Looking for an Audi (pointers please)

castle96

An A4 or maybe A6. Deisel £1800 - £3000 2001/2/3/4 Spent hours, and now some Qs for you folks if you would be so kind.
I have only ever had 'older' cars, (currently 93 Disc - on it's last legs/MOT April/problems from the last couple of years), so Qs may seem a little niave !

keys - a big thing is made of "2 keys" Surely all cars sold have at least 2 keys ! If you only have 1, do you just get another 'cut' or is it not so simple as that.? I could never rely on just having one key.

Cam belt (and water pump ??) change. This is surely a plus point for any 2nd hand motor. Most seem not to have been done, and those that have vary greatly at the milage they were done. Is there a recommended milage for either (both?) to be done. ? Should I only be looking at those that have, been done.? Looking to keep it a while....

I have only ever had older motors/Range Rovers/Disco, before. The idea of a 'service' is unknown to me. I have changed and topped up oils, etc, and even helped to build my own 'hybrids' from scratch,, but now that I am looking at something more modern (for me!), I assume that all of thesemore modern cars will have cat exhausts, complicated engine management systems and sensors, etc

I don't want to end up in one of these car supermarket places (or do I ? re warrenties, etc), but it is all so much of an unknown.Scrabbling around under motors in the wet, to have a look/poke/prod, has lost any appeal, especially at this time of year. Don't really even know what car to look for! Something not too small (I am 6ft 5" age 61). Why an Audi ? (Bit of class/comfort maybe.. but then, maybe BMW). I don't do a lot of miles - 4k maybe - Would like some economy 35mpg

Any knowledge on these Qs or any thoughts folks ? Thanks

forgotmyname

Some cars have 2 keys, Some have a master key. If you dont have a full set of keys then it may cost hundreds to get a replacement.
Not just a case of cutting but coding for the immobiliser is the issue.

If you only have one key and something happens to it then you maybe in for a very large bill from a main dealer.

An A4 for less than £3000. You need to choose wisely. You could end up with a car that needs just as much spending on it again to keep it going.

For short journeys a petrol model would possibly be better. Consider a Skoda. Same car but less money.

londonTiger

castle96 wrote: »

keys - a big thing is made of "2 keys" Surely all cars sold have at least 2 keys ! If you only have 1, do you just get another 'cut' or is it not so simple as that.? I could never rely on just having one key.

If they're anything like their VW counterparts then you can create a 2nd key pretty easily using 1 key.

But the spare parts will set you back around £40 + around £10 for cloning the blade.

generally it's safer for a car to have two original keys as it gives you some reassurance that the previous owner isn't going to come round with a witheld key to rob the car back. But for the age you're looking at the risks are low.

londonTiger

castle96 wrote: »

Cam belt (and water pump ??) change. This is surely a plus point for any 2nd hand motor. Most seem not to have been done, and those that have vary greatly at the milage they were done. Is there a recommended milage for either (both?) to be done. ? Should I only be looking at those that have, been done.? Looking to keep it a while....

For that age a lot of owners would just sell the car on rather than spend £350 on a cambelt so a lot of cars around your price point will have been offered up for sale because a big cambelt bill was expected. Interval varies from 40K miles to 60K miles. A few have higher than 60K

Only a handful petrols have 40K cambelt intervals (if anything like the Golfs are to go by then it would be the 1.6 16v & 1.4 16V petrol engines with 40K all others have 60K)

londonTiger

castle96 wrote: »

I have only ever had older motors/Range Rovers/Disco, before. The idea of a 'service' is unknown to me. I have changed and topped up oils, etc, and even helped to build my own 'hybrids' from scratch,, but now that I am looking at something more modern (for me!), I assume that all of thesemore modern cars will have cat exhausts, complicated engine management systems and sensors, etc

Service should be the same. The only parts I can think of that would need looking into in addiation to what is present in the carberator engine is a turbo and the electronics. VAG are known to have expensive electronics. lambda sensors need replacing. Sometimes MAP/MAF sensor needs replacing too.

Also all the onboard electronics, make sure you check all the central locking to see if they all lock and also the electric windows as a electric window motor change is expensive.

londonTiger

vag turbo diesels around that age are regarded as having very reliable engines, but some models have camshaft issues. If you join an audi forum they should direct you to the exact engine code you should seek in your audi a4.

reeac

castle96 wrote: »

An A4 or maybe A6. Deisel £1800 - £3000 2001/2/3/4 Spent hours, and now some Qs for you folks if you would be so kind.
I have only ever had 'older' cars, (currently 93 Disc - on it's last legs/MOT April/problems from the last couple of years), so Qs may seem a little niave !

keys - a big thing is made of "2 keys" Surely all cars sold have at least 2 keys ! If you only have 1, do you just get another 'cut' or is it not so simple as that.? I could never rely on just having one key.

Any knowledge on these Qs or any thoughts folks ? Thanks

Re. keys, I regard the fact that a car is offered with only one key as being on a par with having tyres of various makes - a sign of shoddy ownership. Best to look elswhere.

castle96

"Interval varies from 40K miles to 60K miles. A few have higher than 60K

Only a handful petrols have 40K cambelt intervals"

when you say 'intervals', you mean EVERY 40k miles ?? Again, I niavy assumed it would just need doing AT 40k or 60k (miles reached).
So this one http://www2.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201311220088174/sort/default/usedcars/page/17/postcode/b797es/make/audi/price-from/1500/price-to/4000/onesearchad/used/radius/50?logcode=p
at 149k, has NEVER had belt changed ?! Surely it would say if it has.

"Consider a Skoda. Same car but less money."
IS it ? surely not ...... ?

chrisyboy

For the mileage you are doing I would certainly stick with a petrol, older diesel engines can be very expensive to maintain, parts such as injectors, dual mass flywheels, high pressure fuel pumps can be very expensive to replace! If it was me and still wanted a diesel I would go for the older 1.9 TDI not the 2.0 TDI, the 2 litre is more refined but not as reliable and parts far more expensive!

castle96

"to the exact engine code you should seek in your audi a4"

where would this code show itself. On the log book / the vin plate ??.

londonTiger

castle96 wrote: »

"to the exact engine code you should seek in your audi a4"

where would this code show itself. On the log book / the vin plate ??.

hmm.. good question. It can probably be pulled from a variety of places. Parts shops can pull the engine code from the reg. But I would say for a buyer the service book is best bet. Just phone up and ask the seller what the engine code is and they should be able to tell you if they're willing to help. It's ususally written on the inside front cover with engine code, gearbox code and all the options codes of the service book.