[Biturbos4] Buying a 2000 S4

[Greg Amy]

> From: Adam Schwartz:
> Thinking about selling the car too - I love my
> S4, but its got 95k miles on it, another year
> and I wont get much for it.

Surprise! Too late.

I saw a really nice Jazz Blue VW R32 on a dealer lot
last month. Looked nearly new, 22k miles. That's a car
I really like, and one I really shoulda traded for in
'04 (when the values were about the same.) In fact,
when I was in the market for a car in '00, I really
wanted the Euro-only S3...

Anyway, I stop in to look it over, the dealer looks
over my car, and compliments me on its condition. I
let them drive it, he said it was well-cared-for,
everything worked fine. I didn't have time to chat so
I asked the salesman to call me in a couple of days
with the numbers.

Guy calls me back. Said my car was in great shape and
they're willing to offer me a "good, solid $12,000"
for it. To cap it, they're "only" asking $29,995 for
the R32 (this, for a car that had an original base
MSRP of $29,100.) Uh, my Audi S4 plus $18,000 for an
R32? Go pound sand.

Later, I traded emails with someone else intereste din
buying my car, and got an effective offer of close to
that.

So here I am thinking about it: my Nogaro Blue '00 S4
in pristine condition is worth ~$12,000? Where in the
HELL am I gonna get any car with this kind of
performance, comfort, and luxury for less than the
price of a new base Honda Civic? A comparable new car
will easily cost me $35,000 or more and the
performance will be par, if not less; for the +$20k
difference I can do a HELL of a lot of mods and
repairs! Let's not even consider the long-term
economic costs of registration, insurance, and
property taxes.

So, although I'd sure like a new car, it just doesn't
make any sense at all to sell my S4 and spend MORE
money on something that is not as good a car. I truly
believe that we have a rare piece here: a good car at
a (now very) good value. - Greg