Talk me out of an '04 A6 S-Line w/ 100k on the clock

[TheFamilyMan]

Long story short, have some "fun money" to fool around with. My daily commute is around 30mi at most...7mi each way to work and around 15mi each day picking up kids/going to gym. Preferably I'm looking at sporty sedans...BMW's (330I, 525, etc), Lexus GS/IS, Infiniti G35, Acura RL/TL, etc.

Found an '04 A6 Quattro S-Line with 110k on the clock that's within my budget of around 8k. I know cost of ownership can quickly add up with a regular Audi and when you throw in bi-turbo this, AWD that, etc etc, the cost of ownership can be enormous. My normal budget that I keep on-hand at any time for car repairs is around 2k and use that for upkeep. I have a feeling that might not be enough for a car such as this...

I'm researching the service history of the car to find out how well it was maintained and, if it was well-maintained, I will have a full service review of it with my local Audi dealership.

What say thee, oh gods of ATG...go for it or keep waiting for something else?

 

[AdamK47]

Don't

 

[LTC8K6]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Uc-LIr4wD8

 

[PricklyPete]

If you are going that old and are concerned about maintenance, go with the GS. You will hate the day you bought the Audi.

That being said, I have an 2010 A4 that we have had for almost 3.5 years and we haven't had any issues. Just waiting for the warranty to end, then I expect the whole car to give up and implode...I think Audi pre-programs them for this.

 

[gregulator]

Did someone get a tax return?

If you don't enjoy wrenching on your cars, and have the means to do so... then don't buy it. I have owned a few Audis, and don't mind working on them, so they can be a great bargain when people can't stand the repair costs and dump them.

Do you live in a climate that needs AWD?

Honestly, as our economy sits right now, I would say save that $8k. Or it would be better spent on a family vacation to Hawaii!!!

 

[pauldun170]

For 8K, I say go for it.
I'm not saying that year\config Audi is a reliable car. At the very least the turbos are sensitive to maintenance. Slack just the teensiest and the turbos' will have a short life. (clogged oil return lines)
The manual transmission should be trouble free.
Tiptronic not so much.
Cam seals, valve cover leaks aren't unheard of
Couple of modules might crap out.

That's not unheard of any car with that mileage.
Buy @8K
Find a good independent Audi\VW shop.
Up maintenance budget to 3K and start doing your own work..

There are good old Audi's
There are good new Audi's
Finding something reliable and trouble free that in the middle of that range is tough to find.

 

[TheFamilyMan]

Did someone get a tax return?

If you don't enjoy wrenching on your cars, and have the means to do so... then don't buy it. I have owned a few Audis, and don't mind working on them, so they can be a great bargain when people can't stand the repair costs and dump them.

Do you live in a climate that needs AWD?

Honestly, as our economy sits right now, I would say save that $8k. Or it would be better spent on a family vacation to Hawaii!!!

Nah, this isn't tax return money...just have everything taken care of that needs taken care of and this is something I can fart around with.

I enjoy wrenching on cars but don't have a huge assortment of tools to do anything more than tune-ups, replacing radiator, ets. Also, this would be 4th car in 4-car garage so not really any room to do a major gutting of the engine/tranny. I would have to rely on a reputable and reliable Audi mechanic here. There is one here so that wouldn't be an issue...just the maintenance costs and downtime. That's my biggest issue. I don't mind basic maintenance and the occassional part failure (alternator, etc)...it's the major failures of turbos, transmissions, etc that begin to rack up 4k - 5k repair costs and end up a week in the shop at a time.

I don't live in a climate that needs AWD.

Not to sound flippant, but I'm not worried about the economy right now and am in a very good position money-wise. This money I'll use to buy either late 60's/early 70's Detroit steel (Nova, Chevelle, Camaro, etc) and have fun with that or buy something a little more current/upscale that could be used a bit more as a daily driver if I wanted.

Thanks for all the great input...I'll probably end up leaning towards continuing my search. I'm not getting a good indication all servicing was performed up to par on this particular car anyways...and that's not good with turbos and transmission that's as finicky as it is on this particular car.

 

[gregulator]

Since you don't need AWD, I would look at something else. I think you really can't beat the Luxury/Performance of Audi for AWD, but if you can get away with RWD, then you get probably get better performance from a BMW/Lexus. But maybe not in the $8k range. Do you have a good indie shop for all foreign cars? Is $8k your max?

 

[TheFamilyMan]

I've got a good indie shop that has a good reputation and service record for all foreign makes...one shop is geared towards German side of the road and the other tackles the Japanese side of the road.

$8k is where I want to stay for now. If I don't find something that has a solid service history behind it, I won't touch it. The miles on the car don't bother me as much as the way the previous owner(s) took care of it. I wouldn't be apprehensive about buying a car with 150k on the clock if the servicing was meticulous on it and the interior was taken care of.

 

[Midwayman]

Unless you feel fully qualified to work on the car yourself and enjoy doing so, I'd stay far away. I've programmed my own ecu from scratch, done turbo kits, cams, etc, etc and have a fairly extensive set of tools. I would be very wary of such a car. If it wasn't the S series less so, but parts are expensive and mechanic time more so.

