Audi S6 V10 - am i crazy?

[Fenixgoon]

Arnott and one other company sells rebuilt shocks for ~400 a corner; not really worth replacing with fixed suspension imo. Plus the car has a lift mode that adds extra ~2in of height, I found it super handy in snow behind our house
https://www.dropbox.com/s/d9sn68cdvjvge3s/2014-01-05 14.38.54.jpg?dl=0

oh wow that's not bad at all. i thought an air suspension would be crazy $$$, but 400/corner isn't really any worse than a decent fixed suspension.

 

[Fenixgoon]

Bump, because I found a stunning S8 online for a steal of a price. how do I buy a car that is on the other side of the country? I am seriously looking into trading in my car and bike (the bike is honestly too fast for the street. I pretty much just want to do track now)

 

[jlee]

Bump, because I found a stunning S8 online for a steal of a price. how do I buy a car that is on the other side of the country? I am seriously looking into trading in my car and bike (the bike is honestly too fast for the street. I pretty much just want to do track now)

I've done NH-NJ, AZ-OR, AZ-NV, and AZ-NM so far. I'd have it checked out by an Audi shop before anything, but once you're (very very) confident, buy a one-way flight and drive back (or have it shipped).

 

[Fenixgoon]

I've done NH-NJ, AZ-OR, AZ-NV, and AZ-NM so far. I'd have it checked out by an Audi shop before anything, but once you're (very very) confident, buy a one-way flight and drive back (or have it shipped).

with gas prices so low, shipping is way cheaper than driving. the benefit would be knowing that nothing happened to the car along the way (or if something did, it was under my care). plus days on end of hearing that glorious V10

if i went the shipping route, how is payment/title transfer handled? do you just mail stuff back and forth?

all the research i've done, plus talking to halik, points any "dealbreaker" issues to the S6. no real S8 problems aside from what i'd consider relatively minor stuff, which the seller has already taken care of.

 

[Wuzup101]

Friend of mine recently purchased a vette from a guy out in California off of the corvetteforum (we are on the east coast). After they agreed on terms, he just had his bank send a bank check and arranged shipping. The seller worked with him to get the car on the shipping trailer and mailed him the title. It was actually pretty easy.

 

[Midwayman]

Bump, because I found a stunning S8 online for a steal of a price. how do I buy a car that is on the other side of the country? I am seriously looking into trading in my car and bike (the bike is honestly too fast for the street. I pretty much just want to do track now)

I write up a contract and put down a deposit pending passing an inspection to your satisfaction. Buy a RT ticket and fly out to check it out. Have it checked at an Audi dealer (a different one if audi is selling it) and then drive it home. I wouldn't have a problem buying a car far away, you just have to be prepared to walk if something shows up, and have the deal in stone so they can't try and leverage you having flown in to change the deal.

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

One of my partners at work had a V10 S6 for about a year. I never drove or rode in it, unfortunately. To me it's a compelling package I would love to own, though I might not love paying to maintain it. He is a guy who swaps cars often and ended up trading it for a new A4 - he found the S6 had a brittle ride that didn't agree with him.

 

[Fenixgoon]

Friend of mine recently purchased a vette from a guy out in California off of the corvetteforum (we are on the east coast). After they agreed on terms, he just had his bank send a bank check and arranged shipping. The seller worked with him to get the car on the shipping trailer and mailed him the title. It was actually pretty easy.

how did your friend handle inspection of the condition of the vehicle? did he just have the seller take it to a shop for checkout?

edit: working on clearing out my garage (getting trade-in quotes for car and bike). test driving an A8L on friday or saturday. sure it's not the same exact car, but it will give me a feel for what driving a big car is like compared to my genesis coupe. if i like it, i think i'll contact seller and try and arrange for flight/test drive.

 

[Wuzup101]

how did your friend handle inspection of the condition of the vehicle? did he just have the seller take it to a shop for checkout?

edit: working on clearing out my garage (getting trade-in quotes for car and bike). test driving an A8L on friday or saturday. sure it's not the same exact car, but it will give me a feel for what driving a big car is like compared to my genesis coupe. if i like it, i think i'll contact seller and try and arrange for flight/test drive.

He didn't do a PPI. The car only had 10k miles on it. Judgement call on his part, but I probably would have done the same thing.

Do you plan to fly in / drive back or ship? If you plan to ship you'll need to do a bit more arranging with the owner. If you are going to fly in it should be pretty easy to schedule a PPI while you are there.

