Bought an Avant! got a few questions

[pimptastic]

Hey everyone, whats up? I bought a 2001 A4 avant tonite, I'll be picking it up next week. Its a 1.8t and it has the 5-spd trans., quattro too. Heated seats, black pleather, sunroof, headlight washers and a factory bike rack. Its maroon on the outside. The body and paint are a little rough, but maybe i'll paint it. The other downside is it has 125k on it. But it runs like its alot less, the owner used it for lots of highway driving. Timing belt done at 97k. The frontend feels tight with not clunks and the original clutch does not seem to be slipping, yet. It will be a nice little daily driver/ project car. I got it for $4k

A couple questions,

1. I've heard rear facing baby seats don't fit to well in these cars, how about front facing ones, are they any better?

2. The pixels on the center part of the cluster are all messed up, can i replace just this part of the cluster? or do I need to get a whole new one?

thanks,

Jeff

[Borden]

2. The pixels on the center part of the cluster are all messed up, can i replace just this part of the cluster? or do I need to get a whole new one?

thanks,

Jeff

whole new cluster...i got quoted for 1000 from the dealer...there is a thread about fixing the screen so people are trying to do something about that

[onemoremile]

Rear facing seats fit fine in the center of the back seat. At 12 months the kid can have a forward facing seat which fit even better.

[dingguhlbary]

sick username. and yeah, no practical fix has come up for the lcd cluster yet.

but the miles on your car, thats nothing dude. enjoy the next 100k. german engineering ftw

[jbrentd]

Welcome. Did you get the one on AW for like $4k?

[B5Jaeger]

That one was pre-facelift I think...would add up, though

[pimptastic]

Thanks for the pics with the baby seats, make me feel better about my purchase :)
I updated my signature, as you can see i have a thing for german cars
Nope not from AW, this was for sale locally, i bought it from the original owners, a 40ish couple who took it to the dealer for most things and took care of it pretty nice mechanically. I thought $4k was a really good deal, am I right? Oh and the CEL came on yesterday so it got a new O2 sensor today too(before i bought it)

[SilverB5A4]

That is a steal even for a high mileage 01 1.8t quattro and manual, ill trade you for my sedan :)

[pimptastic]

No way! :), wagons all the way! Im not yet 30 and this is already my 4th wagon, not including SUVs or trucks.

[D's Avant]

The one bad thing with a rear facing baby seat in our B5 Avants is that it is very difficult for anyone to sit in the back seat with the kid. Try putting on a seat belt with that car seat placed in the center position. Very difficult to buckle in. Not fun as everyone will tell you that goes through that fun little drill and they will remind you every time. We need a bigger car... My answer, this one is paid for and is part of the family. When the B8 Avant comes out I will just go and look, not buy. Do the maintenance like everyone say's to do and your car should last a long, long time. If you are not chipped yet, DO IT!!! Enjoy your Avant, I have and it's been nine years and counting for me.