Audi?

[look 171]

after my wife's A4 turbo. NO thanks. Although only a few minor things like window switches went, but that was enough for me. But a Honda or Lexus or something. So what if there are millions on the road around here.

[imcarthur]

Tim

I will PM you later with more details. I believe in full disclosure, but maybe not publicly.

Ian

[daepp]

Originally Posted by Heel n Toe

That's what I'd recommend... check this one out as an example... an '05 with 61K on it for $19.9K:

Seems like a great car but with quite a bit more mileage than I'd like.

[Tim Hancock]

Originally Posted by imcarthur

Tim

I will PM you later with more details. I believe in full disclosure, but maybe not publicly.

Ian

FWIW, I am only interested in manual transmissions after my last go around with the complex AWD auto Audi. If your BMW is an auto, I am not interested. I have 291,000 on my old 325i manual transmission car and I don't trust autos long term even if they are Hondas or Toyotas.

[imcarthur]

No, it's 5 spd. 163K km = ~100K. To make it right, it would need some work. Nothing major but interior stuff & probably paint. The gov't 'determined' wholesale on it (it's the tax grab thing) is $6550 CAN. That's what I am shooting for net net.

It's actually a hoot to drive. The A4 feels much, much heavier. But AWD drive 6 cyl auto vs 6 cyl 3 series.

I'll post a weblink later.

Ian

[imcarthur]

OK. Here's the link. 2000 BMW 323i For Sale I plan to stick it on Craigslist & AutoTrader.ca over the weekend. I am in Toronto.



Disclosure: This was a family car (think Room Monkeys). I had 2 rust areas professionally repaired by the dealer last April. The area where the center pillar meets the body at the bottom on both sides. I just recently noticed some whitish overspray just on a spot on the driver door - bottom/front. The center console shed it's rubberized paint. Well it started to. RM #1 came in about 3 months ago & said "The car is melting". It was this paint peeling off. The plastic underneath was a close match so I just stripped it. It looks OK. Certainly not perfect.

And a question (if you've read this far) . . . Should I disclose all of this to a random buyer? Am I an idiot if I do?

---------------------

Sorry for the diversion . . . back to thrashing/praising Audis. Both Tim's & Jim's were A6s. Hmmm. I have also heard that the 4 cyl Turbos can have issues that the 6 cyls avoid.

Ian

[nostatic]

fwiw my '06 A3 has had exactly one problem - CEL that was caused by a bad manifold sensor. Repaired under warranty. The '06 cars had free scheduled maintenance, and I bought mine used CPO, so the warranty is 100K miles and until 2012. Bought it with 13K miles, now have 33K miles. Haven't paid any money for service other than adding a quart of oil between changes (the 2.0T engine does burn oil). The only way I'd buy an Audi was used/CPO that had a lot of warranty left on it. But I'm not a DIY kinda guy so ymmv...I will never work on this car. Just sell it when the warranty is up.

[Tim Hancock]

Originally Posted by imcarthur

OK. Here's the link. 2000 BMW 323i For Sale I plan to stick it on Craigslist & AutoTrader.ca over the weekend. I am in Toronto.



Disclosure: This was a family car (think Room Monkeys). I had 2 rust areas professionally repaired by the dealer last April. The area where the center pillar meets the body at the bottom on both sides. I just recently noticed some whitish overspray just on a spot on the driver door - bottom/front. The center console shed it's rubberized paint. Well it started to. RM #1 came in about 3 months ago & said "The car is melting". It was this paint peeling off. The plastic underneath was a close match so I just stripped it. It looks OK. Certainly not perfect.

And a question (if you've read this far) . . . Should I disclose all of this to a random buyer? Am I an idiot if I do?

---------------------

Sorry for the diversion . . . back to thrashing/praising Audis. Both Tim's & Jim's were A6s. Hmmm. I have also heard that the 4 cyl Turbos can have issues that the 6 cyls avoid.

Ian

Ian, I will pass this on to a co-worker tomorrow who is looking for a daily driver E-46. Depending on how much trouble buying a car from Canada is, he may be seriously interested.

[imcarthur]

I don't know about rules going that way. It's pretty easy coming north.

Ian

[Jims5543]

When shopping for a E46 I drove a 323, 325 and 330 all in the same day. The difference between a 330 and a 323 is night and day. RickV and Fastpat were helping with advice, Rick warned me I would not like the 323, being as I am a speed freak, he was right, I did not like its lack of power.

To the OP, as far as Audi is concerned, if you really want an Audi make sure you have a warranty, and make sure you are near the dealership.

