I decided against the above A4. The screen between the two main gauges was broken - something that quite annoyed me. The dealer explained "that type of thing is normal in a car of this age..."

Craigs has turned up this for me - http://portland.craigslist.org/clk/car/427865865.html

Black on black is my preference, so this stands out to me. I talked the guy down to 7.5k, but i'm still paying more due to the audio equipment. How does that look? Is that audio system + more preferable interior color worth the extra grand?

Also, the car came from New Jersy - Couple of issues there. Possible rish of corrosion due to the salt they apply to the roads - and it was listed as "small accident" on the carfax. I'm a little suspicious of the seller. He only had the car for 3 months before selling it off. Sorry if I sound a bit noobish. But I really need a car SOON and i've had my eyes set on an audi.

Here is the straight up listing on craigs in my area, with my parameters set in - http://portland.craigslist.org/searc...mp;maxAsk=7900
(the car must be newer than 98 to be approved for a loan by my bank)

Thanks guys

 

I really don't think he can charge that much of a premium for the stereo equipment. That price is definitely too high. Plus, the accident is suspicious. Keep looking.

http://www.edmunds.com/used/1998/aud...tion=vdpresult

Edmunds is usually a little lower than what it ought to be, but KBB is ALWAYS too high. Don't go off of what KBB says.

 

Yeah, KBB is something like 8.5K

I thought I was getting a good deal... well i'm glad I ended up here!

 

http://www.freemanmotor.com/portland...3184,3074,3192

get that one lol

 

a handful of people on here helped me out a lot when i was car shopping too. definitely keep looking. if i didn't take the advice on here i wouldn't of gotten a great deal on my car.

 

You will find the the broken info screen is pretty common in these cars, if you can find one that isn't broken, you're lucky...but as far as the second car goes, that price seems high to me too, especially for the year...I dont think he should be charging that much extra for some stereo equipment...just my 2 cents...

 

and as stated above...KBB is always always high...dont go by their prices...

 

black on black is the only way to go, lol. go checkout that other one, take it to a shop and have them inspect it,.

 

black on black is extremely tempting, i know. However, I'm worried about the small accident and corrosion dangers. Does anyone have any idea what 10 years in New Jersey can do to a chassis? And what is considered a "small accident?"

 

i bought my black on black 99.5 1.8t FWD with 112k miles on it from a certified VW tech for $4200, the only thing wrong with it was the ABS module and the drivers side seat was worn.