JesseL

Hey everyone,

My dad and I have been searching for a first car for me for about three months now, and came across what we thought was a good deal on an 06 black A4 2.0t Quattro 6MT. It has 91,000km, leather, no sunroof (I thought leather only came with Sunroof pckg?). CarProof says it was registered in Ontario in 05, renewed registration (in ON) in 09. Auctioned off in 09 and has been in Calgary since. Car has a major paint chip on right-rear side of body, right above the wheel well. Also has pretty severe leather crack in driver's seat. Cracked but not ripped all the way through. They will detail the car before delivery, excluding the crack in the leather.

We're in Calgary, the dealer is in NW Calgary.

Asking price 15,999. We gave offers, their best price was 15,400 firm. Fees were a little over 1k, included etching, some road caution fee (I forgot exactly what it was called) for $400 which included free tire and rim replacement if we were to ever damage them on the road (salesguy was kind of vague about this), and inspection fees and other random fees that all seemed way too overpriced. To put the car on the road would probably be around 17,200 after fees and taxes?

91,000km means timing belt is coming up, right?

Salesguy said we couldn't test drive it because they had just acquired the car in trade and it hadn't been through the shop for safety inspection yet. He said we could put a 100% refundable deposit on it and he would ring us hopefully mid-next week for us to come drive it. We gave $500 deposit with the condition of satisfactory test drive.

So - we've never owned an Audi before. I will be primary driver on the car. I love the car but my dad and I are kind of sketched out about Audi's reliability. I've read online that 05 and up is all good. How true is this? We were looking for an 07 GLI for the longest time but couldn't find a good deal on one.

We will be pushing 17k easily to put this car on the road. Assuming the test drive proves the car is in good running condition, how good is the price? Alot of dealerships in Calgary are asking more than 17k with more km's than this one, but I think their trim packages may be a bit more inclusive. On the flipside, Black Book's average asking price for an 06 2.0t Quattro A4 right now is $15,750.

What kinds of things should we be looking for during the test drive? Ontario car means we should also look for rust in undercarriage?

Also - the dash had controls for heated seats, but we never tried them. Heated seat controls = heated seats? Haha, I know this is definitely a stupid question but you never know, alot of cars have Bluetooth controls but without Bluetooth set up and ready to go. Just want to make sure. Did any B7 A4s come with a heated steering wheel?

Last question: we could find an 06 fully loaded Jetta 2.0t for less than 17k. Is the 4-5k premium for the Quattro and Audi badge worth it? I honestly didn't want to spend much more than 15k-16k on the car, but the fees and taxes are massive.

Thanks so much in advance, I know I've got alot of questions so I will really appreciate the help!

Jesse

EDIT: I just realized that maybe this post belongs more in the Calgary Audi forum. If mods agree then please move it! Thanks.

a4audi4fun

My 2c worth.

Audi statement for 2.0T timing belt is 175,000km though I'd probably do that at about 150,000 km so you have a couple years at least.

Etching - not needed; they etch a serial number on all the windows for theft recovery purposes

Rim protection - not needed; it's an insurance policy against hitting a pothole and wrecking the tire and rim. Your own car insurance might cover this already under comprehensive.

Early B7's seem to be prone to cam follower issues; should have that checked and replaced if needed. PCV is also a weak spot. See if you can fairly easily remove the oil filler cap when the car is idling; if it's stuck on really tight then PCV needs to be checked.

I thought all Canadian quattro B7's came with leather, sunroof & heated seats. Get the VIN number and ask Audi of Canada what the fiactory fitted options were.

Yes there likely will be some undercarriage rust as it's was an Ontario. My first Audi (98 B5) as a Montreal lease return and the only rust related problem I had was after about 10 years the ABS sensor wheel (one with the teeth) "fell" apart. Wasn't overly expensive to get replaced.

Check the operation of every electrical control - that's proably the week spot of every Audi and can be expensive to repair depending upon where the problem is.

Beyond that give the car a good look over; looks for signs of any major accident damage.

Good luck - you will love driving an Audi; i know my wife and I love driving our 2 Audis (B6 & B7).

JesseL

Thanks audi4fun. The salesguy said that those fees were mandatory... how do we argue against that? We don't want etching and we don't want rim protection... they're ridiculously priced, too, at 300-400 dollars each. Just an insane amount of money for nothing. Anyone have any experience with dealer fees like this?

a4audi4fun

Nothings mandatory but it does depend upon how much you want that particular car. If you really want that car, then you need to decide if the $800 is worth it. Other option is to write a check for the price less that $800 and do you want me to sign this or not.

