2007 A4 Buying Advice Please

[Tom.S92]

Hi guys,

I'm new here and looking at buying a 2007 Audi A4 2.0 FSI SLine Special Ed from my local garage and was hoping for a few tips to look out for to get the best deal.

The car has 51,500 miles on the clock and is priced at £5,900. It has 2 service stamps and an MOT advisory for a slightly degraded front ball joint, or something, can't remember exactly what the dealer said. They say they've spent £300 on it themselves on parts such as brake pads, a sensor (didn't specify what) and an air inlet connection. 3 owners from new comes with 1 month warranty.

From that slighlty patchy information, my appologies, what do you guys reckon? And what should I be asking? Waiting back to hear at what mileage the 2 services were done and when the timing belt was last changed, if ever.

Thank you in advance for any help.

 

[jamie_a4]

hey, ive just bought a 2007 a4 2.0 tfsi s line special edition 2 weeks ago! the 220bhp is a nice change from the std 200 bhp lump, got a bit more umph up the rev range

They are good cars just check it boosts up ok, they have 2 main failings the PCV and the DV - neither of which are particuarly expensive, the blacktop engine fitted to the BUL cars in 2007 are a bit more robust with stronger cam followers from what ive researched.

I just bought mine on 137,000 miles and it feels tight as a drum, the only major issue i have is a rattly wastegate on my turbo but its just a one off from what ive been reading on a K03 turbo so yours should be fin.

i paid a damn sight less than your looking at however 51k is low mileage! the only other isue i have now is a leaky coolant flange on the back of the engine block which seems to be another common failing on the tfsi lumps.

Good luck with the car let us know how you get on.

 

[Charlie Farley]

you need to read my thread about the leak Jamie, its in the top section of this forum.
http://www.audi-sport.net/xf/thread...rear-coolant-flange-replacement-guide.305734/

 

[Charlie Farley]

Hi guys,

I'm new here and looking at buying a 2007 Audi A4 2.0 FSI SLine Special Ed from my local garage and was hoping for a few tips to look out for to get the best deal.

The car has 51,500 miles on the clock and is priced at £5,900. It has 2 service stamps and an MOT advisory for a slightly degraded front ball joint, or something, can't remember exactly what the dealer said. They say they've spent £300 on it themselves on parts such as brake pads, a sensor (didn't specify what) and an air inlet connection. 3 owners from new comes with 1 month warranty.

From that slighlty patchy information, my appologies, what do you guys reckon? And what should I be asking? Waiting back to hear at what mileage the 2 services were done and when the timing belt was last changed, if ever.

Thank you in advance for any help.

if you check the MOT status on the gov website , it will show you all the complete MOT history inc advisory items and milage ....worth a look before you splash the cash.

that's price is good really , as the specails eds do sell for more money to be honest...£6k is not expensive ...

 

[jamie_a4]

you need to read my thread about the leak Jamie, its in the top section of this forum.
http://www.audi-sport.net/xf/thread...rear-coolant-flange-replacement-guide.305734/

i know mate was reading it last night very helpful but i just cant be assed at the moment haha! I'll get round to it eventually - its not that bad @ mo

 

[Charlie Farley]

i know mate was reading it last night very helpful but i just cant be assed at the moment haha! I'll get round to it eventually - its not that bad @ mo

don't leavit to long Jamie, my developed the leak at approx 50k , wasn't too bad to start with but , only leaked a small amount but was constant, then a few months later it got a lot worse and the header tank was going down weekly a lot....don't let it get too bad or you may find yourself with an overheating engine very quickly....and you don't want that on a BUL engine.

 

[jamie_a4]

don't leavit to long Jamie, my developed the leak at approx 50k , wasn't too bad to start with but , only leaked a small amount but was constant, then a few months later it got a lot worse and the header tank was going down weekly a lot....don't let it get too bad or you may find yourself with an overheating engine very quickly....and you don't want that on a BUL engine.

might stick some K-seal in it for now... (runs and hides )

 

[jamie_a4]

don't leavit to long Jamie, my developed the leak at approx 50k , wasn't too bad to start with but , only leaked a small amount but was constant, then a few months later it got a lot worse and the header tank was going down weekly a lot....don't let it get too bad or you may find yourself with an overheating engine very quickly....and you don't want that on a BUL engine.

sorry for thread crapping - but just phoned local Audi specialist, theyve quoted me £104 all in with the part & G12 coolant, not worth getting my hands dirty for that tbh! So gonna get it done next tuesday

 

[chris fry]

as you suggested check the cam belt history, regardless of mileage it should be every 5 years i believe, it was a big first bill when i bought mine.

