The quest begins

I'm looking at buying a Audi A4 1.8t quattro and have about 3.5-4k to spend.

There is plenty on Autotrader for that price which seem tidy with full service histories etc.

However can people advise me on what I should be looking for i.e. bad points etc.

I have a rough idea but i would appreciate if general running costs and MPG figures I could expect from the standard 150bhp and mapped ~200bhp cars will return.

Thanks

Phil

Oil pressure, oil pressure and oil pressure, a major nightmare on the 1.8T longitudinal installation.

Hi. I'm looking at buying an Audi A4 1.8T - but don;t think its a quattro.

Sorry, i've only just started researching, but when you say to look for oil pressure on the longitudal installation.....

How? Just by the factory oil gauge? What causes the problems? Oil pump? or wear in bearings etc?

If the car I'm looking at is not a quattro, does that mean the car is rear wheel drive? and hence no problems with oil pressure?

I know I sound like I don't have a clue- thats cause I don;t know the audis at all...

Thanks to anyone who has the patience to quickly educate me!

The 1.8T in all VAG cars is prone to sludge formation in the sump which blocks the oil pump pick up, much more so on the Passat, A4 and A6, quattro or not. It is very difficult to check for unless the oil light comes on during a test run.

No worries.

So, if one was to buy a car with 100k miles on the clock, and it seems to be in immaculate condition....

Would one be well advised to do a couple of filter/oil changes, with say 1000mile intervals, to try and shift any potential sludge? Is there any particular oil additive that one could use, to help the process along?

Thanks

Or perhaps this would make things worse - would pulling the sump off be the best way to prevent?

The only sure way to check is to remove and clean the sump which means dropping the subframe down, it is quite a big job.

Is this oil problem a common thing or a rare problem?

Extremely common, it caused Audi nightmares in the USA.

So, if you own a car, and you've got the know-how, pull the subframe, and the sump, and clean it out?

I wonder if I can do that in the driveway......