Car Maintenance

[Whitseml]

Okay so I found an S4 with 75k on it and the guy at the dealership says that he has no maintenance history on the car. That seems like a pretty crucial thing to know but at 75k I know that the water pump and timing belt don't need to be changed just yet but what other maintenance should have been done by now?

[mholme]

Okay so I found an S4 with 75k on it and the guy at the dealership says that he has no maintenance history on the car. That seems like a pretty crucial thing to know but at 75k I know that the water pump and timing belt don't need to be changed just yet but what other maintenance should have been done by now?

Water pump and timing belt..

[Slow4]

Is this an audi-specific dealership or one of those used car dealerships that sell EVERY kind of car?

TB and water pump should've been done by 60/70K if I remember correctly. Also look into the minor parts like DV, F-hose, brakes, etc.

How much?

[IamEzraM]

60-80k you're probably looking at everything starting to go, it's always a crap shoot

[SLC_S4]

I would be very hesitant to buy a car with no known maintenance history

[s42k5b]

TB and water pump should be done already. Do yourself a favor and have the car checked out by a reputable mechanic who works on european/german cars.

[gointoscott]

Audi recommends TB at 90k But a lot of people do it earier then that.

To assume its done is not smart. It also is hard to tell if its done unless you have it half tore out already. Sooo it might be better to have it done.

I would try and see if you can find some kind of history of the car. See if you can track down the previous owner to find out some details.


At the same time, you can tell a lot by having someone look over the car who knows what they are doing to tell how well it was maintained.

[haus4]

alss check for control arms and listen to the car when it starts cold to hear for turbo whistle

[mholme]

Audi recommends TB at 90k But a lot of people do it earier then that.

I *think* the book calls for 90k intervals, but there is a sticker under the hood that says replace toothed belt every 75k. But yeah, most people get it done in the 60-75k range.

[Slow4]

Another suggestion is to carfax the S. If someone you know has an account or just post the VIN on here and ask if someone can run one for you...

[soccerplayer01]

i bought 1 from a dealership w/ 77 and i've been doing heavy maintenance work. only had the car for a yr and have done timing belt, water pump, wheel bearing, both front cv boots. thats all i can think of now but i know theres a cpl others i'm forgetting.

[S4_NE]

if you buy this car do the TB and check the front end out first thing if there is no maint proof. Also jusr go threw it front front to back an dlook it over good, you may hav eto do brakes as well, goo dluck

[audimeister]

One quick way of assessing a used car with no maintenance history is looking at the tires. If they match, are in good condition, and are a higher-end big-name product (michelin, pirelli, bridgestone, yokohama) it is an indication that the PO cared about the car and didn't cheap out on maintenance.

Michelins are a big thumbs-up on a mystery car.

[Whitseml]

Its coming from a dealership that has a decent amount of European imports but does have other domestics as well. I checked the carfax and it didn't tell me anything but where and when the title was transfered. It had 2 PO's but the first one was for only 15K. The dealership wants 11,950 but with what you guys are telling me, I should hopefully be able to talk them lower due to the maintainence costs that should have been done. The bad thing though is the car is in San Antonio and I'm in Cincinnati so I can't look it over unless I want to drive 1000 miles.

[audimeister]

Get a pic of under the hood. If the coolant in the resevoir is green, run away.

[Whitseml]

I had sent them an email asking for more detailed pictures of everything but they seem to be very slow in the email department. I think I'm just going to call them though. The interior looks very clean from what I can see and the outside from the pics i have is clean so I'm thinking it was relatively well cared for. What I really want to see is the cluster with the engine on to see if any lights are on. If they are, I don't want to deal with that.

[RedRocketS4]

post the link on here, so we all can look... CEL's are sometimes not so bad, bad, or really bad... and it doesn't take much to detail a car and get most of the dings/scratches out... so, as they say, don't judge a book by it's cover.

Wish this came up last week. I was in San Antonio for the MS150 bike ride last weekend. Talking about bicycles just isn't as fun as talking about cars, so I would have definitely looked at it for you.

[Videlov]

You can post up in regrional section and see if anyone can go check out the car in person. They can tell you the good and bad after seeing it in person. Either way try to find the phone number of PO.

[Whitseml]

Here is the link for where I found the car along with the information of the dealership. If someone could look at it for me that would be amazing! You guys I'm sure are way more knowledgeable than I am so it seems like a win win for me.

http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.js...=&cardist=1039

[xx_s4quattro_xx]

looks pretty clean.

[Reaxion]

Looks clean. Looks like there should be a little bit of room to grind ;)