Needs/Wants:
- 4 Cylinder - I like the fuel economy of I4s and the challenge of getting some decent power out of them.
- Sedan - having a kid in July so need 4 doors..
- Sporty - I currently have a Civic DX - 100hp if I'm lucky, really boring to drive. Would love to have turbo or s/c but not a necessity as long as there is some decent base hp
- Luxury isn't a priority - sunroof would be great..
- Either FWD or AWD
- Would like a manual, but can deal with auto
- Low mileage - looking for something with around 60k, no more than 85k
- 2001-current year
- Price tag of around $9000 or under in the Albany NY area (cars in NY are expensive or so I've found!!)

I've looked at (ordered in lowest to highest personal ranking):
- Honda Accord
- Mazda 3
- Scion TC
- VW Jetta or GTI
- Subaru Legacy or Imprezza
- Audi A4 (late B5/early B6 1.8T)

There are no Subaru's in the area with less than 100k miles that are below $9k... Plenty Jetta GLS with around 70-80k miles for $8-$9k... Audi's can be found but few and far between and the ones I've found have been in accidents.. including one that I'm fairly interesting in (01 A4 1.8T w/ 60k miles for $7,895 - offering $7,250).

Obviously posting in an Audi forum, so I'm assuming there might be some bias towards them, but hoping people might be able to throw bias aside..

 

Hrm, tough call. If luxury isn't a priority, you could save money and buy something like a Subaru... good cars, and you still get AWD. Likely cheaper to maintain than a VW/Audi as well... though they aren't -that- bad.

Me being biased, though... I'd go for that 01 A4 you're talking about. Is that Quattro or FWD? You can find FWD ones for MUCH cheaper than their Quattro counterparts... and they are still beautiful cars. Quicker, and better on gas too!
If you can budget Quattro, it's worth it, though.

 

The 01 A4 I am looking at is a quattro 5spd tip - after accident it was considered 'total loss' but I would never have known if I didn't look up the car fax/ask the 'dealer'.. guy's a little weird but sells only A4s for cheap (needs to entice people to drive the 2hrs into the middle of the woods to buy them..)

Interior was amazing condition, exterior had what looked to be 'normal wear' for an 01 (small rock dings, and that was pretty much it).. not 100% sure what was damaged or changed.. but it rode and looked nice.

 

Hrm. I'd be leery of buying a salvage title... as are most people.
Check for uneven wear on tires, I guess? Check for weird paint defects... check gaps around the whole car (wonky uneven gaps are not OEM Audi assembly)... dunno what else to tell you. Up here in Canada, we have carproof.com which is pretty badass... Not sure if you guys have anything analogous.

 

Damn, you're describing pretty much exactly what I had. I think you'll like an A4, but as headshok said, I'd be pretty cautious when buying salvage.

 

"if this car is going to cost $8000, you should have $9,500+ saved up just to cover any unexpected maintenance items before you buy it. if purchasing this car is going to take 100% of your savings, then dont." -- that's a quote from a member in the B5 forum... Do you agree with it?

I'm trying to get a new car because I currently have a Civic coupe with 137k miles on it that needs about $1500 worth of work (new tires, tb changed, atf change) and I am expecting a child in July so wanted a sedan.. but if I'm going to need more than the cars worth in case of repairs I'm not sure Audi's the way to go. I knew what I was getting in to when looking at Audis but more than what the car is worth for repairs seems a little off to me..

So out of that list above, which would be a better option as far as reliability?

 

Having a kid you'll appreciate a wagon,

 

Not a fan of wagons.. wouldn't mind something like the GTI, but not like the Avants..

 

Just realized, I never looked at Passats. not sure why.. anyone have reservations against them?

 

It's gonna be hard to find a decent audi under 85k miles for less than9k. Most b6 a4s are expensive too. I'd avoid that salvage title one too. U can easily find a 2001 a4 with 100k for about 6-7k. The 2.8 imo is slightly more reliable but I hear the 1.8 is much more fun after it's been chipped. I really don't think you'll be able to find anything with ur mileage and price critera in the audi game unless somebody is selling in a hurry. I'll try to think of some cars that may suit ur criterias though