A4 purchase counseling

[Scott Fisher]

> From: "Pedro Faria" <quattrocs at hotmail.com>
> 
> Me and my wife are in the market for 2 new "used"
> cars, audi's or other VAG prducts of course so we
> kind of decide to get 2 A4's identical cars,
> most likely 5 speed 1.8t quattros 1996-2000

I gave serious thought to buying an ur-S4/S6 just to
park it next to my wife's '93 100CSQ, but our driveway
makes the neighbors crazy enough as it is.  (Anybody
want a great deal on an '83 CGT and/or a '74 914?  You
might be able to raise enough cash by asking my
neighbors to contribute, if you promise you'll take
the cars away and never bring them back... :-)

> My question is, should i concentrate more one one 
> particular year versus another. are there any issues
> i should worry/concentrate on while purchasing these

> vehicles. or anything else you guys can thing off

One thing that may not affect you, depending on your
body configuration and intended use: 

Get into and out of the car from all four doors, with
the front seats in your "normal" driving positions.  I
personally could not get into the back seat of an A4
(well, 2000 S4, but same chassis) with the front seat
back in my normal driving position, and I'm no NBA
star -- about 5' 11", with size 12 shoes (and that was
part of the problem, no room on the floors).  When we
had a loaner A4 some time ago, my kids noticed the
same issue -- it's significantly smaller (and harder
to get in/out) than wy wife's '93 100CSQ.

Getting in and out of the driver's seat called for
some agility, too, especially with the sport seats --
the side bolsters reduce the amount of clearance to
the roofline.  Again, this is like trying on shoes,
and what's tight on one person will be loose on
another.  And of course once you're IN the sport seats
they're great; it just takes a little more thought
than sliding behind the wheel of my wife's '93 with
the more flat-bottomed comfort seats.

If you regularly take other adults even for short
trips -- dinner, theater, ski trips, whatever -- you
REALLY should take a look at the A6.  It's a bigger,
"nicer" car, with more room in every dimension and a
very solid feel to it, and an absolutely GREAT car for
long highway trips.  And as most people here will
(sadly) verify, older A6s are a STEAL.  It depends on
what you're looking to do with the car.  (And how hard
you're willing to look; it's hard to find an A6 with
stick, they're almost all Tiptronics.)

Finally, while maintenance schedule is more important
than absolute mileage on any used Audi, you should at
least think about giving priority to the newest
models, especially if you can get the Audi Assured
warranty.  This warranty extends to 100,000 miles; the
cars I was looking at in September were 2000-2001
models with 17k - 31k miles, meaning these cars would
have been covered for the next 70-80k miles.  And it
seemed like a pretty good warranty, with roadside
protection, loaner car, etc. -- better than a lot of
new-car warranties.

Of course, a warranty is only as good as the
dealership that honors it, so check out your Audi
dealer as well; I've heard horror stories from listers
about their local Audi dealerships.  If you've got a
good dealership, the extra cost for an Audi Assured
car might be worth it.  But if the dealer is going to
give you the runaround and never solve your problems,
you're probably better off saving money on a private
sale and doing your own work or finding a local shop
you trust.

Best,

--Scott Fisher
  Tualatin, Oregon





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