I know we have a bunch of Audi people on here…
What are known issues and things to look out for?
4.2? 2.7T? 2.8? Auto? Stick?
3.0 Auto AWD
u cant drift that, stay away
No real issues that I have ever heard on the 3.0, the n/a V6’s run forever. And the transmission/AWD system will never break behind that engine. Should be pretty reliable. I’m sure Jason will chime in a few with details on any known issues, but I know of none.
My biggest issue with the AVK 3 liter is the belt drive setup. Seriously, the belt, when tensioned correctly, feels like a piano string. I had an '02 A4 3.0 in my old shop a couple of years ago with 50,070 miles on it with catastrophic damage due to the nose of the water pump shearing off. The result: about $7k worth of engine damage (one exhaust valve alone lists for 67 bucks, intakes are 37. There are 12 exhaust and 18 intakes). My recommendation: do the entire belt job, with rollers, pump, tensioner, and everything WAY before the recommended interval of 105k miles. The job is MUCH more involved than the older 2.7/2.8, necessitating valve cover removal as well. Total cost for the job is in the $1300 range.
Other than that, the cars are perfectly fine to drive, albeit a bit boring.
Some pics of the damage:
Now that Jason has taken you to the far end of the what could happen realm, they are fairly reliable with adequate maintenance.
Timing Belt
Control Arms
Pixels on gauge cluster
Beyond that, there aren’t too many other common issues or things to pay attention to.
With that motor it will be slow as death.
How many miles?
80k
Im not buying it a girl I know is…
If it hasn’t been done yet, the TB job should be done in the next 10k miles. As Jason mentioned, it’s a $1200-1400 job. It’s about $600-700 in just parts)
Yup. And a pre-purchase inspection would be a good idea.