JLPS1994

Hello there;

I am a 20 year old college student, and I need a car to move around, just to go to school and work. I've been working for the past 3 years and finally have enough money to buy me a car. I really like the 2005.5 and 2006 Audi A4 ( my dream car). I've been looking into Audis with 120,000 miles for $7500-8500. But lately, I've been very concerned about everything I have read. Some people have told me not to buy it because they are really expensive to maintain and that it would be a really bad investment. Some people have told me that i should be looking into cheaper options such as Hondas, Scion Tc's, and Toyotas. I am very frustrated because here in Chicago 2006 Hondas, Scion Tc's, and Toyotas are priced at around almost the same as an Audi A4. For example I saw a 2006 Audi A4 with 123,000 miles for $7500 and a 2006 Scion Tc with 125,000 miles for $6700. I think the Scion TC is a nice looking car and i like it but Audi is like my dream car.However, I do understand that if something goes wrong Audis are much expensive to fix, that's why i am confused and frustrated .What do you guys think i should do? should i buy a toyota or honda or should i buy an Audi.

JLPS1994

Any thoughts or opinions?

John535is

I recently purchased the same model car, 6 speed manual quattro, very nice. If you are purchasing a car that's around 8 years old, expect there will be things to fix. Most important is the timing belt, if it has not been done, you will need to do it yourself or pay. Sponsors to this site like ECS have kits or parts, and step by step instructions. I just did my timing belt, water pump and components last weekend. Not hard, just takes about 10 hours and some tools mainly because anytime you need to work on the front of the engine in an Audi you have to disassemble the front of the car. It takes a couple of hours at each end of the project so if you are paying a mechanic, they will charge a days labour plus the actual repair job which is why a lot of people say they are expensive to repair. Otherwise these are no more expensive than most other high end quality cars. Japanese are cheaper because they have less finesse (my opinion) so they have less things to break. My advice - if you are moderately mechanically confident and have some tools be prepared to add say $750 to any purchase to do any unforeseen repairs. This would be the same advice for any vehicle of this age. If you are not mechanically confident and don't have any tools, add about $2k due to the labour.

Parajoe

Get the Audi. It's been the most fun to drive car I've ever owned. Even if they were not priced similar, I would still get the A4. It's much easier to pay car payments or do repairs to a car that makes you smile even when your having a bad day. I'm driving a Volvo S80 because I needed the space and will probably sell it and repurchase an A4 and squeeze everyone in. Maybe an A6 but that's the only other option. You won't regret getting the A4, that's for sure!

Dolamite

Hey JLPS.
We've all been at a point in our lives where we want that special car that we've been saving up for and 7500 is a lot of money, good job saving up. Coming here and asking your question is like going to a crack den and asking if you should try the drug lol. I'll start by letting you know that I've driven quite a few vehicles and currently on my second Audi, an 07 A4. There's a lot to think about when you go vehicle shopping.

If I were a betting man I'd say that you looked were looking at dealer quotes. Tough thing about that is you don't know what your going to get obviously. If I was bent on getting an A4 used I'd insist on using/learning how to use a handheld obd tool. If a dealer of seller rejects then I'd move on. That's a tough one, but it might prevent headache. There are error codes that are stored onto a cars ECU that can paint a picture of what's going on and most of the time dealers don't keep up with them unless there's a check engine light. 120k miles on any vehicle is a lot. Car history is blurry even with carfax. FYI, even if you buy it from an Audi dealer there are things that the dealer isn't obliged to tell you about the car. I'd want as rock solid agreement as possible on paper or get a ext. warranty. I've got to be honest with you, our cars can be problematic, but a enjoyable to drive.

Are you planning to try a tune on a an A4 that isn't already? Do you have access to a garage, metric tools, and a bit mechanically inclined and willing to be even more? If not, if something major goes wrong can you foot the bill-Audi or not? I wouldn't suggest putting anything less than premium in the tank and we have the highest prices in the nation...around seventy bucks to fill a midsize tank.

It may be sobering when I say this, but when you buy a used car you have to expect issues and just be prepared. Just to give you an idea, hopefully it's been done already on a 120k car, a timing belt will run you about 750 to 900 dollars and that's usually with out the water pump. If you can do it yourself, a decent kit(you really don't want to skimp here) will start around 250 with pump, belt, roller, and tensioner. That doesn't include coolant add another 25. You'll need to drain the engine of all the coolant, disconnect all sensors and most hoses, remove the entire front end(half way if your good) and while your there you should change the thermostat as well. Realistically, this will take a newbie around two and a half days. I highly recommend a VAGCOM cable, about 350bucks, but indispensable if you are a DIYer. There are cheaper Chinese alternatives on ebay......but they're kinda pirated and do work, just don't try updating.

Accidents. Get good insurance and avoid accidents. Parts are expensive even one decent OEM upper control arm will run you fifty bucks and they don't last very long.

I'm not trying to scare you out of buying an A4, but I'd much rather see you down pay on something newer/reliable or buy less mileage, especially since you're a student. I don't know what your financial situation is, but if you can afford things like I mentioned or have the ability to perform things on your own, more power. One more thing, I wouldn't recommend tuning an audi with higher mileage unless you can do more than basic work on the engine. It will add more than normal load to the motor.
Good luck!

John535is

Hi JLPS

I forgot to mention at the end on my earlier post - get the Audi! - If it's your dream, then live the dream whenever you can. For the record - I had BMW's for 15 years, now have 2 Audi's (A4 quattro and A6 Allroad quattro).