OT: Why are Audis so cheap?, (used) Options

[TonyAKAVW]

My wife is looking for a car to replace the nun-mobile that we sort of inherited (1990 Toyota Camry). Our choices at the beginning were BMWs, Audis, and not much else. She really has her heart set on the TT, and I think a nice yellow one to match the 914 would be pretty sweet.

So the question is, why are used Audis so cheap? It seems like you can get a fairly early TT for $15-$18k if you shop around a bit. A4s can be had for around $10k or less. My wife doesn't care if it has Quattro or 250 HP, etc.

Is there something wrong with Audis? Do they break after X miles, is their some major flaw with them? I just can't understand why comparable BMWs go for so much more. In many cases its a LOT more.

-Tony

[john rogers]

I think Audi's are not much more than priced up VWs. If you look at the various models they seem to be very similar?

[redshift]

They have reputation of low resale... maybe same reason as 914..

They are not all that popular, and some people remember the old ones.. the only cars (besides Citroen) that rust worse/faster than the heaps we love so much.

Other than that, they have never made, and pushed a car that just blew the public away, so you have bad marketing working in your favor.



M

[Gint]

I've been considering a 99 and up A6 Quattro for my wife also. I'm surprised at how cheap they are.

Any other theories?

[TheCabinetmaker]

Maybe they're cheap cause nobody will buy them?

[914werke]

I dont know about you more pedestrian modles but the S line seems to Hold thier value fairly well. (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/rolleyes.gif)

[jd74914]

I always wondered why. Of course they have a following like our beloved 914's. I know some guys with 1,000s in turbos and other stuff in their cars. (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/cool.gif)

I think the low prices are because they are VW based. I don't know of anyone who has had problems with them breaking (besides one guy who blew his turboed 1.8T, though he was draging)

Go for it. (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/beerchug.gif)

[lapuwali]

Few banks will loan you money for a car that's more than 5 years old, so once a car is older than that, its price tends to fall off a cliff as too few people can cough up $20K or more in cash. Do searches on big classifieds databases (Craigslist is good for this) and you'll see lots of usually expensive cars selling for under $10K simply because they're 7-10 years old. Most of them are still excellent cars that would provide reliable service for another 5 years with nothing more than normal maintenance. This is even true for top-of-the-line cars like the M3 ('95 M3s can be had in the Bay Area for $10K pretty commonly).

I suppose there are still a reasonable number of people who remember the great Audi debacle of the mid-80s, but there are lots of younger buyers who don't know anything about that who associate Audi with their more recent cars. Audis are ranked right up there with BMW and Mercedes in Europe. VWs are also considered somewhat upmarket in Europe, though, so the VW/Audi relationship isn't so "damaging" there as here.

Most cars have been made so well for the last 10 years that buying a 10 year old car is a great bargain right now.

[914forme]

Its all about the marketing they are great cars. A4s A6s S4s even better S6 avant your wife will love that car (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/driving-girl.gif) , so will you. (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/driving.gif)

The real reason is that Audi has a bad reputation, BMW does not have this though I believe they should. The quattros rock, and are well worth the few extra $$$ you will spend just in shear safety from stupidity and the unknown. Audi has had a rocky marketing plan being a step child in the US to Porsche and VW. They build great cars and yes VW share platforms with them. Other companies do also so why is this a bad thing. The S6 is a Porsche in station wagon clothes. I would buy an A4 before I buy a Passat, nicer trim, better options and priced right. they can be had for a steal, and most of the time they are well taken care of.

I am looking at used A4 quattros right now, but I really want a coupe. (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/rocking nana.gif)

[redshift]

____Any other theories?____

Aliens, from the planet Zoteph.

Audis are built with homing devices, so the Zotephians can find their owners. The Zotephians live only on the living brains of Audi owners.

They have a long proboscis, that they slurp only the frontal lobe, through the opposite ear, of the hand the owner favors with. This is where the reasoning goes awry.

The prices drop because the owners have tiny holes in their cash lobe.

M

[914werke]

What Are you smoking Miles? (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/screwy.gif)

[redshift]

Tylenol Flu...



M

[BigD9146gt]

Those of you who said "cost to maintain" are right...

