wndycty1

I am buying a used A4- anyone have some good advice on what specific things I should check on this model before buying it?

modernperf.

quattro? tranny?

wndycty1

not a quattro.

modernperf.

well the value of the non quattro is a good deal less, but that can be used to get the car cheaper

wndycty1

I'm not sure if the 96 has any particulars that I need to be reaaly careful with

RogDog

The '96 A4 came with the 12V 2.8 V6 instead of the more powerful 30V 2.8 V6 that came in latter model years. I always thought the performance of th 12V engine a little sluggish, while the 30V engine is quite satisfying. There also isn't much in the way of performance mods for the 12V engine.

The '96 2.8 is still a nice car, but if performance is important to you, a '97 1.8T offers a lot more options.<p>- Rog

<a href="http://registry.audiworld.com/audi/registry/details.asp?car=1565"
<img SRC="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/AudiWorldPics/2000/toblastco.jpg" BORDER=0></a>
'99 Silver A4 2.8QMS
'01 Imola S4 Avant (No. 5 on the waiting list)

JoeO

.. and it was non-quattro. I turned it in after its lease expired. Maybe you're buying my old car?

I cannot think of any major problems. Only that my power steering fluid all leaked out once because of a faulty hose. The dealer fixed it, but I hear this happened to a lot of A4 owners.

Also, some of my plastic panals became slightly loose because the fasteners failed; one under the engine and one in the rear wheel well. No big deal to have fixed.

One minor thing is that the cup holder mechanism eventually became inoperatable, because of all the dust and dirt that got into the plastic gears. That's OK, because even when it did work, your cup would always jump out when your turned sharp corners.

Good luck with your purchase.

2.4 V6

if you want to chip after you get your car go for a 1.8 turbo. He says that the V6 engines dont benefit much from chipping and whould need lots of engine modifications to gain any benefit from the chip(ie cost lots $$ more to mod) . And the 1.8 has more possibilities of different engine mods than the V6

but then again the 2.8 already has plenty of power for everyday use if you dont want to make any changes.....<p>=================================== =====
Audi A4 2.4 V6
FWD Tip shift

no.. it's not avaliable in the states..

SFA4

Check out the front end. My '96 w/58k is going in next week to have it replaced.

wndycty1

Thanks for the advice. If I could afford a more recent model I would get one, but I'm a nurse and we are totally undercompensated...