I'm trying to help my g/f find a nice 04-05.5 A4 for her DD. Does anyone know what these cars are going for on auction (Manheim, etc.)? That will give us a better grasp on what we should be paying for one. I've seen prices all over the board, from 9.5k for high milage, to 27k for low miles (which is totally overpriced, IMO). My gut feeling at the moment is that a nice A4 1.8T with 30-50k miles on it can be had for $12-16k. Any help/opinions would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

cabochad

 

I got my '04 A4 1.8t with 45k miles, tiptronic, Ming Blue pearl, tan leather, with Sport Package for $14.5 last january. It was in very good condition, and still is.

 

I paid $10.5k for my 02 A4 3.0L , 76k Miles, 6 Speed Man. some sports package, I dont know what it was called, all upgrades

that was from a dealer too also got a 4 year warranty for another 2k

 

got mine ('04 1.8tq tip) with 43k, sport package, in good condition (needed about $500 of body work to fix minor dings paint chips and a bubbling lower door molding) for $13,000 this past summer in fort worth, texas.

your gut feeling is correct with the ones that need minor attention for going 11-12 and the low mile ultrasports going for 16-17 (in texas) with all but a few exceptions going within 11-17. this info is just what i observed going to 3 auctions around here looking for my car

hope this helps,

Trent

 

Got a 2005 1.8T limited edition with around 55k miles for around 15.

 

12k-15k is about right. Dealer vs private party may vary by a couple $K. At auction? Check www.kbb.com and you will get car for right around listed trade-in value...if you go to dealer auction(assuming you have a dealers license to attend one).

 

Thanks for all the replies. I was hoping someone had access to the actual recent auction prices tho. It would give me a better idea what a dealer might actually have invested. Blue book might say wholesale is $12k, but if dealers are routinely buying them at auction for $9-$10, I'm not gonna give $15k at a dealer for one, if you get my point.

I've noticed (or it at least seems that) A4's don't seem to quite pull 'retail' (or close) like other German models in the same class (i.e., 3-series, C class). My guess why is that, in America, folks still associate M-B and BMW as a slightly higher 'mark'. And while BMW and Audi are very close in quality and ammenities, M-B has fallen in quality in recent years; just look at a Consumer Reports and you'll see Benz WAY down the list. They are comming back, but I won't touch a Benz from say 2000-2006 or so because of that.

Thanks again for any further insight. In this economy, I don't wanna overpay a couple grand for something I don't need to.

chad

 

A past friend explained to me that the only cars they sent to auction (from a dealership) were the ones they inspected and didn't want to have to support after selling used. In other words, while you may pay more for a used car at a dealer, it's typically one of the better ones they got back in trade/lease return. Does this mean all auction cars are problems waiting to happen? Certainly not. It is however, something you'll have to be more careful with. A couple grand saved now can cost you several more in short order.

Just my personal view, but I wouldn't completely discount dealerships right now. I paid the extra couple thousand to a dealer and got a mint CPO 1-owner car that never went to auction (all while still paying far less than KBB/Edmunds said I should have). It's a very hard climate for dealers to sell cars in, so you may be surprised what kind of deals there are to be had. The extended factory warranty to 2011 was just icing on the cake.

Good luck!

 

True to a point. There are always cases where a dealer might not want that car on his lot due to no real market for it, or an oversupply already on his lot of that car. Also, depending on the make, it is sometimes cheaper for a dealer to purchase an off lease car at auction, rather than pay the 'manufacturer residual price'. I have heard of dealers opting out of purchasing an off lease car from their manufacturer (Toyota, BMW, etc.) and letting it go to auction, just to purchase it back for much less.

Bottom line is to never get in too much of a hurry to purchase. There's some really nice used cars out there, and there's even more pieces of **** as well to stay away from.

chad