B8 Avant purchase advice

[NUBA4]

Hey all, need some input on a potential purchase of a gorgeous avant that finally came to town. Its a 2012 with just over 16k, prestige, sport plus, black optics etc. Only issues I have with it, is that it doesn't have the rotor arm wheels, and it also has a stasis cat back. Which Im not super opposed to, but Its the wife's new ride, so it might be a little much. Wheels are easily replaced, however the other issue with the exhaust is that apparently it cant be a CPO because of it, that and the wheels Im told. So i'm losing out on two years of warranty. This gives me some haggle room on the price for sure. I've never had a warranty, or CPO previously, so I'm thinking it makes no difference. However the bumper to bumper warranty did seem good for the piece of mind. Most of my experiences with extended warranties is that, nothing ever breaks or goes wrong until after its expired, in this case Its money I just save for a rainy day. I've had my B6 for five years now, and never had any issues with it until recently, few electric hiccups. So I'm left with buying a pre-owned Audi for a reasonable amount of money with half the warranty. At least now I have reason to chip it sooner. Anyways, they're asking 43K for it, which seems a tad steep to me, I was hoping more around 38 or less, and have the trade. Problem is, according to KBB its still worth that. Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks all!

Matt.

[skis4hire]

The B8 avant market is inflated. You could probably get a '12 p+ sport for 37 or 38 but not a prestige. Unless your wife loves to put custom exhuasts on her car maybe skip this one unless you can use it to negotiate down. To me the exhuast diminishes the value of the car (even before considering loss of warranty issues).

You may have seen this:
http://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-s...ngId=358388936



If it helps, high quality Hartmann replicas are around $1150 for the set.
http://shop.achtuning.com/Hartmann-H...variation=3989

The OEM wheels are about 1750 shipped for the set.
http://www.audionlineparts.com/parts...?siteid=215021

[NUBA4]

Yep tried to get a hold if that one before, also inflated. He also won't budge on the price. That one is 4K over book. For now I'm stuck on the 12's because you can get the sline gfx with the titanium accents, and those awesome alcantara inserts. They don't show up very often in avant form this is why I'm trying to convince myself on it. But the price seems way too high, especially since I get half the warranty. I might pass still, ill need to drive it again to be sure. I'd feel dumb getting rid of the exhaust back to stock. Is the stock car back expensive? Is there any other exhaust to consider without any drone?

[Warren S]

Price sounds a little steep, but it does have Prestige and sport package, and those are well desirable options to begin with. Does it have any other options above the Prestige level, like Audi side assist (identified by a button on the left mirror), side rear window shades, or maybe the high priced and very rare options like adaptive cruise control (identified by the "cone" next to the right side fog light or Audi Drive Select? Probably not, but still desirable nonetheless.

As for the Stasis exhaust, does the wife care for a sportier sound? If not, you could probably add an extra resonator back in to tone it down. Stock has two fairly large "suitcase" resonators around the middle of the car and then splits off after the rear axle and exits out to two separate mufflers for the Avant...most aftermarket exhausts ditch the extra resonator and have a much smaller resonator(s). Since you're in Colorado, I'd figure you would want a separate "winter" set of wheels/tires. If it came with 18's, I would use those for the winter set and get a set of Hartmann 19's for summer. Because it's not CPO'd, they should come down a bit more on the price. Hopefully they would like to move the car by year's end. Good luck!

[tgrundke]

I've been looking at B8 avants as well and I agree with what one of the earlier posters said: it's a horribly inflated market at the moment, especially for private sales. There's a local guy trying to sell a '12 prestige with 20k on the clock for close to $50k, arguing that they are the last of their kind. It should come as no surprise that this car has been sitting for 6 months with no takers. ;-)

For the asking price of $43k I would seriously be looking at a 2013 CPO allroad. When I looked about a month ago there were some excellent deals. I seriously considered heading down to Texas for a 2013 CPO Pre+Plus with B&O, sport and navigation and 8k on the clock for $40,500.

The inflation on some of these models (ESPECIALLY the ones with the sport package) is making it very hard to justify an avant, as much as I would like one. The market is pretty well flooded with low mileage Q5 CPOs at much better prices.

[d.p]

Agreed. People are asking way too much for them and hence they sit for a long time. Its not like people are beating down the door for A4 avants anyway. If they were S4 avants that would be a different story.

[smetch]

That much and no warranty? jeeze

[timob]

Audi America permanently flags certain mods (any chipping, for sure, even if reverted to stock, they can tell on the computer) and that exhaust may have effectively voided the powertrain warranty. The car may also have been chipped and put back to stock, as the cat back on a new-ish car suggests that that is not all the last owner did.. If you were to buy it you'd need written assurance beforehand that that has not happened, because you could wind up with a huge warranty claim denied down the broad, much much worse than just no CPO. Stasis chipping is sold by some dealers, and i was told by one last week that that effectively shifts the power train warranty to Stasis, a small company and a dicey gamble on a $10,000 engine should that ever happen.

[timob]

And more, the dealer CAN NOT override that flag if it is placed, the one i spoke with last week confirmed that (to their credit they were honest about it, and i did not go for the Stasis mod.)

[d.p]

Exhaust won't void the power train warranty...what he is referring to has to do with CPO and they cannot CPO a modified car. Exchange the exhaust for a stock one and the car can be CPO'd.

