Used 4.2L A6's going cheap-what's up?

[Craig D. Niederst]

The 4.2 timing belt job is pretty expensive, and the interval for the 4.2 is
indeed 90k according to Audi. There have been quite a few posts on AudiWorld
concerning the change interval, and most seem to wait to close to 90k for
the change. I believe they are basing this on the fact that when Paul
Waterloo did the belt on his A8 at ~60k, the belt was still in near perfect
condition. None of the 60k+ 4.2's I've inquired about have had their belt
changed yet. Most of the ones on eBay are off lease cars (even the ones with
70k generally), so their owners wouldn't bother with the expense for a car
they are just turning in.

Craig
'92 100S (117k)


-----Original Message-----
From: Kent McLean [mailto:kentmclean at mindspring.com] 
Sent: Tuesday, March 29, 2005 8:26 PM
To: Craig D. Niederst
Cc: quattro at audifans.com
Subject: Re: Used 4.2L A6's going cheap-what's up?

Craig D. Niederst wrote:
> I've been looking for the right '00-'01 A6 4.2 for awhile now, and check
on
> eBay regularly to see what's available. From my experience, cars in the
> sub-$20k range generally have 70k+ miles on them (especially true for
> '01's). 

At 70K+ miles and 5 years, you want to make sure if/when the
timing belt was changed.  That can be a $2000 maintenance bill.
I believe Audi says every 90K miles, while the paranoid says
every 60K miles or 5 years. That age/mileage is on the cusp.

A car with higher mileage and the timing belt service done may
be a better buy.

--
Kent McLean
'94 100 S Avant, "Moody"
'89 200 TQ, "Bad Puppy" up in smoke