WillyT812

Hey Guys (and girls),
Two weeks ago I bought a 2004 A6 with 79k miles in what appears to be fairly good condition from what I can see. Other than looking at the reviews on Kelly Blue Book, Edmunds (great ratings btw) and CarFax, I went into the purchase blind. Now after searching and finding Audiworld I realized I should have found Audiworld first! The history of the car was an initial lease, and then two owners. The last owner only had it for three months (bad sign); I suspect someone told her the price of the upcoming or overdue scheduled maintenance so she bailed. I went to the local Audi dealer to have them pull the service history only to be told they have no record of it since it wasn’t serviced there and there is no national Audi service data base. Does this sound right to you guys? Personally I find it hard to believe. So, if you guys don’t mind I have a few questions I hope you can help me with.
1. It has a symphony radio with a sat button, is there anything I need to besides a subscription to receive sat reception?
2. I’ve already ordered an ATF kit from Blauparts, I’ve read two scenarios for changing out the fluid: one is to just change what is in the pan along with filter and another is to drop the pan and run through the gears to remove additional fluid. Suggestions?
3. I plan on doing the complete TB refresh soon since I have nothing to indicate it’s has already been done. Plenty of threads on this…thanks.
4. Took a 600 mile trip already, 21 hwy, 17 city; is this normal? I have a Mitsubishi Diamante with a 3.5L engine that routinely gets 27mpg on the highway and 21 in the city.
5. Does this model have a cabin air filter? And if so, how often should it be changed?
6. When I bought the car there was water in the spare tire compartment. Suggestions?
7. Bought the car, stopped by Jiffy Lube had an oil change (mistake), now I need to change out the crap they put in (non-syn, who knows what filter), read many oil threads. Anything I should look at on the turbos to ascertain their condition?
8. Got underneath the car at Jiffy, front axels look new, slight vibration around 70 mph, seems like it should be smoother, suggestions?
9. Given the absence of a service history, other than TB/WP/Cam Seal etc replacement and ATF replacement…any additional suggestions?
My wife and I are both excited and a little nervous about our purchase; we realize we’ve bought a lot of car for only $11.5k—it’s lightning fast and luxury in a single package. I’ve owned five VWs, a 911 Targa, 77 Audi Fox!, numerous Subaru’s, Ford F350, and since I was a poor Airman in the USAF for most of my life I typically had to do all repairs and maintenance, whatever you suggest I can probably do. Thanks guys.

Audi0s

Youll need the ESN to get a satellite subscription started. I would drop the trans pan and filter, and just let it drip. Im sure you get more by running it, but I dont think its worth the risk of damage. It does have a cabin filter, most manufactureres say once a year on the replacement. Water in the spare tire could mean alot of thngs, check the trunk seal to make sure it was installed correctly, this could possibly mean there was rear end damage. Never ever go to jiffy lube for oil changes, Im assuming you have a 2.7t so they probably put on a smaller cheapie filter. Get an OE, Mann, Mahle, or Hengst filter. If you need them to do it, make sure you bring your own. Always use synthetic. Turbos is more by sound than looks, listen for a fluttering noise under boost, or one much louder than the other. The 2.7 is known for oil leaks, stay on top of them so you dont get a monster bill to fix them all. Valve cover chain tensioner gaskets is a good place to start. Start with a wheel balance to fix the vibration on the highway. I would also recommend a major service with the timing belt, plugs air fuel cabin filters. Serp belts, and a power steering flush as well. Fuel mileage seems ok, although Id think for a longer trip it would be slightly better on the highway, maybe 25 or so? How fast were you going, and were you having fun with it (spirited driving?)

WillyT812

Eighty, eighty-five tops. I had a 69 911S Targa that was pretty spirited and I have no doubt this A6 has more acceleration. I'll do all my fluid changes from here on out, lesson learned. What is an ESN? I scrutinized the car pretty thoroughly for body work before I bought it, didn't see any tell-tale signs. Will look into a wheel balance this week. I've had a few wheels out of balance in my time and this seems a little different. Thanks for the reply.