8.....70 which they're also looking in to I'm absolutely over the moon to find model that ticks so many of my boxes.

I know the water pump and cambelt have been done so that's all good and it's just been serviced. It also comes with the standard 1 year warranty and Audi's current 2 years free servicing so I'm pretty confident I'm not going to be shelling out too much in the next few years in terms of maintenance.

The main thing I wanted to ask though was what if any other essential checks do I need to be doing before I commit? (Up to this point I've definitely had my rose tinted glasses on)...

Ta

[A4IDM]

Also, does the RNS E have ipod touch/iphone connection cabability? ie could I stream music over bluetooth?

[aveling]

Has it had any new injectors??
Please look at the thread at the top of the page of posts - Piezo Injector Failure.
Buyer Beware is all you should know.
I only say it as being one of the people having owned one of these from new, and just shelled out a very large sum of money to repair it.

[Adman]

Has it had any new injectors??
Please look at the thread at the top of the page of posts - Piezo Injector Failure.
Buyer Beware is all you should know.
I only say it as being one of the people having owned one of these from new, and just shelled out a very large sum of money to repair it.
If the car is a late 2007 model, it should have the newer Denso injectors, but definately worth checking. I have also had one injector go so far.

Nice car though, I wish i had the black optic pack on mine.

[A4IDM]

Right, injectors, I'll check. Should be covered by the first warranty if they go though?

[A4IDM]

I've just checked and it was registered Sep 2007 - should be the new injectors then?

[Monsieur]

Photos look good :D
Why is it on an 02 reg?
Must admit the leather seats are making me jealous!!

[A4IDM]

Ha Ha found it then?! Not too difficult I suppose as I have my location showing....anywho that's actually a private plate and the 57 plate has been transferred back on. The photo's don't do it justice at all, it's mint inside. Just this injector issue...going up to the dealers in a bit to ask them about which ones are in it now, just hoping it's the Denso ones....

[aveling]

Mine was registered in Sept 07 as well, but the build date of the car looks to be July 07, going by the majority of date stamps on the components.
I will very much doubt that the dealer will know what injectors are in it.
You need to be certain of asking if the injectors are covered - they should be if it's a main dealer purchase, but they will probably only change one at a time if you get a failure.
The big word is - IF

[A4IDM]

Mine was registered in Sept 07 as well, but the build date of the car looks to be July 07, going by the majority of date stamps on the components.
I will very much doubt that the dealer will know what injectors are in it.
You need to be certain of asking if the injectors are covered - they should be if it's a main dealer purchase, but they will probably only change one at a time if you get a failure.
The big word is - IF

Well I know they're already checking a few other bits and pieces for me and if they want my business I hope they'll be able to confirm. To be honest though given the number of people who've had issues and the associated costs down the line even if it is covered by the first years warranty, I don't want to be in the position where I'm waiting for them to fail every time I go out. I'm sure it's not every single 170 that has this problem and forums always make things appear worse as a people generally post to report issues more often than when everything is fine and dandy, but still...

[Monsieur]

You're right in thinking that forums like this will generally only bring bad news about what can go wrong with a car. There must be many, many more drivers who are chuffed to bits with their A4 :D

My 1st year's warranty runs out in a couple of weeks - will the new warranty also cover the injectors?

[A4IDM]

Unfortunately just seen service history, it's been riddled with problems, 2010 alone saw nearly £5000 worth of repair work carried out...

[aveling]

Unfortunately just seen service history, it's been riddled with problems, 2010 alone saw nearly £5000 worth of repair work carried out...


That could be seen as a good thing - less for you to have to sort out.
Any idea on the specific areas of trouble??

[A4IDM]

That could be seen as a good thing - less for you to have to sort out.
Any idea on the specific areas of trouble??

2010

Cylinder Head Cracked, twice - £1744 and £698 2000 miles apart
Unit Injector broken - £543
Front Door Hinge worn/loose - £723
Positioning Motor - £99
Exhaust Gas Reciruclation Cooler leaking, twice- £278 and £359 5000 miles apart
Front Vehicle Leveling sender - £139

Then in 2009/8

Pressure Differential Sender failed - £76
Unamed recalls - £400
Rear Anti Roll bar noisy - £887

To be honest I might expect these volume of problems to have been experienced resolved if the car had double it's mileage, but as it is it seems to have had a LOT of issues. Do you really think it would be a good investment? Would be nice if this meant they'd actually sorted all the issues but it's starting to seem a bit like a friday afternoon car to me...real shame and I'm gutted though - any advice at this point greatly appreciated....

[kodkod.84]

Rear anti-roll bar noisy- £887!! I just got an RS4 arb fitted for £150 all in from Audi, they were robbed there

[A4IDM]

Rear anti-roll bar noisy- £887!! I just got an RS4 arb fitted for £150 all in from Audi, they were robbed there

to be fair all of this has been done under warranty so the previous owner didn't pay for it.

[A4IDM]

Properly cannot decide what to do....any advice anyone?

[wheely88]

All issues apart from 2 x cracked cylinder heads I would have said go for it -- the cylinder head issue would worry me though. Why did it go? was there contamination in cooling system which may lead to degradation of other parts in the future --eg heater matrix, more overheating etc, or was there contamination of oil system which again may lead to premature failure of turbo, etc etc.
You will have a years warranty and you can pay for future extensions to this through Audi and others -- but those known issues would still worry me.