I found when I owned my BRAND NEW 2005 A6 from 2005-2008 that it would never take one trip to the dealership to fix any problem. Another annoyance was taking it in for scheduled services and findout there was a laundry list of recalls on the car and what was supposed t take an hour is now going to take 4-5 hours which after 3 hours of sitting in the "owners lounge" results in a service adviser coming out and telling you they will have to put you in a loaner car because they are:

a. missing the part needed for your recall even though you made an appointment a week in advance

b. cannotfinish the work in the time alloted

c. found another problem and need it overnight (which ends up being 3 days)


And you get to drive either a demo Audi that stinks of cigarette smoke (even though its a non smoking car as indicated by the sticker on the dash) or some POS Enterprise rental, if they are out of Audi demos with is quite often.

My dealership was an hour drive away (it was also the closest) the mount of trips I had to take with my "brand new" car was staggering.

As a matter of fact, I had to take it in for a final service prior to my lease return, the passenger tail light cluster was out, they made me wait for 4 hours to do the 25K service on the car and fix the tail light cluster, only to come out and tell me the new cluster off the shelf was bad too. I woudl have to come back in 2 days when they got it in.

I told them they could fix it after I gave it back to them.


Your results may vary.



BTW- the airbag light is on on my BMW as well, a typical problem for them, and there is a scanner tool for a couple hundred bucks that will help you track down the problem, I will DYI my BMW, something I would not dare do with my Audi.

I also replaced a window regulator, it took me 30 minutes to change and cost me $80. I am sure if another one goes it will take me even less time.

This is a 7 year old car with 80K miles on it and it has less problems than my brand new Audi.

[imcarthur]

Originally Posted by Jims5543

BTW- the airbag light is on on my BMW as well, a typical problem for them, and there is a scanner tool for a couple hundred bucks that will help you track down the problem, I will DYI my BMW, something I would not dare do with my Audi.

I also replaced a window regulator, it took me 30 minutes to change and cost me $80.

Yeah, I had a regulator go too. $250 dealer fix. I don't DIY anything but my Porsche.

I have a scan tool but Ontario now has very stringent used car laws. It has to be safety checked & they are very thorough. It has to be emissions clear. It has to have a gov't cert that is like a CarFax. And the cert includes a typical generic retail & wholesale on the car. 2 out of 3 of my bag lights were when I was contemplating selling. The car knows.

Ian

[Wickd89]

I have a '01 Audi A6 2.7t and I enjoy it a lot, but it does always seem to have some little thing wrong. Maybe so little because it usually is a 100-300 part.

My friends with BMW have even more trouble. New 335 that stall, secret dealer upgrades to fix design flaws to match later production cars, etc.. 545 and 550 with similar issues as well.

Used Mercedes are even worst. 2003-2004 are given away. Beautiful cars, but in the shop ALL the time. Hint, check the price of the extended warranties and you will see what they think of them. 2005 or newer may be ok, but someone else would have to ring in.

My choice if buying today:
Infiniti M45 or M35. Great quality, fast M45. full of everything you could ever want. As reliable as a Maxima.........

[Oracle]

I had an 99-A6 that the tranny just got worse and worse, you know thanks to the lifetime oil.. after a few years and thou$ands lighter I sold it and will never ever buy an Audi again.

[rammstein]

Hey- Jim is back!!! I guess this thread got your blood pressure up enough to post?

Its a shame- one of the coolest sounding engines ever was the 20v 5cyllinder turbo... man, those had a growl like no other.

[artplumber]

Reliability? => Japanese car

[andytheturtle]

If you want a reliable car you buy Jap, if you want a fun car you buy Euro.

[onewhippedpuppy]

My '99 A4 was reliable for the entire 6 months I owned it. I don't own cars long enough for them to break. Fortunately for me, the previous owner had recently had the head rebuild and timing belt replaced when the belt snapped 14k prior to it's replacement interval. Then the used car lot that bought it had to replace the turbo prior to selling it to me. The beast had been fed, and was satisfied during my ownership. Still, at 100k it very obviously needed a suspension refresh.

David, as for your sister, I don't think you ever really pinpointed what she wants (sedan, coupe, etc). To throw out a few though, I've always really liked the Infiniti G35 coupe. Really great looking cars, fun to drive, nice interior, and reliable. $25k should buy her a nearly new one. G35 sedan is nice as well, $25k might buy her a 2007 (new body style). The M-series Infiniti models are very nice as well. Lexus IS is a nice sporty sedan, the GS is also quite nice but probably beyond her budget. The Acura TSX is another nice sporty sedan, the TL is also very nice.

[daepp]

Just got the call - she bought an 18 mo. old Toyota Avalon. 16k miles for $21K - loaded. It should last a very long time.

She thought it was a little boring - until she drove it on her one hour commute. It's a very comfortable car!

[onewhippedpuppy]

Damn, that's a total 180 from an A4 cab. Oh well, she's better off with a Toyota. Boring, but I'm sure comfortable and dead reliable.

[rammstein]

The Avalon strikes me as a screaming deal if you can handle not having an "L" on the grille.