60K to 80K on an B6 A4

[audispeed08]

ok so my good friend wants to buy an audi B6 A4 but can only afford one with 60 to 80 thousand miles on it. We were both wondering how reliable is a B6 A4 with that many miles on it and how long do you all think it will last? Do you think if he got one with that many miles he would be putting a lot of money into it just to keep it running?

If you are thinking he should look at he B5's because they are cheaper, that won't he is stuck on a B6.

Thanks for your help

[skiaudi]

if the maintenance on the car has been on time and regular up to now, and he plans to continue with regular maintenance at the suggested intervals and do the proper preventive stuff, the car could last for 200,000 miles. that being said, the cars do have their quirks and some things will likely go bad. but, it's the expensive stuff that should stay good with proper maintenance

[B6JoeS4]

You should be fine. i think the average is 15,000 miles per year so if its a 2002 then it should theoreticaly have 90k. make sure you get the car checked out by a mechanic

[LampyB]

at 70-80K the timing belt needs to be changed. doing it yourself will cost around $400 for parts and beer, otherwise it will be anywhere from $900-1100 at a reputable shop. oxygen sensors will need to be replaced at around 80-85K (usually) and together the parts will cost about $300. other than that, synthetic oil changes w/filter every 5K miles and you should be good to go. consumer reports rated the '02-'03 B6 models to be a lot more maintenance prone than the '04-'05 models. if you can find a higher mileage '04 that would be ideal. keep a close eye out in the AZ classifieds section because people sell chipped cars on here all the time for great prices, and generally you'll know that it came from an enthusiast who's taken care of the car.

have a reputable Audi/VW shop do a full check on the car before purchasing, it could be the best $100-150 ever spent!

[transdamn]

Oh nooooo! My 2002 audi a4 with 106,000mi didnt get the memo it was supposed to blow up. I will not be showing my car this thread.


BTW regular maintenance will get you very far with these cars. I have only spent about $1000 total not counting oil changes over the years. That INCLUDES the expensive timing belt change.

[doublezero30]

they are like any car, have certain things that break and certain things that dont. having baught two b6s over 60k miles, i say go for it. just look over the car well. i mean everything. check the window switches, sound system, start it and listen for noises, drive it, check the sunroof switch, carfax it for accidents, ect ect.

common things that go wrong with our cars around this mileage include but are not limited to: coil packs, electrical things like window and sunroof switch, my motormounts in my old b6 went around 75k.

also make sure maintenance was done correctly. if you dont already know, the 1.8t engines were warrentied for sludge problems because of audis original recommendations for oil changes. also they just put out a timing belt recall, which wont help you at all because they just tell everyone they need to change it so they dont have to warrenty it. certain years have certain other recalls. i believe there may be a fuel pump recall on 03s (not positive) and 02s have a recall for the air plenum clogging near the brake booster.

didnt mean to write a book lol, basically just look the damn car over real well and ask questions. if you do this well i dont think you will be disapointed.

[heateris]

my car runs just as good at 81K as id did at 30K when i bought it.

[J-jizzle]

Here is a list of things I have had to fix that I don't consider regular maintenance and or should not of failed so fast since I bought the car at 64k.

Fuel pump @ 75k ($375 or so for parts). Motor mounts/snub mount ($230 for 034 mounts) that I think were gone when I got the car replace them @ 78K. Rear coolant flange ($25). Four new coil packs for a stock motor ($140). And now I have a stress crack in my windshield that I have to fix. The windshield still blows my mind how that shit happens for the way I drive, and the same thing has happened to others.

That being said I couldn't be happier with my car and I'm so glad I was able to get.

[gdawg'05a4]

I wouldn't worry about it too much pending the maintenance history checks out. Try to get a vehicle history and see what's been done, repaired, etc. And like others have said, bring it to a Audi mechanic for a inspection.

My '05 w/ 104,xxx miles has been very reliable. Just regular maintenance and a couple of wear and tear items.

[lookaught]

I also bought my car used with 77,700 miles. You can click the link at the bottom of my sig and see a detailed list of every maintenance expense that I've had in the past 15 months. Most was preventative... and the only real failures were the coolant flange and a vaccum leak in the SAI system, and a stupid frozen e-brake cable.

Knowing maintenance is key. If not, at least pull the VC and look for sludge. It takes 30 minutes.

[dougyfresh]

As stated by many before me in this thread... Maintenance is key on these vehicles or any German vehicle for that matter. If you keep up with maintenance you should be golden. My Avant has treated me well and the chassis has 130k on it.

Try to get a maintenance history of the vehicle of interest. If you can not find any info start planning/budgeting for appropriate maintenance so it'll be done and you know it'll be done (regardless of whether or not it was done prior even though no one can confirm that). I typically do a few basic things to any vehicle I purchase regardless of the history.

