Been offered an A4 cab. 2002MY. 3.0. Free!
Discussion
Hi all,
Bit of advice really. Been offered the above for free by a minted work colleague who has just picked up an new A5 cab.
It's not without issues, EML is on as is the pass airbag light. There is also apparently an issue with one of the xenon headlights which is not working. It's 140k miles although has been regularly serviced by an independent.
Runs fine, roof fine and well specced, TV etc and I'm guessing Nav.
Is it worth me taking him up on the offer and chucking it into a decent audi indie and getting a ball park figure to put it right?
Currently SORN'd and taking up space on aforementioned minted colleagues driveway.
Thoughts/views appreciated,
TIA.
Bit of advice really. Been offered the above for free by a minted work colleague who has just picked up an new A5 cab.
It's not without issues, EML is on as is the pass airbag light. There is also apparently an issue with one of the xenon headlights which is not working. It's 140k miles although has been regularly serviced by an independent.
Runs fine, roof fine and well specced, TV etc and I'm guessing Nav.
Is it worth me taking him up on the offer and chucking it into a decent audi indie and getting a ball park figure to put it right?
Currently SORN'd and taking up space on aforementioned minted colleagues driveway.
Thoughts/views appreciated,
TIA.
CTO said:
Hi all,
Bit of advice really. Been offered the above for free by a minted work colleague who has just picked up an new A5 cab.
It's not without issues, EML is on as is the pass airbag light. There is also apparently an issue with one of the xenon headlights which is not working. It's 140k miles although has been regularly serviced by an independent.
Runs fine, roof fine and well specced, TV etc and I'm guessing Nav.
Is it worth me taking him up on the offer and chucking it into a decent audi indie and getting a ball park figure to put it right?
Currently SORN'd and taking up space on aforementioned minted colleagues driveway.
Thoughts/views appreciated,
TIA.
I would certainly go for it. Nice car with history and known previous. Got to be worth a punt. Should be a reliable fun car and I cannot see the faults as likely to be prohibitive. Best of luck.Bit of advice really. Been offered the above for free by a minted work colleague who has just picked up an new A5 cab.
It's not without issues, EML is on as is the pass airbag light. There is also apparently an issue with one of the xenon headlights which is not working. It's 140k miles although has been regularly serviced by an independent.
Runs fine, roof fine and well specced, TV etc and I'm guessing Nav.
Is it worth me taking him up on the offer and chucking it into a decent audi indie and getting a ball park figure to put it right?
Currently SORN'd and taking up space on aforementioned minted colleagues driveway.
Thoughts/views appreciated,
TIA.
Old Audis can be expensive nightmares, not only because of parts pricing but also because many jobs are very labour intensive.
I had a friend with a very nice A6 2.7T estate of similar age which needed a thermostat and one cam cover gasket, these two faults cost nearly as much as the car was worth to repair.
Are there any conditions that come with the car ie you cannot sell it on, you must use it?
If not then you have nothing to lose as the car should you not be able to fix it is still worth a fair bit as a non runner, if you advertise it in the right place.
I had a friend with a very nice A6 2.7T estate of similar age which needed a thermostat and one cam cover gasket, these two faults cost nearly as much as the car was worth to repair.
Are there any conditions that come with the car ie you cannot sell it on, you must use it?
If not then you have nothing to lose as the car should you not be able to fix it is still worth a fair bit as a non runner, if you advertise it in the right place.
^^^
I did think this also re repair costs being potentially ruinous.
No conditions attached, just a case of free my driveway up please.
Tempted to just have it as a side project and get bits done as and when and have a free waftmobile for next summer.
I have a decent Indy for simple stuff.
I did think this also re repair costs being potentially ruinous.
No conditions attached, just a case of free my driveway up please.
Tempted to just have it as a side project and get bits done as and when and have a free waftmobile for next summer.
I have a decent Indy for simple stuff.
CTO said:
EML is on
Pass airbag light.
One of the xenon headlights is not working.
Engine light - a £50 code reader will get you all the info you need (read back, someone bought a very impressive-looking one lately for not much). If it's actually running well as-is I'd suspect a knackered lambda sensor.Pass airbag light.
One of the xenon headlights is not working.
Airbag light - "Passenger" airbag light? is this as simple as the passenger airbag's been disabled? Did they use a child seat in the front passenger seat? As far as I know, there is only one "failure" light for the entire system, and it doesn't ID the problem without a code reader.
Xenon headlight - it'll be, at worst, a bulb or a ballast\ignitor. Swap parts side-to-side to identify the problem. If it's the ballast, hit ebay for a secondhand one.
On a free car, none of this would put me off, but then I'd be the one doing the work, so no labour costs.
If the glovebox has been removed for any reason and there's a passenger cut off switch in there for the airbag then it'll throw a code if the ignition was switched on while it was disconnected. Could be a failed seatbelt pre-tensioner which is easy enough to sort.
Get someeone round with VCDS and it'll take 90% of the guesswork out of working out what needs looking at.
Check scuttle drains around the battery to make sure the area isn't half full of water - likewise check under the seats for damp patches. Nothing some effort can't sort usually.
The 3.0 is a pretty reliable engine - if it's making a farting/whistling noise at idle it'll be the round emissions control valve on the rear nearside of the head (can be stripped and cleaned if the diaphragm isn't split). Cambelt change with water pump and thermostat is about £450 in parts and due every 5 years irrespective of mileage. Labour bill will vary a lot - I have someone that charges £150 to do it, but you can expect most places to leave you with a bill for a grand to do it.
Suspension joints at that mileage will be a potential issue if not already done, so I'd check if they have for piece of mind. If good ones were used they should still be fine, but if not touched a Meyle HD kit will sort it.
Which gearbox is it?
Get someeone round with VCDS and it'll take 90% of the guesswork out of working out what needs looking at.
Check scuttle drains around the battery to make sure the area isn't half full of water - likewise check under the seats for damp patches. Nothing some effort can't sort usually.
The 3.0 is a pretty reliable engine - if it's making a farting/whistling noise at idle it'll be the round emissions control valve on the rear nearside of the head (can be stripped and cleaned if the diaphragm isn't split). Cambelt change with water pump and thermostat is about £450 in parts and due every 5 years irrespective of mileage. Labour bill will vary a lot - I have someone that charges £150 to do it, but you can expect most places to leave you with a bill for a grand to do it.
Suspension joints at that mileage will be a potential issue if not already done, so I'd check if they have for piece of mind. If good ones were used they should still be fine, but if not touched a Meyle HD kit will sort it.
Which gearbox is it?
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