Looking to buy a used Audi- prices and misc ramblings (longish)

[Jeff.McMeekin@Corp.Sun.COM (Jeff McMeekin - WWFO Training)]

Now that I am back in the market again for an Audi (we got our first
Quattro in '95) I am struck by what appears to be crazy pricing for
used models.  The '96s seem to be a pretty good buy but with little
price fall off through 95, 94 an 93.  One dealer has a '93 100CSQ (65k
miles) for $22k , another has a 96 A6 fwd for the $1k more.  The bottom
of the '93 asking prices (for the 100's fwd) is around $16k.  So most
of what I see advertised in the SF Bay Area for 100/A6 seems to fall in
the 16 to mid-low 20s and at least from the dealers, most around 20 no
matter what it is.  Q is worth more but mileage seems to be the big
decider.  Or more properly 'what the market will bear' seems to be the
biggest factor.

I drove the 100CS (a beautiful pearl white car sold with a Audi of
America 2 year warranty).  First 5 spd I'd driven.  I lamented the fact
that our wagon only came with an auto but after three years have gotten
used to it.  But the 5 spd really showed I was missing a nice
experience.  And the sedan definitely moves out better than the auto
wagon.

But how could I possibly justify buying a '93 100cs for $22k?  Or even $20k?
I can get an A4 Q (in theory) with 5 spd for around $25. And
the A4 I drove struck me as riding as nicely as my A6 but just
a lot more nimble.  Of course I want the advantages of every car
I've ever owned in whatever my next car will be, so even the A4 doesn't
quite cover all the bases.  My daily commute is done in a Jetta which
is the Perfect Sized compact car.  I can't even sit in the back of the
A4 without my head hitting the roof, but the Jetta holds 4 persons
in good comfort.  (If I recall the C&D recent test had the Jetta last
but they did point out that among the cars tested (A4, Integra(?), 
and something else) it was the only car that offered a reasonable back seat.

The bottom line is I want something around $15k.  A 93 100s would
be perfect.  5sp, no Climate Control (yes!), no Bose (yes!) but otherwise
just like my '95.  No quattro either (one Q in a flatlander family is
probably enough, although I must admit I feel this tug to get another,
snow or not).

Trouble is Audi's were so overpriced for so long (the 93 100CS listed
for $40k), the used market is pretty small and with the interest in new
ones at it's highest in many years, I guess the used market is also
feeling the pitch.

Where am I going to find my next car?

(FYI, the web as we all know is the grandest thing to come along in a
long while...  Most major metropolitan areas (at least on the West
Coast) have their classifieds on-line.  Even better are the notifier
features.  The SF Chronicle has the latter.  You just tell them what
you are interested and every day between 7-8 am you get an email of
cars that came into the classifieds that meet your requirements.
Searching is a bit crude (it's safer to ask for all Audi's than try to
select a specific model or year) but this is a great service.  Check it
out:
	http://ww.sfgate.com/classifieds  

Jeff

'95 A6 Q wagon
'86 Jetta GLI
'65 Elan