 

[Fenixgoon]

He didn't do a PPI. The car only had 10k miles on it. Judgement call on his part, but I probably would have done the same thing.

Do you plan to fly in / drive back or ship? If you plan to ship you'll need to do a bit more arranging with the owner. If you are going to fly in it should be pretty easy to schedule a PPI while you are there.

planning to ship. with gas prices so low, it's much cheaper than driving back.

my thought was to fly in, test drive, and if i want it, arrange shipping with him and hand him a check (either on the spot and get the title right away, or mail it to him when I get back to los angeles).

 

[Q]

Just a bit of info for those who are looking for cars out of town, a good service I used to look at my last car was AiM Mobile Inspections. They send a person to check the car out, take pictures, test drive, give ratings, etc. Was only about $120 and I was very happy with it. Not saying this should be used for your car Fenix, but for someone who's looking at a lower value car that isn't worth driving far it may help!

 

[Fenixgoon]

test drive of a local S8 scheduled for saturday it has fewer miles (55k vs 120k) but doesn't have some of the mods and whatnot. it's actually priced quite reasonably though, for a dealership (32k for dealer car vs. 24k for private sale car)

 

[jlee]

test drive of a local S8 scheduled for saturday it has fewer miles (55k vs 120k) but doesn't have some of the mods and whatnot. it's actually priced quite reasonably though, for a dealership (32k for dealer car vs. 24k for private sale car)

An extra $8k is a lot.

 

[Fenixgoon]

An extra $8k is a lot.

right, but if you put the numbers into edmunds calculator, 32k is the dealer price edmunds gives. so i guess i should have qualified that

 

[merlion]

I would certainly prefer a car with 55k miles vs. one with 120k. That has to account for a lot of that extra $8K.

 

[jlee]

I would certainly prefer a car with 55k miles vs. one with 120k. That has to account for a lot of that extra $8K.

Oh, I agree. However, 32k is approaching / into 09+ CTS-V territory.

 

[Herr Kutz]

Wow, I just checked how much it would cost me to insure a 2008 Audi S6 V10 and for the same coverage limits its as cheap as insuring a honda accord/toyota camry. Wtf?

 

[ultimatebob]

I got rid of my Audi when I had to pay $600 for a blown circuit board in the radio and another $100 for a replacement "credit card holder" (it's a change tray).

When they quoted me $1,800 for a timing belt change on my A4, that was the last straw.

Yeah, yeah, I know... I could have got a garage to do it for half of that.

 

[Fenixgoon]

and yeah, insurance on an S8 is $200/yr less than my genesis coupe, despite having over double the power, haha

 

[halik]

Wow, I just checked how much it would cost me to insure a 2008 Audi S6 V10 and for the same coverage limits its as cheap as insuring a honda accord/toyota camry. Wtf?

That's interesting, my premium actually nearly doubled when I went from a 911 to the S8. It was all in the comprehensive and collision, cost of aluminum body repair is easily double than of a steel car.

 

[Fenixgoon]

here's my short test drive review:

the engine is buttery smooth. milltek exhaust strongly recommended though for improved audio
the interior. good god. i'm not a dash stroker, but the carbon fiber trim was freaking gorgeous.
handling - for a 4400lb car, it felt smaller than it actually is. obviously it will understeer at the limit.

i'm still torn between the 55k mile car and the 126k mile car though. "newer" and not as many goodies (milltek exhaust primarily) versus "used" and more goodies (milltek exhaust, nicer wheels, upgraded brake rotors, upgraded fog lights)

 

[rifken2]

Which one is closer to a major service?

 

[Fenixgoon]

Which one is closer to a major service?

in strict maintenance intervals, they're both 10k miles away from an oil change

the 126k mile vehicle has already had the carbon cleaning done. the 55k mile vehicle would eventually need that. other than that, it's just oil changes, basically

 

[rifken2]

If it is changes mainly and you can do small things yourself, changing sensors and such, I would save the money and get the higher mileage car.

 

[halik]

If it is changes mainly and you can do small things yourself, changing sensors and such, I would save the money and get the higher mileage car.

I would look at the cost per mile you'd be paying (ie how much more for how many fewer miles). I think either one of those will need new air springs and upper control arms, so it's really a question how much are miles worth to you (and conversely how much depreciation you're willing to face).

I initially was going for a 58K mile car, no B&O option, that sold when I was on the way to the dealership with a cashiers check (shady ford store) for $32K. Ended up with an 80K mile car with B&O for $26.

IMO updated fog lights = someone ran it into something.