Thinking of selling my car, advice please

[Sepse7en]

Hey guys, So I have an 02 a4 quattro sport that I love. Ive had it for almost 5 years now and I owe less then 5 grand on it. Its lightly modded and Its kept me pretty happy up until now, however Its seems to me that now that the car is a little older, its starting to cost me a lot more then I want to spend on maintaining it. The original idea was that I would finish paying it off, enjoy no car payment for a year or so, then go get a new a4. So then, heres the problem(s) today my car wouldn't start, I turn the key and it makes a clicking noise but it wont start, Im guessing its the alternator or something, but I haven't had a chance to deal it with it yet. Small issue no doubt, but also my drivers side window wont roll down (the regulator needs to be replaced, this is my 3rd window that has had this happen), my damn sunroof is possessed, the backing of my drivers seat just fell off and the lumbar broke in it, and I cant make my car faster for cheap because I have a GIAC chip in it that cant be reflashed for some reason. So now I find myself asking if its worth keeping my car that has 130k miles on it, or trading it in/selling it and getting a GTI. Any advice you guys can give me? I would like to keep my car, but I figure I'm either gonna sell it in a year or so anyway or maybe keep it once its paid off and have it as a project car. So Do you guys plan on keeping your cars into old age, is it worth the headaches of having an older car? or should I just give in and buy a newer car?

[sxman69]

what year gti?

[Black_Pearl_B6]

Every car i have ever owned, has been a headache, (except for my audi, knock on wood) thats what owning a car is all about, if I were you I would pay it off and keep it as a project car and take it to the strip or use it as a beater

[fla4sline]

With all those probs, do you think you'll get top dollar for selling/trading in the car? Will you be upside down if you sell/trade it in? If you want to keep the car, are you ok to drive it with these probs?
The car not starting sounds like the battery. Did it to me and I was told that when they die, they die, no warning. Just dead.
I have an extended warranty, so it's not so painful when I have to replace something covered. However, if I didn't, I don't know. These cars are so prone to nickle and diming owners to death.
All in all, I love my car. It's unique as far as Audis go, I get props wherever I go, I love the look. It's not really fast, just kinda quick. Would love to dump money into the engine, but I have other priorities first. As long as it gets me around in style, I'm fine.
You're soo close to paying it off, keep it a while as a beater. It's so lovely not having a car payment.

[flandog]

if you don't mind working on cars, then you are always better off to fix the one you have and pust the money you would be spending to better use...my .02

[Greedo]

At that mileage and with those problems I think you'd break about even for a trade-in. You're better off selling it privately, but then you have to deal with the problems that come with that (flaky buyers, wasted time, etc).

Personally I find that the majority of problems you're listing are standard wear and tear. The car has 130k miles on it; these things happen eventually. A car isn't built to last forever. All in all I doubt you'd be looking at spending that much money to repair the broken aspects of the car.

As mentioned above, the battery is probably dead. As for the windows, eventually those all get possessed and something needs to be replaced. With the sunroof, it may just be a bad connection with the switch. http://www.a4mods.com/index.php?page...tml&category=5 this should help resolve that issue. The seat backing will be rather expensive through the dealer, so try and find one at a salvage yard.

For the time you've owned the car it never hurts to look into moving on, but for what you owe vs what you'll get, I'd reconsider.

[Valve_Cover]

I bought my audi for 8k$ and the whole point was to have no car payments...I absolutely love the b8 a4 and could quite easily afford one, but I refuse to go get one just because I'm so happy with not making a 500-600$ car payment every month, so I deal with the little headaches that my b6 brings me (very very few) and I put the extra 6-7 grand a year on better investments (IE the appartment building I own). The B6 is an awsome car if you treat it right and still looks very good by today's standards so I dont plan on trading up for another 3-4 years at least.

Just my 2 cents of course!
Mark

BTW :I've owned my b6 for 2 years now

[BASARAB]

I say that u are pretty lucky having only these problems with 130k. I had all that crap happening at 60k

[Sepse7en]

Thanks for the input guys. I love my car, and I only really want to keep it for sentimental value. I'm scared to death of taking it on long trips after it left me stranded in LA once lol. It had a good run, but I'm a grown ass man and I think the time is coming that I have something dependable where things aren't constantly broken. I know I can dump a grand or so into it and have the majority of the issues worked out, but thats a grand I could use elsewhere, added to the fact that I already spent a few hundred fixing other things. I don't think its the battery that is gone because the car still displays time/ the stereo works, but I turn the key and it kinda just clicks. Anyway, I owe like 4500 on it, and figure I can make maybe 6500 selling it or trading it in and parting out the mods I do have. Im looking at a 2010 GTI btw, Ive always like them, and I cant find an affordable b8 a4/a5.

[woofster]

I also have an '02 B6 and I can't even imagine replacing the car. As with ANY car of ANY age, there will be repairs and items that fail. A grand to fix things isn't really all that much. Think of it this way: That $1,000 to fix your B6 will only cover 1, maybe 2, monthly payments on a new car. Having a brand new car is great but don't spring forward on the basis that you'll save on maintenance because your overall expenses on the vehicle will certainly outweigh all the maintenance costs on an 8-year old B6.