quattroworld

Hi there,

I know you guys have probably seem a million requests just like this one, but I'd really appreciate any help you can lend. I'm looking at buying a used 2001 A8. I'm a medical student in Kirksville, MO, and really looking for a nice winter car. My whole family drives Audi's, so it's something I've been raised on and am pretty familiar with. We even have a "guru" back in Ohio. I'm probably going to be moving back to the Akron/Canton area (where the guru is nearby) within the next year, so that's a big perk for me. This would be a second car, mainly for winter and longer trips as I drive a ratty hatchback normally-- I bought it when I was at Ft. Bragg and it never really snowed or got that cold there!!

Here's the car's story:
Owner owns a car dealership and took it in on trade. Really loved the car and drove it himself for a year. Then took a road trip to NM and back. On the way he got caught in a monsoon that was bad enough that his family had to pull over and stopped to get lunch. Got back home and the car was in limp mode. Had it towed to the dealership and the mechanic said the TCU got wet and the code is "failed communication with tcm." The car still runs and moves in forward and reverse. Looking at the pictures, everything else is immaculate (assuming I can trust the pictures).

Here's my story:
I'm 3 hours away. I don't want to drive out there and waste my time. I'm hoping to go after finals and stop while driving home for break. Doing all the research I can, it seems like the issue is exactly what he's talking about. I'm planning on ordering a new TCM (off ebay or wherever someone can recommend one) and swapping them out. If the car runs and drives fine, I think it's ok? I plan on using the used car buying guide from Audi Pages to check the car out.

The car:
2001 A8 long
145k miles
$1,700


I don't have all the info yet on all the maintenance logs but I will hopefully hear back from his mechanic tonight about it all. I know the price is really low but talking with him he doesn't have the means to easily repair it out there. And he's even more in the middle of nowhere than I am, so I can understand that.

Again, any help would be greatly appreciated!!

Respectfully,
Matt