Mileage - how important

HashSlinging · 10-08-2004 2:26pm #1

I'm thinking of buying a second hand car its a fully loaded '99 2.7 litre A6 Quattro with 80,000 miles, I know with diesels this wouldnt be much of an issue, what about large engine petrol models. aparntly its got full service history. etc.

Also is there anyway of checking if a car is clocked etc, anyone know about the quattro haldex system and reliability.

leeroybrown · 10-08-2004 2:33pm

I'm no mechanic but, I wouldn't so much be worried about the engine, but more so about all the other important parts of the mechanics that could begin to fail after this age. Lots of smaller repairs/replacement could add up very quickly.

Seth Brundle · 10-08-2004 2:42pm

It is also how those 80k miles were put on. A 2.7 A6 would be capable of being driven hard (to an extent) far more than a 1.6 for example but if the journeys were predominantly short ones then look for the possibility of increased engine wear

alias no.9 · 10-08-2004 4:00pm

80k should be nothing for a modern engine, especially a larger capacity one. Engine wear is proportional to the square of the engine speeds so with larger engines they run at proportionally lower engine speeds than smaller ones thus wear is much less of a problem. Maintenance is a much bigger issue, if it's got a full service history, you're laughing. It would probably do 250,000 miles without breaking sweat if it's looked after.

unkel · 10-08-2004 4:02pm

kbannon wrote:

It is also how those 80k miles were put on

How many previous owners? If 1 private owner from new, it was probably not driven too hard. Is it an Irish car and can you find out how the mileage was done?

Do verify service history and check that all replacements were done when scheduled. E.g. the 2 cats in my car were replaced about 15k miles before I bought the car (with 112k miles). Doing this would have set me back about a grand and maybe twice that at a stealer!

Mileage can be verified by any Audi dealer (or many specialists) with PC connecting to engine management module

What mileage are you going to do per year?

HashSlinging · 10-08-2004 4:07pm

probably will do around 15k - 18k per year.

DukeDredd · 10-08-2004 4:21pm

Watch out for cars coming up to 100K miles, this is the time most cars need things replaced.

BrianD3 · 10-08-2004 4:59pm

There was a guy on this forum recently who had a A6 quattro and the clutch went on it at around 80k miles and he got some very expensive quotes for a replacement clutch. This isn't necessarily anything to worry about - the car he had could have been thrashed whereas your car may have been driven much more sympathetically. However just be aware that with complex executive motors such as an A6 quattro, if something goes wrong it'll probably be expensive. Also, I woudl imagine that the clutch could take a hammering on a 4wd car. Just something to be aware of.

BrianD3

mike65 · 10-08-2004 5:13pm

If the history is complete and on a 5 year old Audi it should be I'd would'nt worry. But I would check the cost of overhauling the Quattro drivetrain alright.

Haldex Quattro

Mike.

Interceptor · 10-08-2004 6:03pm

I also wouldn't worry - but I would suggest that the diagnostics involved in checking the running gear and mileage are beyond the average enthusiast and that you should seek the advice of an independant appraisal service (AA/RAC?). Is it an original Irish car? If not, tread very carefully...

'ceptr

HashSlinging · 10-08-2004 7:56pm

BrianD3 wrote:

There was a guy on this forum recently who had a A6 quattro and the clutch went on it at around 80k miles and he got some very expensive quotes for a replacement clutch.
BrianD3

hmm any details on that car, this one just came in and it would be just my luck to get someone else's bad luck..

BrianD3 · 10-08-2004 8:31pm

hmm any details on that car, this one just came in and it would be just my luck to get someone else's bad luck..

I can't seem to find the thread but IIRC it was a 1.8T A6 Quattro, not a 2.7.

I hope I didn't scare you off with the clutch comments. No matter what car you buy, if there's 80k on it there's always a slight risk that a clutch and several other bits and pieces could be on their last legs/about to break. Obviously if the car has been driven with mechanical sympathy and well maintained (with a verifiable service hostory) this risk is much reduced but is still there. It's all part of the "fun" of buying a secondhand car

BrianD3

Captain Trips · 10-08-2004 8:31pm

HashSlinging wrote:

I'm thinking of buying a second hand car its a fully loaded '99 2.7 litre A6 Quattro with 80,000 miles, I know with diesels this wouldnt be much of an issue, what about large engine petrol models. aparntly its got full service history. etc.

Also is there anyway of checking if a car is clocked etc, anyone know about the quattro haldex system and reliability.

Don't worry about it. Get a mechanic to check out the basics or the AA. I would say that that engine is barely driven in, and with a bigger engine, if it's "thrashed" it means that someone has simply used it's ample BHP and accel ability, heck, the QUattro is *meant* to be driven hard. That 2.7 could easily take it.

On the other hand a similarly driven 1.6 would actually be thrashed as it will have been pushed and stretched as far as it can to get the mid range performance of the 2.7 QUattro.

Beautiful car and a great engine. Buy and don't plan on selling it, get it all checked out and drive in some style. If something goes wrong, just fix it. It's a car that is worth investing in as if you take care of it properly you'll have no probs.

SO at least *one* positive message then...:)

unkel · 10-08-2004 9:53pm

HashSlinging wrote:

probably will do around 15k - 18k per year.

And lets say you plan to keep it for 3 years? You'll be driving it for 50k miles then

In that case the 80k mileage is a good starting point. You can pay top dollar for a 50k miles car now and it you'll find a tough depreciation in 3 years time with 100k on the clock. However if you buy a cheap 80k miles car now, you'll probably suffer less depreciation and the car is still sellable at 130k

There is this psychological thing in this country about the mighty 100k

Captain Trips wrote:

SO at least *one* positive message then...:)

Mine was supposed to be positive as well

HashSlinging · 10-08-2004 10:11pm

its had two owners and the last owner bought it from the garage thats selling it now, but he's left the country..from romania or something (pimp maybe) so contacting him would be out of the question. A sales man told me that? feck sounds dodgy. maybe he had all his women sloppn all over the leather seats..

:eek:

thanks for the info, got some research to do..

mike65 · 10-08-2004 10:35pm

Check the door sills for traces of white powder!

Mike.

unkel · 10-08-2004 10:49pm

HashSlinging wrote:

from romania or something (pimp maybe)

Do you not remember the case of the split identities a few years back? One person getting dole on 50 different identities for a couple of years. Then bring home the money and buy a family hotel in Bucharest as a retirement income

This dude might have lived a little over here as well

DivX · 11-08-2004 10:20am

The full service history isn't that exciting if its not from a main dealer, these things can be stamped up to help the sale.

How long is it from the last NCT test? the more recent the better obviously.

If you could get a copy of the test results you could judge the wear of the suspension, wheel alignment, emissions (cat?) and have an idea of things that may be due for replacement coming up to the next test.

If you're having doubts, just remember that the country is full of second hand cars that dealers are finding it hard to shift, especially big cube engines.

Mileage - how important

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