 

[Charlie Farley]

sorry for thread crapping - but just phoned local Audi specialist, theyve quoted me £104 all in with the part & G12 coolant, not worth getting my hands dirty for that tbh! So gonna get it done next tuesday

fair enough, i'd be interested to see the final bill to be honest as I had 3 quotes all from indy's ,and good ones ,cheapest of the 3 was £270 fitted ...even at 2 hrs labour @ £60 per hour +vat will be £144.00 alone without the parts, none of the dealers or indy's I spoke with said it could be done in less than a couple of hours.
keep us upto spec on it.

 

[jamie_a4]

fair enough, i'd be interested to see the final bill to be honest as I had 3 quotes all from indy's ,and good ones ,cheapest of the 3 was £270 fitted ...even at 2 hrs labour @ £60 per hour +vat will be £144.00 alone without the parts, none of the dealers or indy's I spoke with said it could be done in less than a couple of hours.
keep us upto spec on it.

The guy I spoke to on the phone was very familiar with the BUL engine he said they see them on a weekly basis. Said he can get it done in an hour no messing about. He said probably less tbh. Most indys youve spoke to just probably couldn't be *****. This garage I know them there n they are sound just reasonable guys no messing

 

[Charlie Farley]

maybe, I think it's also a southern thing, a bit like wheel refurbing, around here its £380 - £400 for 4 wheel refurbs other parts of the country price are a lot less.....

 

[Tom.S92]

Hi guys, thanks for the replies. Just been to see the car today and I have a few more questions I was hoping you could answer for me please.

First of all I noticed a pool of water under the passenger side front wheel after taking it for a test drive. I did use the air con whilst driving it and know that the air can cause water to drip out from under the car so would that be the correct location for it?

Secondly the car has a few mods such as a Miltek exhaust system and I think it has an upgraded air intake system because I can hear a lot of howling when I foot it, but I was hoping someone could confirm it from the picture below:

 

[Charlie Farley]

yes it does have an upgraded air intake, and if it has a milltek system either full of part then there is a very good chance that the car has been remapped aswell, If I were you i'd be a little bit on the cautious side , don't rush into buying it without getting a better idea of how the cars been used /looked after, just because its been modded doesn't mean its a good buy....

 

[Charlie Farley]

do you have its reg number chap..

 

[jamie_a4]

Carbrino air intake that few quid there!

 

[Tom.S92]

yes it does have an upgraded air intake, and if it has a milltek system either full of part then there is a very good chance that the car has been remapped aswell, If I were you i'd be a little bit on the cautious side , don't rush into buying it without getting a better idea of how the cars been used /looked after, just because its been modded doesn't mean its a good buy....

The reg is MA07 PXV. It looks to be in good condition, has part service history with 2 stamps in the book at 14,000 and 34,000. 3 owners, first owner had it for a month, second owner from 07 - 11 and previous owner from 11-17.

 

[Charlie Farley]

well I have some bad news for you tom....
look at this.
Check the MOT history of a vehicle
either the reg is wrong or the dvla info is wrong...BUL engine is petrol not diesel as is in the MOT data for that reg.
Registration number: MA07PXV

• Vehicle make AUDI
• Vehicle model A4
• Date first used 28 March 2007
• Fuel type Diesel
• Colour Grey

MOT history of this vehicle

• Test date 27 March 2017
• Expiry date 8 April 2018
• Test Result Pass
• Odometer reading 51,171 miles
• MOT test number 8518 6239 5270
• Advisory notice item(s)
  Nearside Front Outer Suspension arm ball joint dust cover deteriorated, but preventing the ingress of dirt (2.4.G.2)

