Used Audi - Good Investment ?

Originally Posted by sygyzy

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There are two types of VW/Audi buyers: 1. Ones that are smart enough to read the reliability reports and heed the negative feedback but choose to ignore it because they like the car that much. 2. Those who stick their fingers in their eyes and scream "LALALALALA" so they can't hear a thing, all the way to the dealership.
Very true.

I smell BMW fanboys...

Originally Posted by imageWIS

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From 07' on, Audi no longer provides the maintenance included with the car, but you can still purchase it (for $550 if memory serves me correctly), and IMHO its money well spent. Seriously though, if you are considering leasing, I would consider a BMW, they have much better lease rates and have full maintenance included with every car.

Jon.
I would actually have to disagree with you on that one. Having just shopped around and ending up with a new '07 A4 last month (after also owning '00 and '04 A4s,) I found the Audi rates to be much more favorable than BMW. Residuals were comparable, but Audi's money factor was much lower, and you can generally negotiate a bigger discount off MSRP with the Audi than you can with BMW. End result is that the Audi is much cheaper on monthly payments for a comparable car.

As of '07 model year, the maintenance package is not included, but it costs an extra $550. However if leasing, it is well worth it, because it raises the residual value by one point. Net result is you get the complete maintenance for only about $5/month extra.

As for the original poster's question, I'd say it this way: having now driven A4s for over six years straight, I've never had a single warranty issue, and never had to pay a dime for maintenance other than gas and tires (knock on wood.) But that's not to say I wouldn't be nervous buying a used one. They have had a reputation for certain mechanical issues, and I would certainly think about certified pre-owned or something that would include an extended warranty.

Originally Posted by Bags

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I would actually have to disagree with you on that one. Having just shopped around and ending up with a new '07 A4 last month (after also owning '00 and '04 A4s,) I found the Audi rates to be much more favorable than BMW. Residuals were comparable, but Audi's money factor was much lower, and you can generally negotiate a bigger discount off MSRP with the Audi than you can with BMW. End result is that the Audi is much cheaper on monthly payments for a comparable car.

I am curious as to what Audi has to offer. I am locked in for my incoming 335i (waiting for it to arrive).

The BMW residual is 63% for three years at 12k per year, money factor is
.00180. All maintenance and normal wear and tear items are covered with exception of tires.

Originally Posted by LSeca

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I am curious as to what Audi has to offer. I am locked in for my incoming 335i (waiting for it to arrive).

The BMW residual is 63% for three years at 12k per year, money factor is
.00180. All maintenance and normal wear and tear items are covered with exception of tires.

Well as of a month ago when I got mine, Audi was offering MF of .0008 (~1.9%) with a residual of 59% on a 36mo/12k.

The residual is obviously lower than BMW, but I found that you can negotiate selling price much more on the Audi. Selling price on an A4 should be right around invoice, whereas on a BMW, you're not going to get nearly that much of a discount off of sticker. End result is that the monthly payment on the Audi ends up quite a bit less.

I got a 1,425 dollar over invoice deal and ordered the car to my specs, did not trade in anything either. I feel the BMW deal is solid because of the residual and free maintenance, although your money factor is great! Grats on your new Audi btw.

Originally Posted by Bags

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I would actually have to disagree with you on that one. Having just shopped around and ending up with a new '07 A4 last month (after also owning '00 and '04 A4s,) I found the Audi rates to be much more favorable than BMW. Residuals were comparable, but Audi's money factor was much lower, and you can generally negotiate a bigger discount off MSRP with the Audi than you can with BMW. End result is that the Audi is much cheaper on monthly payments for a comparable car.

As of '07 model year, the maintenance package is not included, but it costs an extra $550. However if leasing, it is well worth it, because it raises the residual value by one point. Net result is you get the complete maintenance for only about $5/month extra.

As for the original poster's question, I'd say it this way: having now driven A4s for over six years straight, I've never had a single warranty issue, and never had to pay a dime for maintenance other than gas and tires (knock on wood.) But that's not to say I wouldn't be nervous buying a used one. They have had a reputation for certain mechanical issues, and I would certainly think about certified pre-owned or something that would include an extended warranty.


The first pro-Audi poster I think.

It seems, however, that you have owned only newer Audis? Or have you had good experience with older ones? Unfortunately, an 05-07 isn't really in the range of what I am hoping to spend.

Originally Posted by Englandmj7

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The first pro-Audi poster I think.

It seems, however, that you have owned only newer Audis? Or have you had good experience with older ones? Unfortunately, an 05-07 isn't really in the range of what I am hoping to spend.

I'm pro-Audi (I own one), just pro-new Audi, not pre-owned.

Jon.

Go with a Civic.

Go to your local public library and look up long term reliability ratings for those cars in Consumer Reports. I can tell you right now they will be pretty dismal.

Pretty much anything German is. If reliability is what you want, you're looking at the wrong country.

Originally Posted by Arethusa

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Pretty much anything German is. If reliability is what you want, you're looking at the wrong country.

Especially reliability when it comes to wining wars...

Jon.

I was once new and enthused about HP and 5spd and shiny fat wheels. Then one day my SDIP (safe driver credit) reached 23 points and I figured that I am not in Italy or Germany where driving is tolerated. I am in US of A where you expected to obey the letter of the law no matter how unfair and preposterous the law is.

So I sold my sports car number 3 and bought myself Lexus.
Few things I 've realized: Once you're inside the car you don't see how it looks. Performance and horsepower is meaningless on god awful roads of my town (Boston). Those Italian bastards stole all the asphalt.
After first excitement of a new car subsides it is just that another boring sedan that gets you from A to B.

So yea get a Civic, as someone said. It is the smartest thing one can do for a car.

Originally Posted by dkzzzz

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I was once new and enthused about HP and 5spd and shiny fat wheels. Then one day my SDIP (safe driver credit) reached 23 points and I figured that I am not in Italy or Germany where driving is tolerated. I am in US of A where you expected to obey the letter of the law no matter how unfair and preposterous the law is.

So I sold my sports car number 3 and bought myself Lexus.
Few things I 've realized: Once you're inside the car you don't see how it looks. Performance and horsepower is meaningless on god awful roads of my town (Boston). Those Italian bastards stole all the asphalt.
After first excitement of a new car subsides it is just that another boring sedan that gets you from A to B.

So yea get a Civic, as someone said. It is the smartest thing one can do for a car.

Good god man! Your automotive soul has been sucked out of you! You need to get to the Autobahn, STAT!

Jon.

Hahah i am planning to sell my volkswagen and get a audi A4 1.8T quattro. THey r good car depends how u view it and compare them to!

I drove VW for quite a bit of time, they are good drive and stuff I believe the audi 1.8T would be too. As someone said timing belt do cost a fortune, if u can do it yourself that would be way cheaper.

In fact if u want to make ti go even faster, 1.8T or 2.0T engine would be better choice over 2.6 2.8 3.0L engine. Even though people do put supercharger in those large displacement engine however the power to weight ratio is lower than the 1.8T with larger turbo (K04s or GT28RS + Chip mod + exhaust mod).

I did be allover Audi 1.8T..they r sexy beast.

Cheer,
Dub.