after reading your post ecko it made me really think twice..then i had to go and look at more TT pictures, which of course made it a lot harder to say no because they are just so good looking...

so how much is the tubing, haldex, haldex filter..and i know if the timing belt breaks it can cause major engine damage..but if the other tubing and stuff breaks do you just replace it, or can it then lead to major damage as well?

 

it's a PITA to stay on top of it all, but if you do keep up with it (or get a car that's kept up), it's about 50% more costly than an econobox to maintain (overall, give-or-take).

I'd look into the FWD version, too - better gas mileage, handles very nicely, lighter, no haldex/differentials to worry about, etc.


EDIT: just saw your location - better to stick to AWD, lol... the extra cost might actually save your *** one day.

 

haha yeah..awd would be better, i guess it's up to my dad now to make a choice..

and now i just found out the rx-8 has bad reliability which was my 2nd choice...i guess g35 coupe now?

 

IMO spending $12k on your first car is a waste of money. The greatest chance that you'll crash is now. It really does take some time to learn how to drive 100%. You may not crash, but park poorly leading to door dings or back into something, ect. It's not cool to have a bunch of dents or scraches on a nice car. If it was me, I would look for a $5k-ish car and upgrade to something nice a year or two later. It's also not worth paying $150 a month for insurance.

I would get the G35 out of the cars listed, but realistly, you should check out something more pratical. I think RX8 might be cheeper to insure; however, it's litterally one of the most unreliable cars every made in history.

Most of the problems with the tt are just a PITA to fix, like boost leaks or electrical issues. Usually they just make the car run poorly or slow. The litttlest things, like wrong spark plugs, can make this car run like crap.

 

i thought i heard the rx-8 was good...i guess thats what i get for looking at **** website ratings. and yeah the g35 is probably my 2nd choice after the audi.

and no i think the 5k car would be a waste because you will trade it in for near to nothing and then you have to upgrade after that..so my parents wouldn't even let me do that.

@ecko - since you were in the auto industry, could you tell me what i could expect to be able to take off the sticker price from bargaining? like if the price was 10k, what do you think i could get it down to realistically? also i found a awd 2002 audi tt, i've heard they are more reliable, is this true?



edit - also if i got the audi it probably would not be 12k, more like 9-10k

 

You can't make a general assumption; such as: you can get 10% of the price. You need to compare the price to other prices and kbb, ect.

Just remember to keep some extra money to do maintance asap. $1500-$2000 is good.

All year tt's are the same for reliability. VR6 might be rated a tad higher. When compared to a "normal" car (civic, focus, f-150, ect) the tt is MUCH higher maintance costs and more frequent repairs.

Also- make sure you have a dealership near by. Non-dealer repair shops can't repair everything on the tt. Such as programming the gauge cluster, reprogramming the headlights or make an extra key.

 

does anyone have a good website to find reliability ratings for a variety of different cars?

so i took your advice and checked the value of the cars..the 2000 audi is valued at 6,500 but selling for 8,500
the 2002 audi that is selling for 11,900 is valued at 9,250

is it just me or is either the car dealerships way off or is kbb? or is this normal to have the prices this much over?

 

You can go to autotrader.com those have customer reviews on there. On certain car you will pay a premium I paid 14,700 for my 2000 180Q last spring it had stupid low miles one owner was an older woman and I had receipts for everything ever done. It was worth about 11k but I didn't care because of the piece of mind. Dealers have a bit of a mark up for 2 reasons one to make more on the sale and the other being if they took the car in trade and gave then 10k for it and had to put 2k worth of work so they need to try to recoup there money getting it back up to par. Thats is usually the case believe it or not.

 

yeah I've seen the autotrader reviews but they seem to be sketchy at best, people either give them a 10 or a 1 and they exagerate everything in either direction

 

Yes the reviews can be a bit hit and miss. Either it's the greatest thing or the biggest pile of ****. Is what I did while looking at Range Rovers go to the dealership and talk to the sales people and talk to the service people. The service people are great because they can tell you quite a bit and there not trying to sell it to you so it's pressure free.