fender4645

Well folks, I got some good news and bad news. The good news is that my wife and I found out we're having twins!! The bad news is it's looking like I may have to part with my '13 A6. With adding two more kids to our already 2 year-old, the A6 is just not going to be practical car for all of us (both physically and financially).

Unfortunately it looks like most of the "car value" sites (e.g. KBB) will only value cars 1 year and older. So I'm looking for some data on what my car is worth. I understand I'll be taking a hit but it's a risk I'm willing to take. It's a 2013 2.0 P+ with about 13,000 miles.

Thanks!

rmorin1249

I think I can help you as I have been shopping cars exactly like yours for the last 2 weeks. I am currently negotiating on a 2.0T Quattro Prem+ CPO with 5K miles. The asking price is $45,995.

Realistically your car is probably worth $37-$40K as a trade or wholesale to a dealer. Your best bet to find the current True Market Value in your area is CarMax. They buy clean low mileage used cars all the time. I have sold several cars to them over the years and have found they offer more in cash than most new car dealers. Your local Audi dealer will be glad to buy your car but I seriously doubt they can beat CarMax. You might get lucky and find a private buyer with enough money but my experience is that this is tough as most folks need to finance their cars.

I wish I had better news but unfortunately a new car is probably one of the worst investments one can make. As soon as you drive it off the lot it depreciates about 20% instantly. I am finding this to be the case as I am trading a practically new A4 on the A6. It only has 3800 miles on it and I am looking at close to a $10K loss in only 4 months.

Good luck with your situation. What are you considering as a replacement?

SmokingTires

I can see how physically fitting 3 kids + 2 parents into sedan might be tough, but I am not sure if financially it's a sound decision to take a hit on 1st year depreciation and buy another new car (let's say a $30K minivan) and experience another 1st year depreciation again. You will take a brutal hit on the value of your A6. Selling by owner might also take awhile and trading it in will hurt even more. Sorry, but I am brutally honest with you.

snagitseven

Unfortunately, as you probably know, the first year will incur the biggest hit to depreciation. You could probably use Nada for an equivalent used 2012 model to chart the value and add a guess for a 2013 difference. Keep in mind that it's difficult to actually realize the values shown on the public car value websites and the 2014 model order guides are about to be published very soon. The "Black Book" guide and latest auction pricing are what the pros use and they are always less than Nada, KBB, Edmunds, etc. Of course, selling it yourself would serve you better than to a dealer.

Mindsweeper

I purchased a 2012 S4 MT Prestige approximately 7 months ago... After having the car for 1 month my wife informed me she hated the car, hated driving it and felt unsafe while in it. Me: Not a happy camper as I new I had no choice but to get rid of it. I purchased it for $49,900. I traded it in for $45,500. So, I took a 4,400 hit in 1 month. Not terrible considering. The car was so new there was no way to check the "value" of the car at the time. The deal actually had trouble coming up with a trade in value. I currently have a 2012 A6 Prestige with B&O.. Love the car.. Hard to part with the S4 but after all it was all about making the wife happy..LOL.. Good luck.

fender4645

Thanks all for the advise. I agree and I'm not thrilled about taking a bath on this one. To be honest, a lot will depend on what we do for the wife. She has an MDX now which will fit all 3 car seats but I'm not sure if it will fit all of the "stuff" in the back. We were thinking of getting a Tahoe/Yukon type SUV. One thought is to hold off on both purchases for a year or so and deal with not having as much room as we may want (which may not be a problem as I don't see a road trip in our future any time soon). Then hopefully the depreciation would level off a bit. For myself, I was thinking of still getting a sedan...just a cheaper one (think, Japanese made). I'm a bit nervous of the long-term costs of an Audi.

looking@audi

First, congratulations to you and your wife on the twins.

Second, I think you are making a mistake in selling the A6, unless you are unable to comfortably make the monthly payments. Why take a financial hit? 3 small kids in the back of a Luxury Large Car (USNews) should not be an issue. Especially considering they will be in baby seats for a long time.

Third, like any American family in the burbs you will need a second car. You currently have an MDX that is also sufficiently large for 3 small kids. Upgrade this to a minivan / SUV in the future if you must.

Fourth, what the heck do I know - my black lab is very comfortable in the back of my A7.

Mindsweeper

"We were thinking of getting a Tahoe/Yukon type SUV."

We have the Yukon Denali.. My only recommendation is to get the XL.. Either in the Yukon or Denali version. The trunk space in the regular, especially with 3 kids, is not (in my opinion) going to be sufficient. I have 2 kids and I don't fit half the crap in the trunk.. I can lie down the back seat and have room.. But, you will not be able to do that as you need to third row for a car seat.

HyrePower

I saw a 2012 A6 3.0 prestige with LED headlights and NAV and only 48xx miles go through the auction at $43500. Thats like $25000 off of sticker for a 1 year old car with less than 5000 miles. I know I will never buy a new German car with as bad as they depreciate.

Now the Japanese cars hold their value so well you are stupid to buy one use when you can buy a new version for very little. They are worth about 65% after 3 years and 50,000 miles. So it take them 3 times as long and many many many more mile to depreciate as quick as a German car. BMWs are the same.

psychodo

Not 25000 off sticker..more like 20,000...and it was at an auction. I've no doubt that my 2012 has taken a large hit in the value department, however.

While the Japanese cars do traditionally hold value longer, they are (generally)do not have the same feel as a German car. Buy an Acura? LOL.