• Test date 4 April 2016
• Expiry date 8 April 2017
• Test Result Pass
• Odometer reading 47,845 miles
• MOT test number 4176 0121 7342

• Test date 1 April 2015
• Expiry date 8 April 2016
• Test Result Pass
• Odometer reading 43,537 miles
• MOT test number 6395 2189 5055

• Test date 8 April 2014
• Expiry date 8 April 2015
• Test Result Pass
• Odometer reading 39,165 miles
• MOT test number 5358 4849 4062

• Test date 9 April 2013
• Expiry date 8 April 2014
• Test Result Pass
• Odometer reading 37,820 miles
• MOT test number 1890 1929 3417

• Test date 26 March 2012
• Expiry date 25 March 2013
• Test Result Pass
• Odometer reading 36,429 miles
• MOT test number 1279 7688 2497

• Test date 7 February 2011
• Expiry date 6 February 2012
• Test Result Pass
• Odometer reading 34,846 miles
• MOT test number 6467 8813 1037
• Advisory notice item(s)
  front brake discs corroded
  rear brake discs corroded

• Test date 9 April 2010
• Expiry date 8 April 2011
• Test Result Pass
• Odometer reading 32,899 miles
• MOT test number 4501 8969 0002
• Advisory notice item(s)
  Nearside Front Tyre worn close to the legal limit (4.1.E.1)
  Offside Front Tyre worn close to the legal limit (4.1.E.1)

 

[Tom.S92]

well I have some bad news for you tom....
look at this.
Check the MOT history of a vehicle
either the reg is wrong or the dvla info is wrong...BUL engine is petrol not diesel as is in the MOT data for that reg.

That's strange ... It is definitely a petrol though

 

[Charlie Farley]

or on this Gov site it says .
Registration number: MA07 PXV
✗ Untaxed

Tax due: 20 March 2017

✓ MOT
Expires: 08 April 2018

Warning
If you've just bought this vehicle the tax or SORN doesn't come with it. You'll need to tax it before driving it.

If you have taxed, made a SORN or had an MOT it can take up to 5 days for these details to be shown above.

You can check with your bank/building society to confirm your payment was successful.

Vehicle details

• Vehicle make AUDI
• Date of first registration March 2007
• Year of manufacture 2007
• Cylinder capacity (cc) 1984 cc
• CO₂Emissions 192 g/km
• Fuel type PETROL
• Export marker No
• Vehicle status Not taxed
• Vehicle colour GREY
• Vehicle type approval M1
• Wheelplan 2 AXLE RIGID BODY
• Revenue weight Not available

 

[Charlie Farley]

strange the conflicting data, but not unheard off though.

 

[Tom.S92]

So the DVLA has incorrect details?

 

[Charlie Farley]

the MOT is good , not sure where I saw exp 2017 ....probably in my head..lol

 

[andy tyler]

sorry to hijack this thread. im looking for the same thing 2.0tfsi cab 2006-2008ish. dont think id touch something thats been modified or only has 2 service stamps. can i ask what is ''special''about the special edition?? cant seem to see anything about it. Ps... is a 1 month warrenty legal? thought traders were obliged for 3 months anyway

 

[Tom.S92]

the MOT is good , not sure where I saw exp 2017 ....probably in my head..lol

Haha, what would your advice be at this stage? Should I contact the DVLA to query their information? What website did you use to get the first set of details?

Thanks

 

[Charlie Farley]

If you look at the milage covered from april 2010 to now the car has covered 19k miles in 7 years so break that down a bit more , that's only 2k a year.
You can see from the milages between years that it's not been used very much , that could be a very good thing or not but depends on the maintance history of the car.
In an ideal world that milage would be great, but these engine don't like being sat around, they need to be used properly and on a regular basis, not just a quick spin down to the shops and back.
My old bus was the same, only had 29k when I bought it in june 2014 , I had so many problems with it for the milage it is bonkers...on 56k and its behaving itself but not after a lot of replacement parts under warranty.

 

[Charlie Farley]

Haha, what would your advice be at this stage? Should I contact the DVLA to query their information? What website did you use to get the first set of details?

