My grandfather-in-law is getting a new car, and offered to sell me his A6 2.8 for what the dealer offered him as a trade in.

Can you guys tell me
1) if this is a good deal
2) what maintenance/repair items I might expect in the near/distant future (timing belts etc)

It is a 1999 Audi A6 2.8. I believe it is pretty loaded. 52k miles. always garaged and well maintained. It appears to be in excellent condition form the exterior. I am going to go drive/look at it tomorrow, but I need to make an offer quickly.

I am a Jeep guy, but have always wanted an A4, so until I can afford exactly what I want, will this A6 be a good intro into the Audi world?

He said I could haveit for $7500.

Please let me know what I am up against.
Also - what city/hwy mileage can I expect with this in good condition?
Do I need to use premium gas?
synthetic oil?

I will be doing all maintenance on it myself (assuming all it needs are oil changes every 3 k miles)

I will be going to the car tomorrow to drive it and check it out - what should I look for?

Let the comments roll!!

thanks in advance!

 

I personally think that is an awesome deal... I paid $8500 for mine with right about 100,000 miles.

As far as gas mileage, anywhere from 14-18 city and 18-21 ish highway... just really depends on your driving style

and as far as premium gas goes, you will hear different arguements, and probably never get a striaght answer as to whether you really have to or not.. I personally never go less than midgrade on my 2.8

Drive it and see how it feels... the test drive definately sealed the deal for me... just kinda felt right lol.. if that makes sense at all

 

No. 2. first ... Maintenance will be a lot more than a Jeep. You already mentioned TB, at 52K miles it's probably not done yet, but due to time/9 yrs. would recommend getting that done. Not the easiest DIY, at dealer $ 1200- 1500. Control arms, WP, TS
Mileage averages 15-17 city, 20-26 hwy, depending on speed/ right foot.

No. 1. .. uummh, not to rain on your parade, I just did a quick check at edmunds.com , appraise used car , for your model > Trade in = $ 4,803 , Private party = $ 5968, Dealer Retail = $ 7181
Having said that, these numbers are for good/average condition, so with very good condition and lower mileage these numbers could be a little higher..
The Trade in price is the avg. price a dealer offers on trading that model/year car in on a new car, and dealers have no reason to go more than this.

Hey, it sounds like a good car, low mileage ( I have more than 2.5 times that) and if all maintenance was done (try to get the records) this could be a good ride for years to come.

 

good point about the age of the TB. Maybe I can neg. that with him. I did the same price checks on several websites, and found similiar info as you did. - however, they dont ask the mileage. I see on cars.com for my area (NY) that current 99's with 80-110k miles are going for 8500-$9500.

Do I need to run premium gas?

How much does an oil change cost if you do it yourself (i believe I read 6.3 qts of oil)
how much is the filter (best place to buy online for less$?)
do I need to run synth oil?
change every 3k miles ok?

thanks,

 

Check the gas door. It should tell you minimum octane requirement. Mine is 01 A 2.8L ATQ and it does require 91 minimum. As for Oil change it all depends. Technically 2.8 on that year does not require synthetic oil, but it is always nice to have. Also my 2001 has service interval warning gauge set up for synthetic. I think is is every 7500 miles or so. But I don't follow the dummy gauge anyways. I change my oil with synthetic every 4500 to 5000 miles. As for the cost, I just did the oil change and here is what it cost.

Oil: 7 qts castrol syntec synthetic @ $6.50 per qt = $45.50
Filter: Bosch = $9.00 at a local auto supply shop.
Copper fill plug washer: $0.10
Beverage: 6 pack of Guiness = $7.99
and California tax.

Obviously without the beer, it will cost you around $60 or so. Also if you go dino, then it will be a whole lot cheaper. But I guess I would technically change dino every 3000 miles.

Some other things to look for:

Oil leak around cam seals.
Check dash and radio for dead/distorted pixels.
Check running temperature. If it runs cool, then you have stuck open thermostat. It is common on these cars.
Check for AC compressor whinning.
Any drive train noise?
And one last thing... I really love my car, but this still bugs me even 'till now. For some reason, seat cushion/support was bad when I got the car. Make sure that you ride around for awhile to see that it is comfortable.

You have to assume that these cars require maintenance. This is not a Honda or Toyota when it comes to reliability, but if you take care of the car, it will treat you well. I really like how my car drives.

 

hxgaser: thanks for the good info.

As far as the oil change goes - I think you meant DRAIN plug copper washer, not fill, right?

 

I also have the ATQ engine, 2001 ( I think yours is AAH), as per my Bentley Audi "recommends" 91 + octane for maximum performance but the computer will adjust settings to prevent knock when using a lower octane fuel. I do use mid-grade and have not had any problems.
Every one has their take on oil type and change intervals. I have heard of many drivers swearing by changing oil every 3K miles, and others going 5K -7K miles with out any adverse effects. Synthetic oil IS better at both ends of the temp scale, flows better at low temps (here we had 10-15 D. F) and doesn't thin out as easily at 90-100 + F. That's why it cost more, it's better, do you 'need' it? ..that's a personal thing.
With our colder temps, I only use 5-30, 5-40 synthetic. If you use the search feature, you'll find hours and hours of reading about oil.
I didn't want to throw you off from getting that '99 A6, it sounds like a good deal. I really love my A6, it's my 5th, and best Audi, and not my last.

 

According to KBB -- Trade in is about $7300 for an excellent A6 Quatro with 60K in New England I suspect it is simular in NY check KBB.co used car prices -- Private party is close to $9 K, but remember the prices are inflated... Edmonds says it shopud be $4800 trade and $6,000 private party. Edmonds is closer to what I believe is the real price.

 

Very good point NH_USA, I also beleive KBB is quite optimistic and for unexplained (some people have tried to give explanations) reasons Audis sell in the real world usually for quite a bit less, depending on the region/ market. It seems Audi does not have the resale value/demand enjoyed by the other German marques as MB and BMW, even though I believe ours are as good if not better than those other 2 brands. Having said that, this makes a good used Audi a better buy but not so good for the seller. Check the prices for comparable A6s to the 5-series, we are thousands le$$ . And I've seen 1999 E-320s sell for more than '01 A6s even though new they were comparable.

I really love my A6, best cruising, comfort, luxury, fun to drive 4 door sedan I could buy at the time.

 

Oooops you caught me.

One mre thing to check... Check all to windows a several times to see if they roll down and up properly. Regulator shims on these things are notorious for going bad.