Repair Engine or Buy/Lease new car?

archer99

My 2012 Audi Q5 will not start and the repair shop technician mentioned that its an engine issue and it will take $5000-$6000 to fix.
I already placed an order for another car but was planning to use this Q5 as the 2nd car which will be sparingly used.
The technician said that the exact cost to fix will can be confirmed after they open up the engine which will cost $1000.
I like this car! But not sure if other issues will show up after I fix this.
What do you suggest? Should I fix this and plan to use it for another 3 years, or lease/buy another car for less than $300 per month (that's my budget for a 2nd car).

Michaell

archer99 said:

My 2012 Audi Q5 will not start and the repair shop technician mentioned that its an engine issue and it will take $5000-$6000 to fix.
I already placed an order for another car but was planning to use this Q5 as the 2nd car which will be sparingly used.
The technician said that the exact cost to fix will can be confirmed after they open up the engine which will cost $1000.
I like this car! But not sure if other issues will show up after I fix this.
What do you suggest? Should I fix this and plan to use it for another 3 years, or lease/buy another car for less than $300 per month (that's my budget for a 2nd car).

$300/mo * 36 months = $10,800. Then, you won't have a car and you'll have to do something else.

Seems to me you'd be ahead by fixing your existing car at $6000.

How many miles are on the Q5?

Let me get some of our experts in here to offer their advice.

kyfdx

@archer99 It will be hard to sell the car, if you don't fix it. Are you at an independent mechanic or the dealer?

EDIT: I guess you are fixing it, either way. So, you'll be out the money. If it seems to drive well, after the repair, I'd stick with your plan to keep it, and use it sparingly.

archer99

Thanks - @Michaell, and @kyfdx.
Q5 has 70000 miles on it. I would say everything visible to the driver is well maintained.

I am at an independent mechanic (AutoScandia, Herndon VA). They have a good reputation and I have worked with them before.

qbrozen

70k miles is quite low. Could be worth $12k-$14k private party, depending on which engine and trim level. I'm thinking this might be the V6? I'm a bit concerned about this diagnosis if no real time was spent on it thus far. What led up to the non-start situation?

archer99

qbrozen said:

70k miles is quite low. It could be worth $12k-$14k private party, depending on which engine and trim level. I'm thinking this might be the V6? I'm a bit concerned about this diagnosis if no real-time was spent on it thus far. What led up to the non-start situation?

It's a 4 cylinder. The car has been drinking a lot of oil for the last 2 years. I have to top up every month.
The car started jerking when I was driving at slow speeds (~10mph) I then parked it and it never started when I tried after an hour.

To add to my problems this happened after I placed a factory order for an X5 that is to be delivered in the first week for Feb. So I don't have a primary car and am using rentals for now

archer99

I was just reading car reviews on Edmunds and the first review that showed up relates exactly to my problem.
https://www.kbb.com/audi/q5/2012/

archer99

archer99 said:

I was just reading car reviews on Edmunds and the first review that showed up relates exactly to my problem.
https://www.kbb.com/audi/q5/2012/

Looks like there is also a Lawsuits related to this issue.
http://websterbook.com/timing-chain/

qbrozen

Huh. Hadn’t heard of that one until now. Maybe you got lucky and the valves did not contact the pistons.

roadburner

qbrozen said:

Huh. Hadn’t heard of that one until now. Maybe you got lucky and the valves did not contact the pistons.

I think of the old adage, "There's nothing more dangerous than a hungry lawyer."