Advice re: buying '04 A6

[A6.S-line]

Hi guys, I am considering buying a CPO '04 A6 2.7T S-line. Any advice would be appreciated.

Bottom line:
What do you think is a good price for this car? And what do I need to worry about?

They are willing to come down to 16K + TTL, I wanted to pay 15,750 OTD + tax. So we are off by about $500 (250 on the price and another 200 on title + registration).

The online price was 17K (sticker said 20K - I guess anyone walking in without checking online is target for a fat profit), so they were quickly willing to knock 1K off but otherwise wouldn't go any lower.

Here are the pics:
http://www.cars.com/go/search/detail...aff=national#0

Description:

This is a Certified Pre-Owned 2004 Audi A6 2.7T S-Line in SIlver with Black Interior and 47,305 miles. Vehicle was originally sold and serviced at our dealership. Just traded in. Vehicle is equipped with Leather, Moonroof, Heated Seats, Bose Sound Package, Memory Seats, Xenon Headlamps, Homelink + MORE! Audi Certified Vehicles go through a 300+ inspection process to qualify and are backed by Audi's 6 Year/100k Certified Pre-Owned Warranty at no additional cost to you. This vehicle is in excellent condition both mechanically and cosmetically, don't delay!

The miles are a bit more than I would like, at 48K, but more importantly the carfax shows the car being first registered in May 04, so Im guessing the CPO warranty would last til May 2010 - not quite the 2 years of warranty I was hoping for.

The car drove well during the brief test drive. Took it up to 60 a couple of times on the streets close to the dealership, nowhere else to go. No noticeable lag from the biturbo V6; acceleration is almost as effortless as the 280hp I am used to.

To be honest, during the test drive I didn't think we'd be close to buying it. It's my gf who's buying the car, and she was so unhappy about the small things missing (no bluetooth, no MP3/WMA CD changer, no second cupholder up front, not enough storage space) vs. her previous car ('06 G35x) that I doubted her pseudo lowball offer would be close to a sale.

Cosmetic condition is very good from what I saw - couple chips on the black grille, one tiny blemish on the paint, the small wood panel around the headlight switch has a crack. I did not check the wheels for curb rash. As mentioned above, I didn't think we'd be close to a deal.

My brother had a '05.5 S4 Avant (sweet car) and my dad had an Audi 80 back in the day. Let's see if another Audi will join our clan.

[wofman]

Does she like the color? If so, seems pretty nice. Stock car, presumably not driven hard -- about 10K/year is fine; happy customer b/c did trade-in. Rims look nice (17s?).

2.7 has some maintenance coming up in next 25K or so miles (timing belt, water pump); A6 has standard issues later on (tie rods, control arms, CVs).

16K with 1.5 yr CPO sounds pretty good to me. Especially if it's somebody else's money!

You know about how much 2.7 lends itself to mods, right? Chip alone gets you to over 300HP. That and sway bars and for $1,000 total, and it's way better than what you test drove!

wofman

PS there is a 2nd cup holder and mp3 is easy add -- no 6-CD in trunk?

[FrankA6]

umm well since the car is debadged and the front grill trim is painted black, im guess somone that is into modding cars did it, i would say it was driven hard for the time they had it , but it looks good.

[A6.S-line]

umm well since the car is debadged and the front grill trim is painted black, im guess somone that is into modding cars did it, i would say it was driven hard for the time they had it , but it looks good.

Yeah I was just going to mention it's been debadged. Was wondering if that's bad for resale. Didn't realize that (or a black grille) implied it was possibly owned by a modder - heck I didn't realize the grille wasn't stock, lol

[2.slowT]

That price seems really high considering you can get a 2006 or 07 for about 20,000.

[wofman]

umm well since the car is debadged and the front grill trim is painted black, im guess somone that is into modding cars did it, i would say it was driven hard for the time they had it , but it looks good.

well, I guess I'm so used to debadged on AZ I didn't even notice! (And the black rings I like on silver, too -- I'm slipping, eh?) Stock suspension, maintenance at dealer -- still suggests less than hard. $16K and CPO seems "right" to me, though.

[A6.S-line]

Does she like the color? If so, seems pretty nice. Stock car, presumably not driven hard -- about 10K/year is fine; happy customer b/c did trade-in. Rims look nice (17s?).

2.7 has some maintenance coming up in next 25K or so miles (timing belt, water pump); A6 has standard issues later on (tie rods, control arms, CVs).

16K with 1.5 yr CPO sounds pretty good to me. Especially if it's somebody else's money!

You know about how much 2.7 lends itself to mods, right? Chip alone gets you to over 300HP. That and sway bars and for $1,000 total, and it's way better than what you test drove!

wofman

PS there is a 2nd cup holder and mp3 is easy add -- no 6-CD in trunk?

