JMKad

Hi I'm going to be buying an 02 a4 and I wanted to know from you guys what I should know with this car.

I'm buying it used obviously, it's 1.8 liter turbo, stick, fully loaded, and has just over 80,000 miles on it.

So what should I know before my purchase and after what should I know for taking care of the car?

Thanks in advance guys and sorry to come off as a newb.

lyleswk

You should know the history of the car. Make sure it was properly maintained, not abused, not raced, and not wrecked. Get a Carfax. If you can't get this info, I would walk away.

Chekm8

try to see if timing belt/water pump was taken care of. if not, you'll need to do it soon.

history of oil changes--if they went synthetic and how often. steering rack is notorious for going out in the earlier a4s so check to see if that was replaced. if not, careful and try not to lock the steering wheel to once side for too long. at about 100k, you'll need to check/replace your motormounts (fluids in them leak), and your upper control arms. most of everyone that has a b6 is hitting the mark and plenty of topics in Audizine on this.

clutch may need replacing, check for leaks and reglar wear and tear parts like brakes and bump stops, etc...carfax will help to make sure there were no major accidents but you need to do a walkthrough of the engine bay just in case they had a minor hit and they didnt report it. ex's car was like that but had warranty so a few trips to shop covered replacement parts for items missed...gl...

jshaw311

Don't trust CarFax. 3 years ago- I bought an 04 BMW 545i with a "clean" carfax. After buying the car and taking it to BMW for warranty work- I found out the car was in a MAJOR front end collision. Over $14K in damage. My advice- take it to a reputable tech (or the Dealer) and get a good once over. Wish I did! I traded it once I found out!