The economy is making me think hard about saving money. I am considering trading my newer VW for an older Audi A4 or A6. I currently have a 06 VW GLI with 20K miles which I bought new. To me the older Audi resembles the GLI more so than an older jetta/passat (honeycomb grill etc) and has more prestige. They often have have some LUX Passat features and nice sound systems, garage openers, and dual climate for great prices used.

Example: this 1999 A6 Quatro with 69K miles for 6,000K story is an older lady owns it and cannot drive. This kind of car could cut my payment in half.

Soooo let me get to the point. Assuming the car was taken care of (maintenance records) and has a clean title what could I expect to go wrong with a car of this age maintenance wise? Are there any known huge issues which could make the process a disaster (electrical, tranny, AWD, etc?). I average 10k miles a years so I will not put a ton of miles on the car and would think that the 2.4K a year savings could cover average issues. The if I could pay it off in a year or so smooth sailing from there. has anyone else considered this type of move, or made one?

 

cv joints/axles, control arms, tie rods, window regulators, timing belt/water pump, tranny's not common to fail, but has happened, wheel bearings. all common failures. i just tackled tie rods on mine, next are control arms and axles, timing belt was done. im 18 and paid cash for mine. so far im able to keep up with the maintenance, just taking it one step at a time.

 

Audi/VW reliability (according to Consumer's Reports) was poor prior to the 2005 model years. It appears to have steadily improved since then. Stick with your '06.

 

Keep your VW, trust me when I say you will be buying a headache if you purchase a C5 A6.

 

Buying an older car brings all sorts of issues and is quite a lottery.
I got lucky with my C5 A6 2.7t. I mostly did maintenance routine on it, except fo a driver side driveshaft that I replaced myself.
Go for the A6 if you can handle a wrench otherwise tyou will be paying $130/hour to your local stealer!
The car you are looking at will need the timing belt replaced in 6 to 12 months based on your driving average. Can you do the job yourself and be happy with saving money? That is for you to answer.

 

Well, considering we have both... 07 GLI DSG, and my 01 A6 2.8QT. With the Dub, you will have little to no maintinence issues, My Moms is at 40k and hasnt had any issues.
At that milage, you will be ready to put a timing belt($500 to $1500 depending on what you do), control arms/tie rods(500 in parts), If its a 2.7, you have to beware of turbos when it gets close to 100K, some get lucky on this, but I have seen alot of cars than arent so lucky. And you WILL have the same issues with a Passat, as they are 99% the same car underneath. Also, your Dub gets much better fuel economy. It is a tough call, You will save some money, but is it worth having an old high milage car, versus a new low milage car.

 

If you can't afford to cash it out, I would almost always suggest sticking with the devil you know. If you have to spend a couple of grand on a TB etc. You just lost the first 18 mos savings right there. I have seen plenty of 2006 Passats selling for $12K here in DFW. You have already lost tons of money, you probably should just stick it out and get the car paid for. The only other logical solution would be to buy a $2,500 car and pay cash and get out of payments altogether. Then if a maintenance bill raises its head you are in the clear. Easier said than done, I always end up buying more car than I set out to buy. I was going to buy a cash $6000 2001 Passat and ended up buying a $10,500 2004 A6 and financing part of it. Quite a lot more car for not much more money, but still a big stack of cash difference. I try to look at everything as if it were real money staring me in the face like a GEICO commercial before I sign any papers. GL with your decision.

 

I am going to keep my vw until I pay it off. Unless I get in a huge pickle then I could downgrade to a 05 + rabbit or something. Maybe if I get cash in hand I will buy one outright as a project car etc and take it from there.

Cheers. You are the best!