Yeah aesthetically she's pretty happy with it, main complaints being the small crack in the dash wood near the headlight switch and the trunklid spoiler (she hates spoilers). I personally like the S-line wheels a lot.

I didn't check the trunk (I know, I know)... but it has the Bose stereo - does that mean it has a trunk changer?

Where is the 2nd cupholder? I'll do a search for MP3

TB and water pump is probably an expensive maintenance item. I read somewhere else that $650 is a good price for an extended maintenance contract (would that include TB/WP?) .........

....or she'll probably sell it while it's still CPO (I assume prices fall off quite a bit for cars out of warranty). So that would be in the next 12-15 months or another 18-22K miles.

[2.slowT]

You should post that up on AW. I think A guy from there just traded that in :)

The shift surround has also been painted black.

[A6.S-line]

That price seems really high considering you can get a 2006 or 07 for about 20,000.

with a decent amount of miles & months left on warranty?

[HOFFY11]

spare rim looks curbed to shit..unless its just the picture??

[2.slowT]

with a decent amount of miles & months left on warranty?

Considering in a year or two there will be no more warranty and 75,000+ miles you will be down in the 10,000 -12,000 range for resale. IDK, that price just seems high to me. Others dont seem to think so and if you think its a deal then buy it

[A6.S-line]

spare rim looks curbed to shit..unless its just the picture??

good catch... IDK, I didn't check the trunk/spare

[2.slowT]

I was just thinking.. You should at least be able to get the sport package with nav at that price.

[A6.S-line]

Considering in a year or two there will be no more warranty and 75,000+ miles you will be down in the 10,000 -12,000 range for resale. IDK, that price just seems high to me. Others dont seem to think so and if you think its a deal then buy it

An 06+ would be great, but I did a search on cars.com and the only 06s at $20K are all above 42K miles (there were only 3 anyway). Bumping the range to $22K brings in only 2 cars below 40K miles, out of which 1 is from a well-known bait-n-switch place (i.e. the car doesn't exist).

So while an 06 would be great, I don't want a car that will be out of warranty in 10-8K miles, i.e. in 6 months give or take.

[A6.S-line]

I was just thinking.. You should at least be able to get the sport package with nav at that price.

I found this (see the last page):

http://www.audiworld.com/model/a6/04/04a62_7t.pdf

No mention of a sport package, only:

• Premium package (which this car should have)
• Cold weather package (which this car should have)
• Luxury package
• Premium Audio package (which this car should have)

Sports seats were a separate option, which required the lux package

[2.slowT]

Yeah sorry, the sport package kinda went away after 2002. Then they went to the S Line. Not sure of the differances.

Hey, can you pull up one of thoes sheets for a 2002?? Or where did you get it?

[wofman]

contact FrankA6 about 2004 S-Line features - that's what he has

16K is not even close to price for C6 era A6 (which does not have 2.7 either); and CPO does cover water pump, TB. Other cup holder is right of hand break (pops up) and yeah, you have 6 cd changer in trunk and one in dash. Rash on spare doesn't matter if other 4 are as clean as they appear to be. Silver on black is nice, NAV would be a bonus, but.... Maybe a pic of gf to be sure about recommending this vehicle?

[A6.S-line]

Yeah sorry, the sport package kinda went away after 2002. Then they went to the S Line. Not sure of the differances.

Hey, can you pull up one of thoes sheets for a 2002?? Or where did you get it?

I just found it by googling for 04 A6 sport package.

I also found a discussion on sport package here, where they posted the following link which no longer seems to work

http://www.audiusa.com/certified_mod...80,305,00.html

[A6.S-line]

contact FrankA6 about 2004 S-Line features - that's what he has

16K is not even close to price for C6 era A6 (which does not have 2.7 either); and CPO does cover water pump, TB. Other cup holder is right of hand break (pops up) and yeah, you have 6 cd changer in trunk and one in dash. Rash on spare doesn't matter if other 4 are as clean as they appear to be. Silver on black is nice, NAV would be a bonus, but.... Maybe a pic of gf to be sure about recommending this vehicle?

lol....Yeah, silver on a german car is great - particularly on one descended from Auto Union. Contrasting interior color is nice too IMO. Nav would be a bonus for future resale, but practically speaking I'm indifferent as she just bought a GPS unit barely a month ago.

[A6.S-line]

This car's CPO coverage should last exactly 2 years from my date of purchase, right? I found this in the CPO e-brochure on Audi's website:

"If there is no Audi Limited New Vehicle Warranty remaining: If the Audi Limited New Vehicle Warranty has expired at the time of
Certified pre-owned purchase, the Audi Certified pre-owned Limited Warranty provides coverage from the Certified pre-owned
purchase date for 2 years or up to 50,000 miles, whichever occurs first. In no event will coverage exceed 100,000 total vehicle miles."