Thanks

just put that reg into ECP and it also shows a petrol A4 , so I think the car check on the gov website is correct, the MOT checker on the gov site may have have incorrect data due to an error in data entered....
Best way would be to check by the chassis number, to confirm , that's deffo a 2.0tfsi engine in the car chap so based on the latter data i'd ignore the first info.

 

[Tom.S92]

If you look at the milage covered from april 2010 to now the car has covered 19k miles in 7 years so break that down a bit more , that's only 2k a year.
You can see from the milages between years that it's not been used very much , that could be a very good thing or not but depends on the maintance history of the car.
In an ideal world that milage would be great, but these engine don't like being sat around, they need to be used properly and on a regular basis, not just a quick spin down to the shops and back.
My old bus was the same, only had 29k when I bought it in june 2014 , I had so many problems with it for the milage it is bonkers...on 56k and its behaving itself but not after a lot of replacement parts under warranty.

What type of problems did you experience? I'm stuck on what to do

 

[Charlie Farley]

I best not tel you tom as it may influence your descision too much in a negative way and that wouldn't be fair on you to be honest......if they are offering a warranty make sure it worth having to start with, make sure its got as much history as possible , well any history really and receipts for work done.
It sounds like a nice car tom but you just have to be aware of the possible problems involved with it....Mine is a great car and I have no plans to sell if for the foreseeable future, its been problematic yes but that's in the past....
Go with what you feel you should do, if you like it and feel happy with it then that's all that really matters ....sure there will be problems in the future that's the nature of the beast, but if we all avoided cars because they might be a problem or may have possible issues then we'd all miss out on some great cars...

 

[Tom.S92]

I best not tel you tom as it may influence your descision too much in a negative way and that wouldn't be fair on you to be honest......if they are offering a warranty make sure it worth having to start with, make sure its got as much history as possible , well any history really and receipts for work done.
It sounds like a nice car tom but you just have to be aware of the possible problems involved with it....Mine is a great car and I have no plans to sell if for the foreseeable future, its been problematic yes but that's in the past....
Go with what you feel you should do, if you like it and feel happy with it then that's all that really matters ....sure there will be problems in the future that's the nature of the beast, but if we all avoided cars because they might be a problem or may have possible issues then we'd all miss out on some great cars...

You have some wise words sir . I'm really not sure. I loved the car and everything about it, personally it didn't feel remapped to me as it didn't feel that fast. It was fast, felt like the stated 6.9secs 0-60 but not modified. As you can tell I really want the car as the upgrade from my current 56 reg SEAT Leon FR PD170 would be amazing but I'm concerned about what's been said. The service history is lacking but that's not to say it hasn't been done privately but it's also not to say it just hasn't been done at all. The garage are enthusiastic about it, but they would be as they're selling it. The 1 month warranty is short but has an option to extend to a year for £250. If I was going to buy it my plan was to take it to my local independent garage and have him check the car over for any faults whilst it's still in warranty. Then possibly get him to service it and replace the timing belt for piece of mind. Is it possible to see if a car has been remapped using VAGCOM or something?

 

[Tom.S92]

sorry to hijack this thread. im looking for the same thing 2.0tfsi cab 2006-2008ish. dont think id touch something thats been modified or only has 2 service stamps. can i ask what is ''special''about the special edition?? cant seem to see anything about it. Ps... is a 1 month warrenty legal? thought traders were obliged for 3 months anyway

As far as I'm aware the equipment options and the 217bhp engine are all that are different. May be wrong, sure someone on here can help you better though. Take a look on Parkers.co.uk

S Line standard equipment

• CD
• Cloth seat trim
• Full size spare wheel
• Heated mirrors
• Lumbar support
• Rear electric windows
• Space saver spare wheel
• Sports seats

S Line optional equipment

• Audio remote
• Isofix child seat anchor points
• Parking sensors

S line special edition standard equipment

• Audio remote
• CD
• Heated mirrors
• Isofix child seat anchor points
• Leather seat trim
• Lumbar support
• Rear electric windows
• Space saver spare wheel
• Sports seats

S line special edition optional equipment

• Cloth seat trim
• Full size spare wheel
• Parking sensors

 

[Charlie Farley]

That's the thing, the a4 B7 is a heavy car and as such they don't feel fast in the same way as a hatch does, but, they are very nippy.
The 2.0tfsi BUL engine was 220 from the factory with a different ecu map to the others except the DTM which shares the same engine and ecu etc, well the BUL is a different engine anyway.
The Quattro variant is a big old lump and the 4wd just gets the car down the road so well, no messing around ,no drama with wheelspins, just rapid forward motion.