My thoughts only. Its not nice when you find something you search long and hard for and then find this :mad:

Mark

[A4IDM]

All issues apart from 2 x cracked cylinder heads I would have said go for it -- the cylinder head issue would worry me though. Why did it go? was there contamination in cooling system which may lead to degradation of other parts in the future --eg heater matrix, more overheating etc, or was there contamination of oil system which again may lead to premature failure of turbo, etc etc.
You will have a years warranty and you can pay for future extensions to this through Audi and others -- but those known issues would still worry me.

My thoughts only. Its not nice when you find something you search long and hard for and then find this :mad:

Mark

Thanks Mark, you know what, there was a comment on one of the service docs about stained coolant reservoir - do you think this could be an indication of contamination like you mentioned?

[kite]

walk away and look for another one.

[Adman]

2010

Cylinder Head Cracked, twice - £1744 and £698 2000 miles apart
Unit Injector broken - £543
Front Door Hinge worn/loose - £723
Positioning Motor - £99
Exhaust Gas Reciruclation Cooler leaking, twice- £278 and £359 5000 miles apart
Front Vehicle Leveling sender - £139

Then in 2009/8

Pressure Differential Sender failed - £76
Unamed recalls - £400
Rear Anti Roll bar noisy - £887

To be honest I might expect these volume of problems to have been experienced resolved if the car had double it's mileage, but as it is it seems to have had a LOT of issues. Do you really think it would be a good investment? Would be nice if this meant they'd actually sorted all the issues but it's starting to seem a bit like a friday afternoon car to me...real shame and I'm gutted though - any advice at this point greatly appreciated....
I'm sorry, but if I had saw this amount of work on a car of this age I would walk. Some cars are just cursed.

[A4IDM]

I'm sorry, but if I had saw this amount of work on a car of this age I would walk. Some cars are just cursed.

Yup. Giving this one a miss. Gutted though, as it looks and drives well and is well spec'd.

Found another one but it's about 150 miles away - anyone know if audi will move cars between dealers before a sale is confirmed, or would I need to commit before they'd get it transported?

[kite]

150 miles...is that all.
I flew to Ayr in scotland from london for the right car...

[wheely88]

Moving cars between dealers is not often that easy - morseso before a confirmed sale.
I'm from Plymouth and found my higher spec'ed model at Stafford Audi some 250 miles away. However as they knew they'd sell it easy there's no way they were going to do a deal with Plymouth Audi -- so up I drove.
I did have the option of buying it (blind) and having it delivered -- but it was still cheaper to drive up (+ they had my Seat in part ex)

[A4IDM]

Moving cars between dealers is not often that easy - morseso before a confirmed sale.
I'm from Plymouth and found my higher spec'ed model at Stafford Audi some 250 miles away. However as they knew they'd sell it easy there's no way they were going to do a deal with Plymouth Audi -- so up I drove.
I did have the option of buying it (blind) and having it delivered -- but it was still cheaper to drive up (+ they had my Seat in part ex)

That's always an option, plus it would mean getting a road trip in the new one on the way back:D:D

If I got a car from a third part dealership or even privately, provided it had a FASH would I be able to buy a approved used warranty from Audi??

Also is there any difference in what's covered between the original 3 year warranty and an approved used 1 year warranty?

[richard oldroyd]

injector problems can occur on both the 140 & 170 engines from 2005-2007 from 08 the Common Rail System came out.this is less of a problem. I've
had 1 injector replaced on my 56reg car(170) & my sister-in-law has had injector failure on her 55reg A4 140. luckily my son fitted mine but it still cost me £500.00

[A4IDM]

UPDATE:

The search continues....after finding out the bad news about this one, I'm still on the hunt for an A4, but looking at the prices on the audi website it looks like the A6 isn't too far out of reach either - so, does anyone know if the running costs between the two are significantly different?

(I know I should post this in the A6 forum, but I thought it was worth asking as I already had this thread open!)

[Mr-Rob]

2010

Cylinder Head Cracked, twice - £1744 and £698 2000 miles apart
Unit Injector broken - £543
Front Door Hinge worn/loose - £723
Positioning Motor - £99
Exhaust Gas Reciruclation Cooler leaking, twice- £278 and £359 5000 miles apart
Front Vehicle Leveling sender - £139

Then in 2009/8

Pressure Differential Sender failed - £76
Unamed recalls - £400
Rear Anti Roll bar noisy - £887

To be honest I might expect these volume of problems to have been experienced resolved if the car had double it's mileage, but as it is it seems to have had a LOT of issues. Do you really think it would be a good investment? Would be nice if this meant they'd actually sorted all the issues but it's starting to seem a bit like a friday afternoon car to me...real shame and I'm gutted though - any advice at this point greatly appreciated....

Who ever owned the car was right royally bent over mate.

Worn/ loose front door hindge........ £723, do me a favour !!!!:yikes:

[Splash]

[QUOTE=A4IDM;621605]UPDATE:

The search continues....after finding out the bad news about this one, I'm still on the hunt for an A4/QUOTE]

You're welcome to come and look at mine near Stratford on Avon. It's a Phantom black quattro just MOT'd again and all up-to-date with nearly 45k on it. Just don't know when I can order it's replacement though as spec/options not confirmed by VAG yet.

Haven't done enough posts to allow PM.