Thoughts on possible B6 S4 purchase- opinions please

[Monizzle]

Hey guys, I found a 2005 B6 S4 in nagaro blue (black and alcantara interior) with 19k miles for around 23k...yeah, i know! The car is clean title, carfax checks out, and in immaculate condition, but here's the catch: it's tip.
I've wanted an S4 for god knows how long, and I simply don't like the B7 (unless it's the DTM package)...and the B8 is more than a year off. All that said, my current car may be gone by the end of this week so I need a car. I really wanted my next car to be a 6spd, but they're very hard to find for some reason, and this price makes it sooo tempting. What do you guys think?
Thanks in advance!

[c4racer]

I think if that is what 19K mile 05's are going for I must have lost about 50% of my car's value in 1 year. That sucks.....

[RAudi Driver]

Foshizzle Monizzle, I would pass and get the car that you really want. Another one will come up. There are plenty of S4's out there and if you think that the price is cheap, well, there is probably a good reason for it. Don't trust carfax as it's security for fools. It's one of the biggest shams out there. I have had my Nissan Maxima fixed several times and the carfax on that car is totally clean.

Don't look for the best deal, look for the best car and get the car that you truly want. If you don't, you will regret it everytime you see the car that you originally wanted.

Good luck and keep us posted.

[c4racer]

Foshizzle Monizzle, I would pass and get the car that you really want. Another one will come up. There are plenty of S4's out there and if you think that the price is cheap, well, there is probably a good reason for it. Don't trust carfax as it's security for fools. It's one of the biggest shams out there. I have had my Nissan Maxima fixed several times and the carfax on that car is totally clean.

Don't look for the best deal, look for the best car and get the car that you truly want. If you don't, you will regret it everytime you see the car that you originally wanted.

Good luck and keep us posted.

Agreed - I found the exact car I wanted down to both ext and int color, plus the manual trans and all the options I wanted. I payed more for it than some other cars that were available at the time. And it was worth it. The car was very clean, owned by a true Audi enthusiast who had a RS4 on order to replace it. The interior was about as nearly flawless as a 3 year old car could be. And the paint was well taken care of. Plus the car was driven by somebody who knows how to drive and who didn't beat on the car. Also the miles were mostly freeway due to a long and somewhat typical Northern CA commute.

I passed up better deals on CPO cars that were not as good or as matched to what I wanted as this car was.

I am almost 1 year into the car and I love it more than the day I brought it home. And the excitement of cars tends to wane on me after 9 months normally.

Get what you want, and get one you are comfortable was well taken care of.

[akitamike]

Pass on the tip, or test drive a b6 6 spd and then decide. I think time is one your side b/c the economy is tanking and gas is still expensive. In LA, there have to be a lot of 6 spds if you're patient.

[Monizzle]

yeah that's what i'm thinking. i'm trying not to be so impulsive this time. as far as carfax goes, yeah i know it's a load for the most part, so many accidents can go unreported. it's funny, i've been on the other side of this question and responded exactly with what you guys have said, guess it's nice to hear it from others as well. thanks for the input guys!
hopefully something will come up!

[rzundel]

I just picked up a certified 2005 S4 here in LA with 30k miles extra clean and paid $27k. I thought that was a smokin deal! WOW! I would wonder why your deal is so good? There must be something to hid? The market generally determines the price of the car. $23k for a low mile S4 is well below market. CARFAX doesn't tell the whole picture??

Anyway, mine is tip and I love it. Put the car in sport mode and wow! I compare this car to my '06 C4S Porsche that is a 6 spd. Frankly, I enjoy the tip much more than I thought I would. Bottom line, I am having a blast driving this car and especially with the LA traffic, the Audi tip is a great choice. I bought it as my daily driver. Get the car you want, but from someone who has recently just bought a tip, know that I am loving the decision I made!

[kloover]

I think if that is what 19K mile 05's are going for I must have lost about 50% of my car's value in 1 year. That sucks.....

Ditto. I paid $38k for my 04 with 12k miles on it...about a year ago

[Monizzle]

no need to fret guys, the 19k mile S4 I'm looking at is a special case, S4's with that low of mileage are still worth about 5-9k more.

