Possible B7 purchase. Need input.

[Muziqman]

Hello from the Great White North. So I'm not a B7 owner quite yet but I hope to be soon. There's a 2007 A4 Avant Manual listed near me that has 160,000km on the body and 85,000km on a new engine (water pump failed, detonating the engine apparently). The engine is from a 2008 A4. Now it has a new timeing belt, water pump, thermostat, all new fluids, and an engine diagnostic done by the shop that installed it. Clutch might still be original.The current owner hasn't changed it and says it feels great.

Was the cam follower issue "fixed" in 2008 ?? Is that something I should be worried about or have checked before buying the car?

I would really appreciate your input guys. What else would you want to know about the car if you were going to buy it?

[Jake@JHM]

Hello from the Great White North. So I'm not a B7 owner quite yet but I hope to be soon. There's a 2007 A4 Avant Manual listed near me that has 160,000km on the body and 85,000km on a new engine (water pump failed, detonating the engine apparently). The engine is from a 2008 A4. Now it has a new timeing belt, water pump, thermostat, all new fluids, and an engine diagnostic done by the shop that installed it. Clutch might still be original.The current owner hasn't changed it and says it feels great.

Was the cam follower issue "fixed" in 2008 ?? Is that something I should be worried about or have checked before buying the car?

I would really appreciate your input guys. What else would you want to know about the car if you were going to buy it?

Some 07s came with update cams, and all 08s had them. However, some still had issues.

My old 08 went 100k miles on the original follower without issues.

[adam044]

Some 07s came with update cams, and all 08s had them. However, some still had issues.

My old 08 went 100k miles on the original follower without issues.

I'm at 97k almost on the original follower. Original as far as I know. Scary as shit, it will get done soon though.

It's an easy part to check, I wouldn't really be worried about it when buying the car.

[mattj150]

Hello from the Great White North. So I'm not a B7 owner quite yet but I hope to be soon. There's a 2007 A4 Avant Manual listed near me that has 160,000km on the body and 85,000km on a new engine (water pump failed, detonating the engine apparently). The engine is from a 2008 A4. Now it has a new timeing belt, water pump, thermostat, all new fluids, and an engine diagnostic done by the shop that installed it. Clutch might still be original.The current owner hasn't changed it and says it feels great.

Was the cam follower issue "fixed" in 2008 ?? Is that something I should be worried about or have checked before buying the car?

I would really appreciate your input guys. What else would you want to know about the car if you were going to buy it?

I would definitely check the cam follower. My 2008 went through the original around 60k miles, luckily I caught it before it wore all the way through.

The motor mounts may also be worth checking if they were not swapped when the engine blew. They tend to leak and need to be replaced once you get up there in miles.

[Muziqman]

Thanks for the input guys.

So the cam follower is most likely good, but I should check it anyway. And possibly the engine mounts. Anything else I should be asking the seller?

[Sanjman]

There's a lot of things to check for. Look for leaks drive a few B7 A4s so you can,get an understanding of how the car drives. Check tires shocks.

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[Theiceman]

there is no way I would EVER assume the follower is likely okay and DEFINITELY something to be checked on a PPI. if the cam follower is worn through I would pass. those metal bits went somewhere. of course the other problem is seller sees its worn through . pops in a new one and sells the car. that one is tough to tell.

also check the back seat elevatror works if electric seats on both sides. ( the back and front of the seat bottom should move up and down ) if it makes a noise but doesn't go anywhere the plastic gears are stripped.

make sure it gets up to temp as thermostats go all the time on these.

Of course oil consumption is the biggie but you will never know until you buy it ( possibly get a compression check or leak down )

and of course scan for codes before purchase and watch for monitors not ready. ( means owner has recently cleared codes )

[Primavw]

I had my Cam Follower done when I bought it (had 63K at the time). It was showing signs of wear but I paid very little for a fresh one so it was worth the money.

[torrque]

there is no way I would EVER assume the follower is likely okay and DEFINITELY something to be checked on a PPI. if the cam follower is worn through I would pass. those metal bits went somewhere. of course the other problem is seller sees its worn through . pops in a new one and sells the car. that one is tough to tell.

also check the back seat elevatror works if electric seats on both sides. ( the back and front of the seat bottom should move up and down ) if it makes a noise but doesn't go anywhere the plastic gears are stripped.

make sure it gets up to temp as thermostats go all the time on these.

Of course oil consumption is the biggie but you will never know until you buy it ( possibly get a compression check or leak down )

and of course scan for codes before purchase and watch for monitors not ready. ( means owner has recently cleared codes )

I second this. A compression test takes 20 minutes and it is very easy to DYI. I would also take the intercooler hoses and see how much oil you find, might be time for a new valve cover and/or pcv valve. I changed both and it pretty much eliminated my oil consumption ( it was actually going into the intercoolers, not burning in the engine).

Good luck.