Re: Used Car Prices

[audidudi@mindspring.com (Jeffrey J. Goggin)]

>Curious to know what listers best (Audi?) deal was

Until December of 1996, I would have thought the one-owner '87 5000 with
only 22k that I bought in February of 1990 for $9,400 ($15,200 less than the
original sticker!) was the best deal I've made on an Audi ... now, it's the
one-owner '85 Ur-Q with only 74k and a nearly complete service history that
I bought for $8,000 that month.

Of course, the wrecked '91 200q that I picked up in '93 or '94 (I forget
which) for $4,900 wasn't bad, either, and the Coupe Quattro that I bought
last year from a dealer auction for $4,700 and flipped two weeks later for
$6,500 to a friend was a good deal as well ... but since I didn't keep
either car, I figure they don't count.

As for salvage-title cars, so long as they're properly repaired and priced
accordingly, I don't have a problem with them ... of course, I'm a
cash-buyer so financing problems don't affect me.  The problem is the fact
that most of these cars are NOT properly repaired -- with many, the cost
difference between making them presentable and repairing them properly is
surprisingly large -- and it's difficult to determine the quality of the
repair work after the car has been painted and resassembled.  On the other
end of the deal, they're also a lot harder to sell when you decide to pass
them along and that has to be taken into consideration as well ... in
general, I wouldn't pay -- and haven't needed to pay! -- more than 80% of
low book value for a  salvage-title car.  Any more than that, and the resale
factor alone makes a non-salvage title car a better bet for anything you
aren't going to keep forever.  

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