Marketing isn't that big of a reason, cause Audi in the early 80's came out with the Ur Quattro that blew away a lot of the competetion. The all-wheel drive rally cars then were like the Mark Donahue 917, they won EVERYTHING. During the late 80's/early 90's they had a really hard hit from old, scenial, retarded automatic Audi owners before the brake/shift lock was introduced. What would happen is people would go to shift the car into reverse or drive, and instead of hitting the brake, they would slip and hit the gas, causeing the car to rev way up and once the gear engauged... (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/fighting19.gif) they would run into whatever they were around. And since the old scenial retarded owners couldn't be at falt for doing such a stupid thing, Audi must have had a fault in the system that caused it. This is America, remember, the world leader in anti-responcibility/sue happy culture.

Its easy to say Audi (and Porsche too) isn't noticable because if you arn't that big of a fan and don't pay attention to them, you'll miss it. Ford, GM, Honda, Toyata and BMW on the other hand blind you with their marketing.

[Bleyseng]

Yup, better trim than the Passat but they cost more for basically the same car.
I got a 2003 GLS 1.8T 5 speed with leather for Monique for $16k only 28kmiles, even looking around hard I has finding 2001 A4 1.8T's for that price with 45k miles. Lots of improvements between the 2001 and the 2003 so I went for the Passat.
Now to chip it!

Geoff

[BigD9146gt]

Hey 914forme, my buddie has a 92 coupe thats the pearl/white. That car is awesome! He's on his 3rd motor, projected HP is 550!

[redshift]

Average Jane doesn't gib a crap about a Ur Quattro that 'blew away a lot of the competetion'.

If they sold 10 million of 'em, we'd be stepping over cheap parts.

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/smile.gif)


M

[jd74914]

QUOTE (BigD9146gt @ Feb 14 2005, 05:26 PM)

Hey 914forme, my buddie has a 92 coupe thats the pearl/white. That car is awesome! He's on his 3rd motor, projected HP is 550!

Damn, I have a friend that would die for one. He has a really old quatro, and it pushes 320hp. The car is wicked heavy, and still runs high 11s. Hes always wanted a quatro coupe, their so much lighter. If only they had made more,

[Lou W]

There was an Audi dealership in Redlands Ca. (Just closed down recently) that I visited in Feb of 2004, that had six or seven brand new Audi TT's 2002 models that had never sold.They were offering some great prices for them and they still could'nt sell them, I wondered how they would be able to finance them as new cars. (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/ohmy.gif)

[airsix]

QUOTE (rdauenhauer @ Feb 14 2005, 05:04 PM)

I dont know about you more pedestrian modles but the S line seems to Hold thier value fairly well. (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/rolleyes.gif)

No kidding. I was shopping for an S4 and finally gave up. They all had 100k miles and were priced at $20,000. I ended up getting a simmilar-year low-miles (50k) M3 for less money. I still like the S4 though...

-Ben M.

[Spoke]

I've got a 97 A6 Quattro. Awesome car in the snow. I now love it when it snows. Used to work from home when snowing, now I can't wait to get on the road.

I've owned 2 86 5000s (equivalent to A6), an 87 4000 (equivalent to A4), and my current A6. The 87 was bought new, the 5000s and A6 were used. This is the only way to buy an Audi - used. I bought my $39K (new) A6 when it was 2 years old with 35K miles for $22K. Its worth about $7-8K now. It is in excellent shape and I hope to keep it for some time.

Recall back in 1984-85 the 5000 had the reputation of killer cars, since they apparently had unintended acceleration. One woman pinned her kid in the garage when the car wouldn't stop. Prices for used 5000's then went through the floor. That's when I bought my first 5000. Turns out the problem was pedal placement as the brake pedal was too far to the left and people thought they were hitting the brakes when in fact, they were nailing the gas pedal.

Anyways, Audi's are good cars only if you can work on them yourself. The parts and labor cost a fortune and everything breaks. Right now, my "check engine" light is on and the "brake" light sometimes comes on. They have so many bells and whistles that are cool at first then suck when they break or stop working.

When I first bought my A6, the rear tranny seal was leaking and it cost $400 to repair (the dealer picked up that one). Even with all my complaining about the Audi, I might buy another one if I need a new car. My A6 is an excellent highway cruiser. A buddy and I went to NC from PA and for a while, we were traveling 95-100MPH with ease. Also, Audi's are known to go for 100s of thousands of miles when kept up. Mine has 110K now and is going strong.

Oh yeah, by the way, my water pump is leaking, and I just replaced all 4 brake rotors and pads ($500 in parts, I did the work myself). Boy do I love my Audi...

Spoke