A4 3.0 80k Maintenance?

[a4906]

Hello all, new to the forum. I am in the market for a used Audi A4 V6. I found a 3.0 Quattro, 6-speed, that's in my price range but it has 80K on it. At that mileage what kind of maintenance should i expect to have done. I've heard to replace the Timing Belt and Water Pump but anything else? Are there any other problem areas to look into before i make the jump? Overall, what has your experience been with the B6 A4's reliabilty? Good, Bad, or Ugly.

This is the Car I am considering. Let me know what you guys think.
http://www.autotrader.com/dealers/dd...=&cardist=5481

[auditech79]

Well the timing belt, water pump, serpintine belt is about it at the 80k mark, but that is gonna be a huge bill at the dealer. Anywhere from 2-3k depending what the shop rates are.
The only other problem i have come across with the 3.0L are cat conveters, and these puppies are $1,000 a piece, plus 5 hours to install em. Personally, you will be spending an additional 4-5k in the next year or two in repairs if you buy this car, so be ready for it.

[road_tripper]

I had quotes for $1600 for rollers, tensioners, waterpump, timing belt, etc. for my 2003.

The cat converters are a bit of a shock, but I think you have until 80K miles under the Federal warranty to have Audi foot the bill.

My 2003 3.0 6-speed has not been trouble-free, but I drive it hard in conditions the german engineers probably didn't consider.

Strangely enough, ever since it has dropped out of the extended warranty and the dealer is no longer touching it, the problems have disappeared, and new problems are not cropping up.

The car looks like a good deal; I bought my 2003 16 months ago for $11,000 more than you're paying. Mine had 44K miles and was Audi Certified. Didn't do me a whole lot of good as I drove the 50K warranty limit in 11 months :(

Before I bought mine, I did a lot of searching, and decided the reliability of the V6 (with the manual) outweighed the lesser-priced more-mod-friendly 4cyl turbo. Plus I like the v6's torque curve better than the turbo boost. But if you are even thinking about mods, and how nice it would be to mod your new ride, run away from the v6 and buy a 1.8. there are no mods for the v6 that would satisfy anyone except the people who can only be satisfied by one-off customizations (read $$$$$). I don't consider interior/exterior makeovers "mods"; I guess there are plenty if that floats your boat.

[Rockclimbersh]

The only other thing besides what is mentioned above (and they're right about timing belt, water pump, serp) is O2 sensors. They are a wear item and will start going out above 80K. Just like with the cats, some people get lucky and they last into the 100k mile territory, and some end up replacing them at 60. My advice would be to try and find out where/when it was serviced and figure out what's already been done to it along the way.

[shoothepress]

yeah, my car threw a cel for bad o2 sensors, both front and rear. turned off after two days.

i'm just gunna pretend that didn't happen...

[seph]

if its from a dealer ask them if the timing belt /waterpump has been done. If not try to get them to throw it in/lower the price.

[a4906]

Thanks for your help so far guys. I had planned to have the dealer either throw in the water pump/ timing belt/ serpentine belt for free, and i pay list for the car. Or i would talk him down and either do the work myself or have my local shop repair it. How much should I ask him to take off of the price? I've heard stories of this costing upwards of $1500. Whereas parts are only about $400.

PS The dealer did just recently chop $1000 off the price of the car to bring it down to what it is listed as now, $8995. I'm yet to go for a test drive because this dealer is 4 hrs from where I live, and I'm trying to discern whether or not this car is worth the drive.

[road_tripper]

Since there's no warranty on the car, I'd find an Audi dealer you could take the car to for an inspection. Or a Audi independent.

There's no way you'd be able to tell (until it's too late) whether the waterpump/timingbelt job (because you paid full price) was ever actually done... I'd skip that.

Dealer price for the timing belt and ancillaries is going to be $2000+ if the price is coming from a dealer. It will be much cheaper if all they do "is only the timing belt" which is a useless activity as the TB (usually) only breaks because the water pump, tensioner, or roller bearings seize and the belt skips a tooth or two or gets ripped up.

There was a guy in NJ advertising some insanely low price for TB jobs, the v6 was $850 or so (including parts: rollers, wp, tb, tensioner). Either here or AW, or Vortex, can't remember exactly.

Finally, if you want some real history of the car, get the VIN and take it to the Audi dealer and have them give you printout of all the service that was done by Audi to the car. If they tell you the printout only has codes not descriptions of the work done... go to another dealer (or service rep) who knows how to use a computer. A service rep can get you a printout with english descriptions of the jobs; whether they'll give it to you is up to you. Bring a girl with big boobs attached for best results.

[Maverick]

I can't see the car physically but from the pictures the car is in very good shape inside and outside. seems like the car has done a lot of highway driving since the driver side door panel looks very clean. the car doesnt have much peeling so that's very good but it might also be the previous owner replaced some parts.
here is what you should do, on a test drive. drive on a quiet street and listen to everything you can hear with all the windows down. have the sales person to be quiet.

things can go wrong on a 3.0 A4.
warped front rotors, it may happen. you will hear metal sounds when you drive.
leaky CV axles which will need to be replaced. if the car vibrates under normal acceleration, then Cv axles might be the cause so look under the car for and ripped CV boots leaky engine mounts.
if you can, bring a VAG-Com thinny with you to scan for codes. around 80K the warm up cats may start to fail and you won't get any free replacement since you passed the 80K miles mark.
O2 sensors can fail around 100K so when you do the timing belt job, replace the O2 sensors as well. bad O2 sensors will cause car to misfire and bad gasmilage.
timing belt should be around $1100 parts and labor.

test to see if the sun roof opens at your command, if not, then the sun roof thing is dirty.

if you hear some kind of ticking sound, then it might means that the cam lobe has failed. it happened to an 02 3.0 before.

above items are just what I have learned with my own car and others, i am not trying to worry you.

the dealer probably took the car in for 6K, so you can give them an offer for $7k out of the door. they want to sell the car to you more than you want to buy the car.
3.0 is very reliable in stock form, keep up the maintenance and you can drive it till 200K miles or more.

[a4906]

How much do you think I could expect to pay for an Audi dealership to quickly inspect the car? Also, would they charge me to have someone look up the VIN of the car I'm interested in? I never realized they could do that, I always thought carfax was the only way to find the maintenance history. Thanks Guys You've all been really helpful so far.

[a4906]

BTW, is there any way to check and see if the coil packs are bad? I've heard of alot of people having trouble with them. Thanks

[Maverick]

How much do you think I could expect to pay for an Audi dealership to quickly inspect the car? Also, would they charge me to have someone look up the VIN of the car I'm interested in? I never realized they could do that, I always thought carfax was the only way to find the maintenance history. Thanks Guys You've all been really helpful so far.

carfax doesn't give you much maintenance records, it shows you whether the car has a clean title or not, or has the car been into an accident. you can buy the carfax service online for $30.

you don't need to have an audi dealer to look at the car, they probably won't do anything anyway but charge you a fee. have someone who has knowledge about Audi and take a look at the car.
I already said, the car looks good in the pictures.

coil packs just go, you can tell by look. CEL will flash if CP goes.
on 3.0 they don't go as often as the 1.8T

[a4906]

Any idea how much they would charge me just to have them look up the maint. history? Has anyone ever done this before?

[a4906]

Also, can any Audi dealer look up the maint. history or just the one it was serviced at?