At least I hope it will be great. In Y2K, I bought a brand new A4 Quattro S 5 speed. I loved that car. But, as I read about what others were going through I got cold feet and sold it after only one year. Owning that car for a year cost me exactly $5000 in depreciation - about the same as a lease. Spendy, but could have been worse. As the years passed, I read about the class action lawsuit for coking in the engine and have patted myself on the back for avoiding a major headache. BUT, I still missed the car.
Fast forward a few years... I bought a 2006 Mazda5 when they first came out. By the time it hit 80K miles, Mazda had fixed every complaint I had about the car. So, I sold it and bought a 2009 with 40K miles. Its odometer just turned 90K miles. Hmmm... 9 years and 130K miles in the same (almost) car? Wait a minute that's not me.
I've been on a quest for something different as a daily driver. But I didn't want to lose one of my favorite features of the Mazda5... it's fairly unique. Low sales, low production means I rarely see another one. If I do, it's not exactly the same since mine's a GT with LED tail lights, and a rarer color. Can honestly say I've seen my twin only once in the time that I've had the car.
After lots (read: way too much by any sane person's standards) of thinking, researching, reading, I started feeling feeling like a German wagon might fit the bill. Audi's reliability has increased greatly in recent years. The A6's 3.1L V6 is no rocket, but reliability number are above average. While researching the car I've come across many at or near 200K miles. So, after several months of a nationwide search, I flew to Sacramento yesterday and drove this home.
It's a 2008 A6 Avant Wagon. 2 owner, California car with 80K miles.
$49,000 MSRP + $5,150 Enhanced Premium Package + $600 Cold Weather Package + $2500 Technology Package. That's $57,250 before tax, tag and title. I paid $16,500 for this one from owner #2, who bought the car CPO at 25K miles. I won't go into details about the owner, but let's just say he's exactly the kind of person you'd like to buy this sort of car from.
The car is in beautiful condition inside and out. It has every option I wanted except sport seats. But after 11 hours in the stock seats I have no complaints. Got to know the car pretty well on the 11 hour drive from Sacramento to Phoenix yesterday.
As of now, my only complaint is that the cupholders stink. I'll post about what life if like with a higher mileage used Audi as time goes on. I'm not going into this with rose colored glasses. I expect I'll have to pay for repairs and maintenance, but am somewhat optimistic that it won't be unbearable.
After all of the research and reading, I came to the conclusion that Audis are like pit bulls. The bad ones get lots of press. Most of them just aren't that bad. So, did I get a fuzzy puppy that will be a faithful companion for years to come or will it eat my face while I sleep? Too early to tell, but I'll post updates here as I put on the miles.
