Search the Community

Hi all. I'm in the process of buying an A4 (2001) Sport Quattro 2.5TDi with 130k miles. This is my first Audi and also my first 4wd car so any advice is appreciated. I'm fairly set on buying a car I went to see last night and looking for advice on a few things I noticed. Took it for a short test drive late last night, a quick burst down some A road, a dart around town and some squiggly residential streets when I started heading back to my own house instead of the sellers and got quite lost in somewhere I've lived for nearly 3 years. It pulls like a train, even compared to my current car that pulls like a train, the engine is quiet with no funny noises, thumps or clunks that scared me. The car has been sat for a month but before that the wings, bumpers and bonnet had been fully resprayed, the interior is tidy aside from the odd switch or button with worn off markings. The timing belt was changed 20k ago, I don't know if the water pump was also done. Google tells me this is vital (opinions please) The things I'd like to question are: The brake pedal was quite long (though not all the way to the floor) and quite soft without a huge amount of braking effort (I didn't head butt the steering wheel, but it stopped). It feels like they need bled, it might just be unused pads and discs from the month but wondering if there's anything else that you guys think it might be? Wheel wobble that feels positively from the front drivers side wheel, I'd have put it down to a badly balanced wheel but if there's anything else it might be, let me know. A scraping/grinding noise from front passenger wheel well but only when turning right (from slightly right to mini roundabout right), when we got back and put a torch in we found a shield of some kind behind the leading edge of the brake disc had pushed over ever so slightly and would gently rub the disc when turning right. Does anyone know why this might be pushed over? The handbrake pulls up far enough to push the centre armrest up a touch, is this just an adjustment or would it be stretched and need replacing? As I said at the beginning, this will be my first Audi and also my first 4wd car so a lot of things will be new to me. I'm a tinkerer when I have time so things like handbrake cable, bleeding brakes and replacing pads and discs, having a look at that shield etc are all within my comfort zone. Any help or advise you can give is all very much appreciated. Cheers Shealesy