Ian F
MegaDork
7/8/18 6:11 a.m.
Knurled. said:
In reply to Vigo :
I found some 4.2 manual trans Allroads for $5kish a while back. All in New England.
A problem (among many) with those as a DD is the absolutely dismal fuel mileage - low to mid teens.
The "recent timing belt" service also scares me a bit. The parts to do that job properly aren't terribly expensive. The tools to do it properly are. Often an ignorant DIYer will use the "mark and pray" method which can lead to expensive tears.
Still... when they are running, an Audi is a very nice car. And $7000 may or may not be a lot of money. Only you can make that risk-reward decision.
Having some experience with modern era Volvos, I don't know if I'd consider a V70R significantly more reliable or less maintenance intensive.
In reply to Ian F :
The tools to do a timing belt on a 2.7 or 4.2 aren't terribly expensive, or you can make them yourself fairly easily with a trip to Home Depot to buy some flat stock and a few long bolts. Or you can line up the belt the way the old one was, no problem. It is the 3 liter that requires the expensive tool kit to do a timing belt, because you MUST remove the cam pullies so you can Loctite the bolts holding the pulleys together.
I have 10k on my S60R with no real issues. It does need front suspension bushings again, but this is what happens when you shuttle 300hp through a front suspension design engineered for 150hp or so. The bushings are just way too small in diameter, so to get enough compliance for a good ride they end up being rather fragile. Fortunately they are simple/easy to change. I also had the driver's window fall off track, which required $6 in regulator sliders/clips to repair. Two things you DON'T get are the VWAG oil leaks, and there is no air injection system so there is no forest of plastic air pipes, or vacuum hoses running near the exhaust system to control the secondary air control valves that fail, if the passages in the head don't plug up first. (Probably 90% of the VWAG emissions failures I have seen were due to secondary air issues, which usually ends up being "everything" because the control valves fail, which pumps exhaust gas upstream, killing the air pump and the plastic lines. Volvo uses variable cam timing to heat up the cat, not air injection)
Met up with my crazy Audi loving buddy last night, he said no go on an Allroad. Doesnt matter, seller never got back to me anyway.
The search goes on...and on...and on...
NGTD
UberDork
7/9/18 9:12 p.m.
The 2.7T like to pop turbos and when they do, you have to pull the engine to change them.
I had one B5 Passat and I will walk to work before I had another one.