[Celtic]

no need to fret guys, the 19k mile S4 I'm looking at is a special case, S4's with that low of mileage are still worth about 5-9k more.

So would you think I got a good deal for mine? I picked it up in June. It's a 2005 B6 CPO MT, had barely 16K miles on the clock and I took it home for 32K incl. tax and fees. Warranty until November 2010. I thought the deal was good, considering other offers from other dealers at the time were 3K higher for twice to three times the milage cars. But now after reading all this I'm not so sure anymore.
Thoughts?

[Monizzle]

well cars are depreciating faster than ever right now, especially v8's, they tend to just sit on lots and negotiations are in the buyers favor. considering you got yours in june, the dealer had slightly better bargaining chips than you simply because release of and word on the B8 A4/ S4 was still months off and they were less inclined to give you a better deal on a B6. That said, a CPO'D 05' S4 for 32k out the door in June was a decent deal.
Today a dealer might try to pull that again, but would let it go for 28k out the door (if not slightly less).

[Celtic]

Today a dealer might try to pull that again, but would let it go for 28k out the door (if not slightly less).

I think you're right about that. Those 32K were already negotiated down from 35K so I didn't feel so bad - especially for a car with only 16K miles on it. I can only hope to get a good price for it when I sell it as a low-mileage CPO some time in the future.

I still hope they'll figure out how to make oil out of sea water one day.

[norsecarnut]

Interesting pricing considering we just bought a new 08 S4 Avant, loaded (sticker $57,400) for almost $50k.... only $18k more than the 05....

I'm wondering if the Avants, of any year, will now hold their value since the announcement of no more S4 Avants coming for 2009 or 2010!

Funny thing is the vehicle we let go of was also a "no more of it's kind" - the VW Touareg V10.

[SOUREN S4]

i love the s4 such a fun car to drive!!!

[c4racer]

Interesting pricing considering we just bought a new 08 S4 Avant, loaded (sticker $57,400) for almost $50k.... only $18k more than the 05....

I'm wondering if the Avants, of any year, will now hold their value since the announcement of no more S4 Avants coming for 2009 or 2010!

Funny thing is the vehicle we let go of was also a "no more of it's kind" - the VW Touareg V10.

Ya - that is an interesting question. Avants are quite rare and they seemed to bring less in each year. Of course, wagons sell terribly here in the US, but seems the way gas prices are going many people could make do with a wagon instead of a small SUV. I would bet the S4 has nearly the same cargo space as a Jeep SRT8 for example, that will perform worse and get much worse mpg. Just a thought. It will be interesting to see how it plays out.

I payed over $30K for my 2005 Avant a year ago, although I found a few similar cars in the high $20's at the time. But this one was everything I wanted and in great shape and owned by a true Audi enthusiast. And for the first time in a long while I am really thinking about keeping this one long term. There is just nothing I could replace it with that interests me in any way because I really need and use the wagon and AWD, and I want a performance / luxury / sport sedan... Volvo is about the only company making a competing product these days, and I am not a fan of that AWD system - Quattro is better for performance and snow.

[coldfusion9xx]

I had to get my 05 S4 6mt worked on this past week and they gave me a new a6 4.2 to take as a loaner that is semi automatic (got the little up and down gear shifter)...well I loved it personally because I decided to use it as my commuter car for the day.
If its a choice between manual and semi auto...i would do manual for strictly spirited driving and semi auto for multi purposes, like commuting and what not...just my personal preference (traffic gets really annoying after awhile)

And as far as going to find a good deal...before i bought this car with 32k on it for 26g (great deal IMO), I found a 2004 BMW M3, red 6mt with nav and 9K miles for 27g!...great price, but when I looked at the car fax, I saw it switched owners and went to auctions about 3 times (Big red flag when multi owners and low miles)

Regardless, be weary of low mile cars for cheap prices, better off getting a semi low miles car for a decent price and have it fully inspected AND if its a dealer you are buying the car from ASK WHAT WORK WAS PERFORMED WHEN THEY 1ST RECIEVED THE CAR!
I did that once and found they had to replace the tranny, fix the brakes and repair a bunch of other stuff! (aka the previous owner didnt give a crap!)