alexb76

Well, from what I've seen and experienced, a very low milage 997 is not the best thing, as sitting oil is not so good for our sport engines... but, what about other cars?

I am looking at a 2004 Audi A6 with only 16K miles! It's obviously in great shape, but should I be worried about any engine issues such low milage can cause (it has a V8)?

Thanks

rotesAuto

it's an Audi? yes, be worried

fskof

Low mileage or high mileage doesnt matter. What is important is Maintence! If the car, truck, boat, motorcycle, rv, plane has had proper maintence it doesnt matter of the mileage. Always ask for the maintence history!

Look at the members on this forum, some have very low miles and others have very high miles on there vehicles. What matters most is that proper maintence has been performed.

As for the Audi ask the owner for the maintence history. How often was the oil and engine coolant been changed? Was it garaged parked or parked outside? Check the tires for dry rot, also was it parked with a battery tender or not. The battery might need to be replaced. Also ask if all recall"s have been performed because I think there was a recall on the coil's. Have a PPI performed!

If the price is right I would jump all over it.
If I bought it I would change the oil, engine coolant, check the spark plugs, check battery, inspect or replace the tires, check brake pads and rotors and check for oil leaks. Is it a manual or autamatic?

Macster

Sitting around unused is not good for any car engine.

It can be made worse if the car is parked up with contaminated oil which contains acid which of course attacks anything it comes in contact with.

Even if the oil is kept fresh the lack of use means the seals tend to dry out. They shrink. This can't be undone.

What happens is then these can leak.

So you should be concerned -- worried is too strong a term -- about *possible* issues, primarily leaks from an engine or tranny seal.

My advice would be to arrange to get a test ride in the car -- 15 miles long -- and then take the car out as a test driver over the same route. The engine wants to run about an hour.

You want to drive the car in such a way that the engine/drivetrain gets up to temp and remains there a while.

If after the test ride/drive you still like the car -- and you probably will -- have the car inspected for any signs of fluid leaks.

Now based on my experience with my lows miles 03 Turbo this does not consist of just making sure there are no puddles of fluid under the car. The car must be lifted up and a knowledgeable/experienced tech must carefully inspect every seal or gasket or fitting for signs of a fluid at the source.

(My 03 Turbo had its tranny replaced when I had the car in at between 30 and 45K miles for an early tranny fluid service when the tech removed the panels to get at the tranny and spotted a selector shaft seal leaking. No fluid was hitting the ground but the seal was obviously leaking. I might point out this car was a low miles car... I bought the car with just 10K miles on it in 09.)

If the tech finds no leaks that's just fine, as far as it goes. It doesn't mean none will ever appear but at least you know no leaks are currently active. If any are found you can use this to adjust your offer or add a pre-sale condition (get the leak fixed) to your offer.

alexb76

Thanks for the advice, all good.

Problem is that car is not local, it's in PA, and I am traveling there for work and I'm there only a few days, so cannot do a lot of checks, although could test drive and maybe take it to an Audi dealership for a check-up. The car's at a Volvo dealership.

Basically, I kind of have to test drive, do some visual inspection myself and then see if I like it to buy on the spot and ship.

alexb76

I am looking for a good reliable shipper to send a car from PA to WA.

Any ideas? Recommendations...

Thanks

fskof

Good luck! I hope it works out for you. Let us know when you get it checked out! As for the good reliable shipper there are many. My friend used Horseless carraige http://www.horselesscarriage.com/ and was happy with the results but I'm sure others on this forum can give you first hand experience with shippers.

Edgy01

It's like everything. It depends. If you are buying it from a guy in Canada who parked it for months at a time and he did a proper pre-winter servicing (changing of oil and other coolants prior to hibernation) then you may be alright--but every car takes on the personality of the previous owner(s). If they were a stickler for maintenance--preventative maintenance, you are okay. If he's some guy who just had too many cars and the Audi was just one in the fleet, he might not have taken the best of care of it.

Sadly, there are many who buys nice cars, abuse them (because that's all they know) and then they dump them on an unsuspecting buyer.

alexb76

Oh well, guess too late, it's sold already. I suspected it, very rare find... should have jumped on it!

Macster

There's always another car.

alexb76

Thanks, although rarely a 7yr old car with 16K, and in pristine condition, for 16K! Kinda kicking myself, but it was not local, so I couldn't just buy blind.

MJBird993

Bah, I've bought two M5s from far far away, bought them both blind. Here's what you do:

- get pictures
- talk to the owner (useless if it's at a car lot)
- make the deal pending the PPI
- have it taken to a shop for a PPI
- adjust price if necessary
- ship it

In my case, I flew up and drove the first M5 home from Chicago to NC. It was a great car, but it was a BMW so of course it had issues...

The second one also came from IL but that time I had it shipped at considerable expense. When it arrived I discovered that it had the original tires - my fault for not asking more questions - which were not dry rotted but were hard as a rock. That car had only 16K miles on it and was 11 years old. It was fine, but it wasn't as "good" of a car as the first one (which was destroyed in an accident). So I had to buy new tires...

Sometimes you just gots to pay your money and take your chances. At $16K you're not taking a huge risk. I paid a lot more than that for the M5, but after a year I decided to get rid of it and I actually made a small profit.