is the 97 audi not a dependable good car to buy?thats what iv been told and i wanted to get some more opinions.

Sure it can be a nice reliable car, just depends on how well it was taken care of / maintained.

It is no less or no more than almost any other car. It would boil down to mantience and how it was driven. I would put the chance of not having problems less than some other imports and some other domestics

Before reaching any sort of sales agreement, be sure to have the vehicle carefully inspected, preferably by an Audi technician.

Perhaps the best thing to keep in mind when purchasing an Audi of that age is that resale value will be significantly lower for those vehicles not equipped with quattro all wheel drive. It is easy to sink into the awd vs. fwd debate, but the fact is that quattro models sell for thousands more.

One must realize as well that Audi parts and repairs can become quite costly and frequent as the mileage climbs.

Yeah it definitly would be a good idea to have the car checked out prior to buying it. Does the seller have the records to the vehicle?

I had bad luck with my last Audi. Had it for less than 2 years and I needed to get it fixed up about 7 times. The last time, the auto transmission was busted so I scrapped it.

Help--I'm thinking of purchasing an A 4, 1997. Car is a beauty. There is a "sound" that is coming from the rear I was wondering about. It has very wide low profile tires on it and I was thinking that it's that. It "hums" and gets louder upon acceleration. After a little while though it quits. Owner has all records but is a strange sort of character so trust (lol) is an issue. Maybe it is a wheel bearing, I don't know. I don't have the time/opportunity to take it to a dealer so.....Any opinions guys? This is the only thing that concerns me. So...help.

No need to bump a year old thread. Could be either the type of tire or the camber of the tire.

Do you know of a mechanic you could take it to and have it checked out quick bfore buying?