Unfortunately most of us get to the point where we really want that particular car. Dealers sell cars every day whereas most of us only buy once every x years so we are usually at a disadvantage. Walking away really is our only option and remember there will ALWAYS be another car that you fall in love with; it's just a question of when .

hojimoe

b7 A4's are great, the b8's look a little more aggressive but the 3.0 for the s4 annoys me!

as for etching, I didn't think they could do that after the initial sale of the car? Most audi's where etched from the sale date I thought? I'm second owner of mine and it was etched at purchase

rim protection? seriously I haven't heard that one before - ask the dealer to show you the "LAW" that says that's mandatory? or is it mandatory from that dealership? lol

I think I can assume it's not from an audi lot - too many if's and but's.....

def. check for excessive rust, my 2006 has only been in ontario and has little to no rust underneath.... my sisters's b6 had the coupling from the downpipe rust and the exhaust fell back in the summer..... minor fix really...if you have the right mech.

I don't have much exp. with the 2.0t as I have a 3.2, but I have driven them - much nicer than the 1.8t my sister owns way smoother and peppier...


quattro is worth it, especially if you are snow driving which you should be in calgary! enjoy it if the sale goes through!

JesseL

Thanks a lot for the replies, guys.

My dad and I thought about it the whole day yesterday, and we think we are going to pass. It doesn't feel right. It's the dealership that claims those fees are mandatory. After we told the salesguy we've never seen the rim protection fee before, he said quote unquote "Every dealership is different, but every dealership has fees." Also, the fact that he wouldn't let us test drive is a little bit odd to us. All in all, it just doesn't feel right.

There was an ad yesterday for an A4 posted that we are going to check out this morning. I called the seller yesterday and he said it has been in two accidents from behind, and that he's had the rear bumper replaced. Just how risky is buying a used AWD vehicle that's been in an accident versus a FWD or RWD vehicle? No distinction? Or is AWD usually worse off, depending on the nature of the accident? Obviously we will have an inspection and text drive and check CarProof and everything before we even consider buying, and yes, we do know that the diminished value five years from now will mean that we will get next to nothing if we do decide to sell it. We plan on driving the car for awhile so this may be a good deal if the car has been fixed up properly!

Thanks again for the help. Comments or opinions on a Quattro that's been in an accident would be appreciated.

a4audi4fun

Straight tracking is critical for an AWD - feel the tread on all four tires to see if there's any alignment related issues. If the alignment is off at all your fingers will catch on the tread edge where the wear is occurring.

Drive the car on a flat area at low speed (parking lot is best) and see if the car wanders when you let go of the steering wheel.

kf3506

there are only two fees that are mandatory in a dealership, the tire levy and the ac fee because they collect on behalf of the government.

Anyway, those fees that he tried to get you on are total bs. Those are usually the things that they try to up sell you in the business office. Those are not mandatory. It's the right thing that you pass on that car, if they are willing to scam you on those "fees" who knows what they say about the car is true.

JesseL

So here's an update guys.

I am now the owner of a 2006 silver 2.0t Quattro A4! We pulled the deposit on the dealership one.

Thanks to all for the useful replies. The car drives straight, audi4fun. There were two accidents from behind, one was a hit and run and another was a minor hit with a crack in bumper. The first hit was a bumper replacement and trunk had to be fixed. Insurance claim for 4k. Second accident didn't even show up on CarFax. The owner was a real nice guy and was completely dead honest about everything. Timing belt and water pump replaced, two sets of rims with summers (pretty much unusable) and winters (one more season left).

The engine seems to have absolutely no problem and has plenty of pull anywhere in the powerband in 4th. So impressive. Passing will be a blast...

Aside from a few stone chips here and there on the front fascia (highway driving between here and Saskatoon) and some dust on the interior, the car is in immaculate condition. Biggest issue is a cracked passenger side foglight (just the cover), but that's to be expected with a 6 year old car. It's silver on platinum leather, btw. All seats heated, sunroof, Audi Symphony (it sounds really good, mids are a little harsh at higher volumes but a little EQing remedies that). No lighting pckg (thinking about upgrading to xenons). I am in love with how this car looks, and with how loaded it is.

We drove away with it for $12,200! 124,000km, mainly highway commuting. Car is originally from Seattle.

Thanks again for the help... I hope to frequent here often and get to know you guys.

First order of business for me: I know you can buy a front license plate delete, but they're about $150-$175 shipped right? You can't just take the front license plate off? I haven't taken a good look at it, just got her home tonight.

DJ_QuiK

Congrats on the audi! You will love it! Just make sure you keep tabs on a few issues you may encounter like the diverter valve, pcv, coilpacks, and especially, i mean most especially the cam follower and cam lobe. All of them have been known issues on the b7. Might want to think of preventative measures and replace them. I would start with having a tech or learning how to check your cam follower. Oh and make sure you check oil levels constantly, the castrol oil the dealer uses just doesnt stand up to thE turbo's heat (theyll tell you 15000 km intervals, my dad has a b7 too and his low engine light came on at 10000). Might wnt to think about changing to a better oil like motul or total.

You pay attention to all these things and that car will love you forever! And maybe after youre done with all of that, you can start modding! Lol! They can go a lot faster and more fun!