Hi all,

Tomorrow morning I'm going in to negotiate on a 2002 A4 Quattro with sport (at least I think so, but how do you really know... do the shift buttons on the steering wheel and S mode on the shift stick denote "sport"?), winter package, dolphin gray (I think that's what it's called), leather interior. Overall very nice car, 68k miles, very regularly serviced by the one dealership according to carfax.

My only concerns really are:

1) mileage... at 68k should I expect significant cost in service in the near future? I know timing belt comes up at 90k, anything else I should worry about?

2) consumer reports doesn't seem to think this car in general has great reliability, and the 02 specifically is called out as worse than most. I know CS can be a bit aggressive in their ratings; what's the consensus on here?

thanks all,
-Joseph

PS - I also posted this question in the 'dealership' area:


First off, does anyone have any experience with Stevens Creek European in San Jose, CA? I'm thinking of purchasing a car there and am just checking up on them.

Second, is there any way to find out what price a car was sold for at an auction? The car I'm looking at buying was purchased at an auction according to carfax, and I'm wondering what they bought it for so I have a better negotiating stance. When buying new we can look up invoice, but when buying used, how do you really know?

 

The best way that i have learned to tell the diff is the springs. look at the springs. to find out how much they paid is a guess. i dont know of any sites except manheim.com. but even there it doesnt tell you and the auction they bought it at has to be a manheim for it to be on there site. How much do they want for the car?

 

Sorry, look at the springs to tell what… quality of the car? What am I looking for?

They are asking $18,900 which is in line with kbb retail value. However they know they have a hard sell in front of them as I only wanted to spend $15k and there is a nearly identical car at another dealership up the street that wants my business too. So… tomorrow should be fun ;-)

Fortunately I'm paying cash so it's easy for me to negotiate. I was hoping to find out what they paid though so I could know where to lowball them.

Still hoping to hear from someone on their experience with this dealership. They actually have a better rating than the Audi dealerships on the BBB, so that's positive. But still, the more info the better!

thanks
-Joseph

 

You want to look at the springs. they are going to be red if the car has sport suspension. also if you do a search on this forum and search sport suspension you will find some threads on it. good luck with the car.

 

Does the sport package really add that much to the resale value of the car? I'm very curious because I bought an 02 A4, 1.8t, 5 speed, front and rear heated leather, bose sound system, and moon roof, with only 32000 original miles back in November (day after Thanksgiving to be precise) for $16900. Does the sport package really justify a $2000 difference with over twice the milelage? Or is it more what area you are buying in (I bought mine from a dealer in Rochester, NY). Was just curious if the sport package would really add that much.
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I'm guessing your audi was not the quattro, from the price you said you got it for? I don't know what the "sport" ads to it, although the one I'm looking at is quattro and is automatic (yours was 5 speed). The dealer is asking $18,900 but I'm determined to get it for closer to $16k-$17k. That seems fair from all the research I've done, and I know they bought it at an auction so probably got it for a great price… really wish I could figure out just what they bought it for though.

 

Sorry forgot to add that, yes its a Quattro, I think alot of it may have to do with us being on opposite coasts.
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See if you can get hold of NADA price book for more realistic prices.

Ask the dealer to run the VIN as to whether it has the sport package or not.

On the B5, there is a difference in the shocks. The shocks are black on the normal, red on the sport.

 

I am sure you would almost never be able to find out what they bought it for unless you were good drinking buddies with the general manager at the dealership, know someone who witnessed them purchased the car, or beat it out of the salesman (physically). For example, back in the day I had a vehicle repo'd and the bank took it to auction (probably what happend with your car). Now book value on my vehicle was about $10K, I owed $9K, and before it got repo'd I had a buyer (another dealer) offer me $6800 for it. I was ready to sell it and was trying to get a loan for the difference just to avoid the repo going on my credit rating. Anyways, the bank still took it and sold it for $3000 at the auction, leaving me with still owing over $6K. So the dealership got a $10K car for three and probably only spent $200 to recon it. It's why they call them stealerships. And IMO even $16K sounds high. BTW... according to the concenses on this message board that timing belt needs changed today, you can not wait until 90K miles. They are known to have to be done every 60K miles.

 

haha… as enticing as that sounds, I guess I won't be getting the purchase price then ;-)

Do you think? According to carfax, when the car was first sold it is listed as 'personal vehicle':

Title issued or updated
First owner reported
Registered as
personal vehicle
Loan or lien reported

Then it goes through tons of service, all the regular stuff and always at the same dealer. Then last service was mid-Nov last year, and then 10 days ago:

Sold at auction
in Pacific Region
Listed as
a fleet vehicle

If it really sold at an auction for as little as you think, then I have a LOT of room to negotiate.

Really?! I called an Audi dealership to discuss this. They said the A4 needs service every 10k, and timing belt at 90k. He said some people do it sooner for peace of mind, but that it doesn't need to be done until 90k. Do you disagree with this? What's the cost for a timing belt replacement on an A4 anyway? I know it's never cheap.

Thanks,
-Joseph