generic A4 questions

[Taka Mizutani]

I strongly disagree with your assessment that the 1.8T is a bad engine- if
maintained
properly, the engine is fine. It's the same basic engine that has powered
VW/Audi cars
for the last 25 years!

Head gasket and main bearing issues are definitely the exception rather than
the rule.
How do you know that the car hasn't been abused or maintained properly? Was
a full
tear-down done to assess the extent of the problem? Was there any sludge or
significant
build up in the oil passages or elsewhere? What was the condition of the oil
pump?
What was the maintenance interval on the engine, what oil was used, what
filter, how was
the car driven? Was it chipped?

There are a lot of issues that mechanics see on the 1.8T because most people
who aren't
enthusiasts don't understand why you would want to use synthetic oil in a
turbo car (most see
that as unnecessary expense), as well as doing 5k oil changes rather than
7.5k or 10k or whatever
Audi recommended initially. They also don't understand that with the tiny
little K03 turbo, you'd
want to idle the car and cool the engine down while it's running before
shutting down, considering there
is no afterrun system on the 1.8T.

Same reason why people cheap out on tires, even though tires are the only
thing keeping you connected
to the road- I'd rather spend more (as long as I'm able to) on good tires
than get some el-cheapo Pep Boys
specials.

Taka