 

[ballmode]

G35X and i bet it's quicker too

 

[hans007]

as a guy who sold his 2010 A4 last year for being terribly unreliable for a NEW generation car, i would talk you out of a new audi, let alone a 10 year old one.

buy anyting else really. like spend $10k on cocaine. really

 

[drinkmorejava]

I have a 335 with 86k. 2k would be tight unless I was doing the work myself.

Anyone know when Audi started fixing their electrical systems? I feel like 2004 was around the beginning of it.

I would honestly recommend a 330. It has some power, but still has a regular engine that anyone, including yourself, can work on.

 

[MegaFlop]

Hi,

I registered just so I could respond to your thread

I owned a used A6 2.7T with fewer miles then the one you are looking at. I had it for less than two years.

The car cost me probably $6K in repairs and never at any point in owning it was it completely sound.

It leaked every fluid, to do any engine work requires the entire front end to be removed. There are millions of hoses that can have problems because of the twin turbo setup.

Misc. electrical components had problems. Window regulators were very expensive to replace. The sunroof occasionally would lock up and I would have to reboot the car for it to work again.

Constant battles with CEL codes being thrown.

I have a very competent mechanic who specializes in European cars. He had trouble with the A6 and he assured me that yes I was a dumbass for buying it, and no my situation was not unusual as far as repairs go.

I was so happy when I traded it in for a 2007 Civic SI sedan. (Yes I just wanted something that worked) Zero problems with the Honda, even after Hondata, CAI, Headers, Exhaust, etc..

Currently I'm driving a 2006 300C SRT-8. It also has been trouble free. If I ever own another Audi (unlikely) I will lease it.

 

[Plugers]

I have a 2001 S8 and have had it for about 1.5 years. I has been a great car for me. I've heard the 4.2 is a bit more reliable than the TT, but it seems more of the scare stories online have not been true in my case.

 

[SpatiallyAware]

I am the very first person to come on here defending german cars, but audi deserves its reputation.

The early cars, those older s8s and anything before ~01 are not that bad.

Everything after that is something you only own as a lease and while under warranty.

 

[Fenixgoon]

it's an 04 A4 S-line with 100k on the clock. nothing special. there are many, many, many more fun cars you could buy for the same money.

 

[TheFamilyMan]

Yeah, I think I'm going to let this one die. I'll toss up anything else I come across and see what you guys think about them.

Thanks for everyone and the input.

 

[halik]

Long story short, have some "fun money" to fool around with. My daily commute is around 30mi at most...7mi each way to work and around 15mi each day picking up kids/going to gym. Preferably I'm looking at sporty sedans...BMW's (330I, 525, etc), Lexus GS/IS, Infiniti G35, Acura RL/TL, etc.

Found an '04 A6 Quattro S-Line with 110k on the clock that's within my budget of around 8k. I know cost of ownership can quickly add up with a regular Audi and when you throw in bi-turbo this, AWD that, etc etc, the cost of ownership can be enormous. My normal budget that I keep on-hand at any time for car repairs is around 2k and use that for upkeep. I have a feeling that might not be enough for a car such as this...

I'm researching the service history of the car to find out how well it was maintained and, if it was well-maintained, I will have a full service review of it with my local Audi dealership.

What say thee, oh gods of ATG...go for it or keep waiting for something else?

Which motor?
I had an 02 A6 2.7T couple years back, bought it at 102K to 140K w/o any real issues. The only unexpected maintenance was replace secondary air pipe and reseal valve covers. About $200 in parts and couple hours of my time.

Also in before Camry owners' "omg don't buy german car, but i've never had any experience with them" nonsense. If you plan on paying someone else to do maintenance, you shouldn't be shopping for used anything anyway. Used luxury cars are tremendous value for people that know cars and also why people that have camry/civic money think they're unreliable after paying $120/hr to keep them on the road.

 

[nerp]

There are certain cars that seem to last forever once they get old, like a Crown Vic or something. But an audi from this era, as others have said, is like taking in a troubled woman who could run out of meds at any second. She might be really hot, but, is it worth it?

 

[JulesMaximus]

I am the very first person to come on here defending german cars, but audi deserves its reputation.

The early cars, those older s8s and anything before ~01 are not that bad.

Everything after that is something you only own as a lease and while under warranty.

A good friend of mine works with a guy who is on his second Audi. His first was a 2001 A4, he put a ton of miles on that car but he also put a ton of money in it too over the years he had it. And by a ton I mean a shit ton, like several thousand dollars each year he owned it.

He traded it in on a new A4 a few years ago and he's had trouble with that one too. Audi replaced the transmission under warranty already but they didn't put a new transmission in it, they put in a reconditioned box. He is thinking about getting rid of the car already.

 

[ultimatebob]

I would ask the former owner if the timing belt was already changed. If not, that could blow your 2K repair budget right there if you were crazy enough to let an Audi dealer do it.

I unloaded by 2003 A4 at 95,000 miles just to avoid paying that repair bill.