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[Chris]

Hi All,

I am thinking of getting a 2 year old Audi A4, which would make it a
2003 model, but considering the year is almost up, and I am not quite
ready to purchase one yet, it might end up being a 2004 model.

So, anything in particular to watch out for? Obviously, if the seller
has all the maintenance records, that'd be a good indication that it has
been well taken care of, but other than that?

The model I am thinking of will definitely be a Quattro model, as the
snow and ice here in Montreal is present quite a lot each year. I am
pretty sure I will go for the wagon model, as I haul a lot of items back
and forth from the house in the city to the country house in the
Laurentians. Aiming for the manual transmission mated to the 1.8T 4
cyclinder engine. Is the 6 cylinder engine worth it?

Does anyone know what is the towing capacity of that particular model?

Please let me know what you think of the above, and your suggestions are
welcome.

Thanks,

Chris.

[Steve Sears]

Chris,
I'd be wary of a car that someone got rid of after only a couple of years -
it would seem to me that there is a great potential that they either abused
the car knowing full well that they were going to get rid of it, or so many
bad things happened (control arms, bearings, tires, coil packs, timing
belt?) that they soured to the A4 and the thought of keeping it after the
warranty ran out. The complete set of records would be a good thing to have
for sure, but it would also be a good idea to talk to the previous owner to
find out why they are selling it - and answers like, "I didn't like the
colour"...are hiding the real reason.
Cheers!
Steve Sears
1987 Audi 5kTQ
1980 Audi 5k
1962 and '64 Auto Union DKW Junior deLuxes
(SPAM Blocker NOTE: Remove SHOES to reply)

[Chris]

Good comment in regards to the reason of why would someone be getting
rid of it after just two years. But here in Montreal, there seems to be
a lot of cars on the market that are put on sale by dealers/used car
places which were taken in as trade-ins, which makes it hard to talk to
previous owner. I did take note of the items you mentioned in your
message as things to check when inspecting the car, thanks for those.

Some used car dealers even offer warranties for the vehicles they sell,
making it a sweeter deal. Also, for a 2yr old Audi, the original
manufacturer's warranty ought to cover it still, right?

Chris.

In article <wLkmf.9492$kt5.802547@news20.bellglobal.com>,
steve.sears@SHOESsoil-mat.on.ca says...