Looking for advice

wb2o15

Hi everyone...looking to buy my first used car. I will need to be versatile for a family (two parents, two young kids), as it will be an around-town vehicle, a sometimes commuter vehicle, and a weekend outdoor adventuring vehicle. There is a 2003 Audi A4 Avant Quattro (V6) that is available, for about 6000. It has 122k miles on it...good maintenance, had the timing belt replaced at 100k. However, I've come across some concerns this model sometimes requires frequent and expensive maintenance once the mileage is this high. I've read some other things that suggest its great and can be going strong at 200k. I'm prepared to pay for some fixes, obviously, on a car with this many miles, but I'd like some general advice: does this seem like a good purchase? a good value? and what are the chances this car is a lemon?

thanks much

tjc78

Audi typically doesn't rank very high on reliability. I'd stay away from one with that many miles. Any car with over 100k is going to cost you some money to maintain but with Audi those costs will be much higher than a Honda/Toyota or a domestic.

Mr_Shiftright

****Absolutely, positively NOT. **** Maintenance and repair costs are extremely high and reliability of that year model is highly suspect. If you want me to scare you--how about $4000 to replace the catalytic converters? or $1000 for the headlights should someone back into you?

markcincinnati

If OWNERSHIP is important to you, ignore the following: you can lease a new "fill-in-the-blank" entry level premium car from MANY Manufacturers (both foreign and domestic) with a full warranty that is statistically likely to cost less than buying this car and facing potentially breathtakingly expensive repairs and -- unless you're used to it -- eye popping "routine" maintenance bills.

I may be accused of playing games with words, but this is not my intent. I have, historically, had very little problem with Audi RELIABILITY (and my wife and I, combined, have had 31 Audis dating back to 1977.) The problem is with Audi (and many other brands, too): DURABILITY.

I would argue that you should look for a brand that is well-known (and I'm not just talking about word of mouth, well known) for durability (and, of course good reliability is probably something you would want too).

This may mean "Acura, Honda, Lexus, Toyota and Ford F150 trucks," for all I know. And, if that list doesn't float your boat, well, look into the durable and reliable cars by using the device you're reading this on and simply google every possible combination of things you can think of to pull up "lists" of durable and reliable cars -- by brand and model and year of manufacture.

Me, I'd take a look at any one of the dozens of sub-vented lease offerings from companies in the Western and Eastern hemispheres. I've seen some crazy commercials lately touting leases hovering around the $200/mo mark for as little as 24 months -- and some of them don't require a down payment.

Of course if you must OWN the vehicle, my advice would be to see what is out there in your price range that qualifies as a CPO designation-capable car.

One last piece of "advice," if you are thinking of moving forward with the deal, take the car to someone (not the dealer) who you can PAY to give your potential new car a "physical" -- with a report card outlining and detailing the cost of the things that are likely to go wrong based on a the technician's most well-informed judgement.

BTW, I did have a 2003 Audi product (an allroad), and I would say it was bullet proof -- but, then again, I got rid of it before 50,000 miles.

That's my story, and I'm stickin' to it.