[V8] What a chintzy way to get ahead, or I absolutely HATE it when this happens.....

[Jeff Goldberg]

I have followed this thread with interest and agree that it is more cost
effective to maintain a used car than to buy a new one.  However, I have found
that when you approach the 100,000 mile mark a laundry list of maintenance
issues can and usually do appear.  Once you get over this maintenance “hump” you
can drive the car relatively cheap for another 50,000 to 80,000 miles, gambling
that you don’t have a catastrophic failure of a major component.  IME when the
car is 10-15 years old or nearing 100,000 miles you probably need to factor the
cost of owning 2 vehicles for any given driver so that you have transportation
on a regular basis.

Comparing the cost of a new A6 to a used V8 for the purpose of mitigating
maintenance costs doesn’t work for me.  Why not compare used vehicles such as an
A6 with 60,000 miles on it.  A two to three year old A6 4.2 with this mileage
can be purchased for around $25,000. Granted this car will need some
maintenance, but there will be far fewer issues than with a car that is 10-15
years old.  Factor in the “trade-in” value of the V8 the A6 replaces and the
numbers start to look even better.

The fact that our cars don’t bring much in the used car market seems to play out
with the newer ones as well.  I’ve seen what appear to be some good deals on
eBay for both A6 and A8 4.2L cars. Then again, maybe the grass is always greener
on the other side.

Jeff