I'd been thinking about CPO in terms of the new car warranty still existing, and therefore the 4+2 years being calculated from the in-service date. But here the new car warranty is over, so regardless of the inservice date there should be a 2yr warranty starting at the date of purchase.

[2.slowT]

Also it says 'Limited' warranty. I would see what that covers.

You would want transmission and turbos coverd if possible.

[tquattro2004]

I purchased my 2004 A6 2.7 S_line in 38,000 miles in April 08 for $16,500 non CPO but picked up a warranty till 75,000 or 3 years full coverage.

The only 2 options I didn't get were the luxury package, and Bluetooth. I have the Bose system with 6 in dash CD.

I think $16k might be a little high even with CPO... I would question the "CPO" with the car having clear corner lights, and few other mods....I would check the headlights over make sure no leaks..

Bonus is, if anything breaks it’s covered, but a pain to keep bringing it in...

I agree that the car was probably driven hard. And the wood around the light switch, vents, door handle, ECT.....is a stick on kit....Not OEM

Over all, I love my car, and if you don't mind 15-18MPG for city driving it’s a great car...

I would get rid of it before the warranty expires...

Good luck with any car you guys pick

[A6.S-line]

Also it says 'Limited' warranty. I would see what that covers.

You would want transmission and turbos coverd if possible.

I think all warranties are called "Limited Warranty" these days - presumably for legal reasons and because it excludes tires, brakes, and other "wear items" and also has exclusions for failures due to neglect, abuse, etc etc

Looking further into the brochure, it says the CPO warranty is non-transferable. I thought Audi CPO warranties were transferable in private party sales, just like MB and BMW

[Kievskiy]

eh, get a six speed manual;)

[A6.S-line]

....I would check the headlights over make sure no leaks..

....
I would get rid of it before the warranty expires...

How should one check the headlights?

If I can get a CPO warranty starting date of purchase, then that would be great because it could be sold in 18-20 months (even if it's been problem-free) with a healthy amount of warranty left on it.

[tquattro2004]

Check the seals at the top & sides of the headlight to see if they are tightly sealed.. also look for condensation inside the light... Also make sure they will be covered on the warranty since you are buying them in that condition.. Usually if stock parts are altered it voids the warranty... that's why I would question the CPO warranty... did they really go over the car at all??
Good luck
Check Autotrader too... there are a good amount on there

[wofman]

By definition CPO covers items being discussed, and the transaction is from dealer to buyer. And yes, "limited" warranty is the only warranty there is. You should discuss warranty terms with dealer, see what he'll do "if you were to entertain his $16K price...." (I still think 16 with CPO is nuts on) Though Kievsky and I are on same page with 6 sp, I gather gf feels differently.

[A6.S-line]

By definition CPO covers items being discussed, and the transaction is from dealer to buyer. And yes, "limited" warranty is the only warranty there is. You should discuss warranty terms with dealer, see what he'll do "if you were to entertain his $16K price...." (I still think 16 with CPO is nuts on) Though Kievsky and I are on same page with 6 sp, I gather gf feels differently.

Yeah I'd consider a 6speed, but she wouldn't...

[A6.S-line]

I'm going to call them back today or tomorrow to try to work out a deal...

Documentation:

• CPO Inspection checklist (think they provide this anyway, but I'll ask for it if they don't).
• Service/maintenance history - their ad says this car was serviced at their dealership (some dealers claim they are not allowed to give it out, any experience regarding this?)

Small things

• Gf wants a replacement for the wood piece around the headlight switch. Salesperson said in a very non-committal way that they could order it but it may not be available.
• Badges - not that important to me, but who knows if it matters for future resale. it's just 2 badges, right? "A6" on the left and "2.7t Quattro" on the right.
• Floormats - it's funny how so many new german cars don't necessarily come with them by default

[wofman]

sounds like you are almost on board

And of course, ask for details/contract language for CPO, especially duration since that seemed to be issue of iuncertainty here. You can be sure their "300 points for certification" or whatever, is a selling tool they will have for you in writing since it forms part of contract. Not sure about service history particulars (they resist implied warranties, for sure, so maybe they won't put that in writing) - you already contacted prior owner, right?

[A62TURBO]

I say stay away from the C5 A6, nothing but problems, I have had enough with mine, I just noticed that the second cv boot bursted in 2 months, in addition to a whole sh$t load of other problems in the past 2 years. I'm soooooooo pissed off with this car, I would get rid of it but it's worth sh#t. I would say go for a C6, just my .02

[Kemer1]

My CPO came with the 300 pt inspection sheet included as well as a full carfax report that had all the maintinance and repairs listed. So his should too.