[velocipedio]

ok so my good friend wants to buy an audi B6 A4 but can only afford one with 60 to 80 thousand miles on it. We were both wondering how reliable is a B6 A4 with that many miles on it and how long do you all think it will last? Do you think if he got one with that many miles he would be putting a lot of money into it just to keep it running?

If you are thinking he should look at he B5's because they are cheaper, that won't he is stuck on a B6.

Thanks for your help

60-80k is not a lot of miles on a modern car. A 1.8t should be able to hit 250,000 or more with proper maintenance. Heck, even the oil change interval with synthetic is 10k.

The key is whether or not the car was well maintanted. You will have to do a timing belt at 70k. That isn't cheap. Otherwise, the only thing to do is make sure you run synthetic (and that the car is sludge free when you buy) to avoid oil sludge.

[LampyB]

Oh nooooo! My 2002 audi a4 with 106,000mi didnt get the memo it was supposed to blow up. I will not be showing my car this thread.

?????

[Maverick]

I hate to be honest this time,
your friend shouldn't buy an Audi. If he can only afford a 60-80K used Audi, how can he afford repairs when something breaks?
you have no idea with the service history of the car, you don't know how the owner drove the car.
60-80K A4 is due to a TB job pretty soon. that's like some cash even if you DIY.

if he has the money to spare after buying a B6, then go ahead. we will welcome him here.

he has to weight in the maintenance factor of an Audi!!!

[AirMax95]

I just bought my 2002 A4 about a month ago. The car had 68k on it, now has 70k (drove from Florida, lol). Luckily the previous owner had the T-belt/water pump maintenance done!

I have a warranty through my credit union, so I am having my motor mounts, tranny mount, and control arms replaced for $100!

Other than that, this car is awesome. Regular maintenance is key with any car. Good luck.

[AudiA4Turbo22]

between 60k-80k was the worst times for me and my A4 constant issues

[dougyfresh]

between 60k-80k was the worst times for me and my A4 constant issues

The only thing that happened in that mileage range for me was my rear coolant flange and oil level sensor. Simple things that are relatively common.

[turboSpartan]

Hey AirMax - what credit union do you have....????!!???

Maybe I'll refinance just in case something does happen

[sloweryucf]

60-80 is when all sorts of stuff started going bad on my car (motor mounts, axle seals, valve cover gasket, oil dipstick, one or two hoses, CV boot) and I did all the scheduled maint.

[lookaught]

60-80 is when all sorts of stuff started going bad on my car (motor mounts, axle seals, valve cover gasket, oil dipstick, one or two hoses, CV boot) and I did all the scheduled maint.

How bad were the axle seals leaking? In my experience, unless they are dripping, they aren't a problem.

The rest of that stuff is easy to fix. The VC is super common, as are hose (specifically vacuum) tears. By 80k you should really just replace all the hoses with quality silicon stuff for $30. It would be immensely helpful to the 1.8t community if someone could compile a list of the diameter and length of hose that is needed to replace all of the shitty hose that gets brittle. Vacuum hose is easy, but there are a lot of other bigger ones that are unknown to me.

Maybe I'll do this....

CV boot tears are gross.

[dougyfresh]

CV boot tears are super easy to do. Just a tad messy. I just did a driver rear outer CV boot the other week.

[lookaught]

CV boot tears are super easy to do. Just a tad messy. I just did a driver rear outer CV boot the other week.

"tad" ???

I like the way they look once cleaned up and shiny... then of course you pack the new grease in and its blue. Thank god for rubber gloves.

EDIT: i don't mean tad??? as in I dont know what it means. I mean it as in Im raising one eyebrow and giving your a skeptical look. Just wanted to clear that up.

[Capt. Obvious]

Tell your friend to buy mine. I'm local too! My car has been virtually problem-free and I take really good care of it.

[dougyfresh]

"tad" ???

I like the way they look once cleaned up and shiny... then of course you pack the new grease in and its blue. Thank god for rubber gloves.

EDIT: i don't mean tad??? as in I dont know what it means. I mean it as in Im raising one eyebrow and giving your a skeptical look. Just wanted to clear that up.

'tad' = 'a little'

[dewey527]

love hate thing... mine has 122k and weird things have happened; oil sending unit, bent fins on turbo, coilpacks and check valve. i replaced the clutch 1k ago but it was still good. but overall i really enjoy the car and love the german engineering! i use synthetic oil and change it every 3k.

[fitch303]

Changing oil every 5 thousand miles when Audi says every 10 thousand miles is Fing retarded.

Those are the type of people who brush there teeth 20 times a day, take 15 vitamins a day, use the entire roll of toilet paper on their ass after every sitting, and wash their hands for 5 minutes every time they touch something....even themselves. If you drive your car normal than 10k is fine.

[lookaught]

'tad' = 'a little'

lol no no I got it.

tad   /tæd/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [tad] Show IPA Pronunciation

–noun Informal.

1. a small child, esp. a boy.
2. a very small amount or degree; bit: Please shift your chair a tad to the right. The frosting could use a tad more vanilla.


the CV is a small boy that is messY??