The B7's do fly with or without a remap, but I suspect the car you have tried will have been remapped, if the owner went to the expense of the carbonio intake and milltek system it is very unlikely he just put them on without a remap, it would have been a pointless excerice as the gains would not have been worth the cost, to get the most from those few mods a remap would have been pretty well a deffinate requirement.
I bet if you got it on a dyno it would be showing around the 260-270 mark, mines at a sensible 250 without either of those two mods, but remaps can be good , bad or just average depending on what company did it.

My old bus really flies , and more importantly it makes me smile everytime I drive it.....that alone makes owning it worth every penny of the cost involved, not many cars make me grin and smile when driving them and I've had a fair few over the years, but for the car it is , it fantastic.
A few of my friends that are also petrol heads like myself have taken my old bus out for a blat, and they all come back with big grins, it says it all tom.

And also a great car for modding in general....BBK,s alloys ....loads of stuff to do, so they go as well as they show..

 

[Tom.S92]

The exact reason I want the car. The joy to drive one.

My hope in this situation is that because the previous owner has gone to the effort to purchase and fit reputable parts e.g. Miltek and Carbonio they have gone to the effort to get a good remap. Otherwise wouldn't they just buy budget brands off ebay? The garage have no documentation for either so all I can do is assume .

I think I will get the car and just be cautious and like I said get it checked by my local garage who I trust. I just can't turn it down now I've driven it.

 

[Charlie Farley]

Good luck with it Tom, and don't forget you'll get all the info etc you could ever need from this forum, any pics of it , I think you'd be wise to get the cambelt/waterpump done , as it may be overdue , since there is no record of it being done at any point recently it would be wise to consider it important.

 

[Tom.S92]

Good luck with it Tom, and don't forget you'll get all the info etc you could ever need from this forum, any pics of it , I think you'd be wise to get the cambelt/waterpump done , as it may be overdue , since there is no record of it being done at any point recently it would be wise to consider it important.

Thank's Rob, really appreciate you taking the time to help. Just one more question if you're able to answer and don't mind. Do you know if it is possible to identify a remap and remove one if discovered?

 

[Charlie Farley]

I'm not really 100% on the format with B7 etc, I was lead to believe remaps etc can be seen with certain diag software etc , as I've never had the need to delve into that area myself I can't really say for deffo though.
I have vcds which I run regulary to keep ontop of any possible errors etc but not delved into the program to see if it covers ecu mapping data and programing, i'm sure other guys on here will know though, sorry I cant help you on this particular issue.

rob

 

[Tom.S92]

Just a thought but the car didn't happen to belong to anyone on here did it?

It's located in Bretton, has the mods as I described, in like a silvery grey colour, reg MA07PXV.

Long shot but would be extremely helpful if it was.

Found the sale video if it helps:

 

[jamie_a4]

go for it tom, ive had mine just over 2 weeks now n this is how it looked/looks

 

[DieselJake]

Lookin' good!

Car your looking at sounds fine, people are just paranoid.

Stick in a cheap eBay bluetooth OBD2 fault code reader and if it brings nothing up and drives like a dream with no rust etc buy it.

True enthusiasts don't have service stickers as they want the best stuff in and want the service to be done correctly (by themselves). To elaborate yesterday my girlfriends mom got her car two year old car back from a main dealer who hadn't tightened the sump plug properly after a service, if we didn't notice oil ******* all over the drive it would have been game over.

 

[mancdan]

Small world - I went to see this car at Evans Halshaw Bretton a couple of weeks ago, basically the day after it had come in.
They couldn't let me test drive it as their mechanics had not checked it and if something happened to me on the test drive then they would be liable blah, blah, blah. (wish they had told me that before the 70 minute drive to get there)

It was a few hundred quid over my budget anyway so left it at that.

Good luck if you purchase.