Good luck with the car. Love the 2.7 I even tried talking my GF into a 2.7 allroad, but she wasn't for it, she wants a B7 A4 2.0T. Oh well, at lest its an Audi.

[wan2play]

Audi says "60k", but in reality coming from many Audi mechanics I've spoken to you shouldn't worry about it until 85k. To be a little careful replace around 75k. I got my six speed 03 2.7t for 11,500. Why should you pay 5 grand more than I did? The car had 55,000 miles at the time I bought it. Do you have a friend that owns a dealers license? If you do, ask him to take you with him to the auto auctions. There are a lot of A6s flooding the market. This is really bringing the value of these cars down.

For real though, I advise you not to pay more than $13,000 for a 04 with 50,000 miles. I get my info form my step-dad who has a dealers license, and from my own experience at teh auctions.

Another note, If its auto then don't even bother getting one. It just isn't any fun. My 2 cents.

[tquattro2004]

[QUOTE=A6.S-line;3111627]I'm going to call them back today or tomorrow to try to work out a deal...

Documentation:

• CPO Inspection checklist (think they provide this anyway, but I'll ask for it if they don't).
• Service/maintenance history - their ad says this car was serviced at their dealership (some dealers claim they are not allowed to give it out, any experience regarding this?)

If you call Audi direct and give them the VIN number, They should be able to tell you what and if any service was done at Audi dealerships... Just tell them you bought the car...

[wan2play]

I say stay away from the C5 A6, nothing but problems, I have had enough with mine, I just noticed that the second cv boot bursted in 2 months, in addition to a whole sh$t load of other problems in the past 2 years. I'm soooooooo pissed off with this car, I would get rid of it but it's worth sh#t. I would say go for a C6, just my .02

^That would of been easily avoided if you would take the car to a mechanic for inspection. Do your research about the common problems that are affiliated with 2.7ts. Write down the common issues, then take that piece of paper to the mechanic. This is a must if you don't want to be surprised like A62TURBO was.

[A62TURBO]

^^^ True, but a lot of these problems are not foreseeable and happen mostly when not expected. If it wasn't for my CPO I would be even more upset.

[massboykie]

Hi guys, I am considering buying a CPO '04 A6 2.7T S-line. Any advice would be appreciated. ....

Although these are for the S4 most of it still applies...

http://www.vaglinks.com/Docs/Audi/B5...Newbie_FAQ.pdf

http://www.vaglinks.com/Docs/Audi/B5...uyersguide.pdf

Hope that's helpful

Cheers
Massboykie

[A6.S-line]

Audi says "60k", but in reality coming from many Audi mechanics I've spoken to you shouldn't worry about it until 85k. To be a little careful replace around 75k. I got my six speed 03 2.7t for 11,500. Why should you pay 5 grand more than I did? The car had 55,000 miles at the time I bought it. Do you have a friend that owns a dealers license? If you do, ask him to take you with him to the auto auctions. There are a lot of A6s flooding the market. This is really bringing the value of these cars down.

For real though, I advise you not to pay more than $13,000 for a 04 with 50,000 miles. I get my info form my step-dad who has a dealers license, and from my own experience at teh auctions.

Another note, If its auto then don't even bother getting one. It just isn't any fun. My 2 cents.

I don't know anyone with a dealers license. If I did, I would have seriously considered that route. A guy I met a couple weeks back said that he bought an 08 MB E350 4matic w/ 12K miles for $35K at Manheim. There are sometimes good deals to be found and by definition, wholesale < retail pricing.

Re: your example, I think an auto 04 would bring in a little more than a 6sp 03. Add in the manheim fees and then add an aftermarket warranty, and you're looking at close to 16K again.

It's easy to say one shouldn't pay more than X, but please show me where I can get a warrantied <50K mileage Audi for 13-14K

[wan2play]

Manheim up in Wisconsin is were I do my bidding. $500 dollar charge at auction. If your looking for a warranty then your best bet is at teh dealership. If your looking to save money, the auction it is.

Well, I see a 6 speed 02 A6 with 50k go for 14,500. Later on the same day, a auto 03 A6 went for 13,800, and it had 57,000 miles. This was all of course before the depreciation started.

Anyways, your deal sounds pretty good considering the fact it comes with warranty.
Do you know the exact price after all is calculated? Those dealers are f'in sharks.

[A6.S-line]

She picked her up last night. Pretty psyched thus far, thanks everyone for your help!

PS: Was looking at the cpo checklist - does a "Repaired" check for any item such as tires or brakes mean it was replaced?