- 7,689
- Michigan
- Rallywgn81
Good morning all.
So, the family Mazda 3 is on its last legs. The Michigan roads have beat the snot out of the suspension, the brakes are nearly done, the engine recently started making a worrisome grinding noise and various other little issues are arising.
The wife and I aren't quite ready to take on a new or lightly used car payment just yet. The plan is to find a Subaru in the 5k usd range. Likely a Legacy. Subaru is very common in Michigan, so parts are easy and cheap to come by. I already have a 2.5l I could use/ build if the car has some issues down the road, and various other bits as well. They are reliable, I know how to work on them, I know what to expect from them, it's a safe choice.
But then i ran into this post. https://grandrapids.craigslist.org/cto/d/spring-lake-2004-audi-s4/6882337072.html
It's got more class, more gears and more power than any of the subbies I've been looking at. Less miles than some too. However, Audi's are a bit outside of my mechanical comfort range. From what I read, the time chain tensioner is a weak point and requires the engine to he dropped to be replaced. They tend to just let go with very little to no warning, which is bad news bears since it has an interference head setup. The stealership charges an arm and a leg to replace them, something the tune of 6 grand. Do any of you have experience owning one of these? Is this engine a time bomb waiting to blow at the worse possible moment, or are these engines getting a bad rap? One thing that has me doubting getting the car is the lack of high mileage examples for sale. Out the 20 or so I looked up, only a couple had over 130k on the clock. Mean while there are tons of subbies well over 200k for sale. Is this simply due to numbers, and owners not giving up their cars or because the car is tossed in the heap when people get the 14k bill to replace an engine?
Despite my hesitation, I am still leaning pretty heavily on getting the Audi. I loved the TT my wife owned and I'd like to own something a little more classy and sleeperish than a scoob. If I can be certain I can get another 50k out of the car before the engine goes I'll definitely jump on it. Used engines are only 2-3k and by then we should be in our new house so I'll be able to do the swap myself.
So, good deal or leave it be?
So, the family Mazda 3 is on its last legs. The Michigan roads have beat the snot out of the suspension, the brakes are nearly done, the engine recently started making a worrisome grinding noise and various other little issues are arising.
The wife and I aren't quite ready to take on a new or lightly used car payment just yet. The plan is to find a Subaru in the 5k usd range. Likely a Legacy. Subaru is very common in Michigan, so parts are easy and cheap to come by. I already have a 2.5l I could use/ build if the car has some issues down the road, and various other bits as well. They are reliable, I know how to work on them, I know what to expect from them, it's a safe choice.
But then i ran into this post. https://grandrapids.craigslist.org/cto/d/spring-lake-2004-audi-s4/6882337072.html
It's got more class, more gears and more power than any of the subbies I've been looking at. Less miles than some too. However, Audi's are a bit outside of my mechanical comfort range. From what I read, the time chain tensioner is a weak point and requires the engine to he dropped to be replaced. They tend to just let go with very little to no warning, which is bad news bears since it has an interference head setup. The stealership charges an arm and a leg to replace them, something the tune of 6 grand. Do any of you have experience owning one of these? Is this engine a time bomb waiting to blow at the worse possible moment, or are these engines getting a bad rap? One thing that has me doubting getting the car is the lack of high mileage examples for sale. Out the 20 or so I looked up, only a couple had over 130k on the clock. Mean while there are tons of subbies well over 200k for sale. Is this simply due to numbers, and owners not giving up their cars or because the car is tossed in the heap when people get the 14k bill to replace an engine?
Despite my hesitation, I am still leaning pretty heavily on getting the Audi. I loved the TT my wife owned and I'd like to own something a little more classy and sleeperish than a scoob. If I can be certain I can get another 50k out of the car before the engine goes I'll definitely jump on it. Used engines are only 2-3k and by then we should be in our new house so I'll be able to do the swap myself.
So, good deal or leave it be?