[AWDLover]

That avant pretty much has the audizine package...RS4 grille, wheels (which look plastidipped to me), suspension, and exhaust. I wouldn't be surprised if you find information on that car in these forums somewhere. Looks like it came from California, 2 owner, 2nd only had it 4 months. I'd also ask them if it has a tune.

http://www.audiboulder.com/used/Audi...1ccdc5d48f.htm

[name.goes.here]

LOL - Asking for 43K??? And no warranty????

That is more than what I paid new for my 2012 Avant, S-line with Nav. Granted, I don't have black optics, but geez, it's not like 2012 Avants are unicorns or something....

I would pass, not only for cost - alone, but also the lack of any warranty.

[wabbit23]

Yup, pass! I just picked up my 55k 2011 Premium Plus CPO'd Avant with sport package, Nav, and B+O. It wasn't in perfect condition but I've taken care of most of the issues since then.
It doesn't have the Sline black optics stuff either but that's something I can take care of with some plastidip if I really wanted to. Only thing that car has on mine is the the keyless stuff (which is pretty nice but Ill admit, not worth that much extra $$$)

I paid just under $27k by the way. Shop around, last I saw Avants were selling out here in Cali from $26k and up.


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[NUBA4]

Well I went back today to look again, and talk some numbers. It was on a test drive when I got there, and I guess they've had a few bites on it since last I was there. Anyways, they low balled my B6 trade HUGE, which I wasnt super thrilled about. It needs MAYBE a grand worth of work to get back to normal..O2 (heater control circuit) and the abs module has been acting up recently. Otherwise its great, even a "fair" trade in value was over 4k...anyways they offered me 2500! Sad face. So thats out of the question, so we began to just talk price on the car and I'll take care of the private sale on my own. I said 38.5, they say its too light, and they'd do $41250..Still seems a tad high to me especially with only 2 years of warranty left like we've all been discussing. Accompanied with this is me possibly having to get an aftermarket warranty, on top of cost, so its way more then I want to spend on a non cpo car. I dont get the premium really, same specced out sedan is only 36 retail...5+K extra for the wagon? I havent looked into extended warranties yet, but Im assuming its going to be around the 2K range, so we're more talking 43 again for the car but maybe I could score that for another 4/50 I dunno. I've been considering the allroad still, Im starting to really like the facelift look, and those are plentiful in different options and trims. Oh, back to the wheels, they have to go immediately, they're actually 20" TSW's. Way too big for the car if you ask me.

[b6onboost]

The low trade is typical. Dealers quote auction prices. When you trade you're basically saying "I want this car sold immediately so I can buy something else" and in such you get bottom market value.

Avants are a niche market. A B8 Avant with Sport or S-Line pkg is just impossible to find. Those who have them are asking crazy high prices. I mean at over $40k you're talking 2014 A4 or CPO 2013 Allroad money.

[piotrowr]

Pass, I picked up my 2010 for $46K out the door. No way I would pay $43K with 16K miles and no warranty, even if it is 2012.

[TimNGobbles]

Keep looking. How set are you on all those items? Would the sports package be enough or is the optik package a must?

[Bezlar]

Hey all, need some input on a potential purchase of a gorgeous avant that finally came to town. Its a 2012 with just over 16k, prestige, sport plus, black optics etc. Only issues I have with it, is that it doesn't have the rotor arm wheels, and it also has a stasis cat back. Which Im not super opposed to, but Its the wife's new ride, so it might be a little much. Wheels are easily replaced, however the other issue with the exhaust is that apparently it cant be a CPO because of it, that and the wheels Im told. So i'm losing out on two years of warranty. This gives me some haggle room on the price for sure. I've never had a warranty, or CPO previously, so I'm thinking it makes no difference. However the bumper to bumper warranty did seem good for the piece of mind. Most of my experiences with extended warranties is that, nothing ever breaks or goes wrong until after its expired, in this case Its money I just save for a rainy day. I've had my B6 for five years now, and never had any issues with it until recently, few electric hiccups. So I'm left with buying a pre-owned Audi for a reasonable amount of money with half the warranty. At least now I have reason to chip it sooner. Anyways, they're asking 43K for it, which seems a tad steep to me, I was hoping more around 38 or less, and have the trade. Problem is, according to KBB its still worth that. Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks all!

Matt.

Pm you

[NUBA4]

Ok so I'm calling this particular one a wash. I do like the exhaust, however it's not worth the loss of the additional warranty. I've found another one in Beverly Hills, that's all stock, cpo, less miles. If I could score that one for less money, closer to 39 or 40. That seems a better deal. As of now I'm stuck on the 12's for the sport pack with sline accents, with the optics. I'm sure I could do all of this on my own eventually but most other 12's are right around the same price with sline and sport pack..most are premium plus. As for the allroad, I really dig those also. But Id like to drop it a bit, and I've read the handling isn't as good and the mileage also suffers. Thoughts? I really like the facelift, but that's about it.

[audirings4]

Ok so I'm calling this particular one a wash. I do like the exhaust, however it's not worth the loss of the additional warranty. I've found another one in Beverly Hills, that's all stock, cpo, less miles. If I could score that one for less money, closer to 39 or 40. That seems a better deal. As of now I'm stuck on the 12's for the sport pack with sline accents, with the optics. I'm sure I could do all of this on my own eventually but most other 12's are right around the same price with sline and sport pack..most are premium plus. As for the allroad, I really dig those also. But Id like to drop it a bit, and I've read the handling isn't as good and the mileage also suffers. Thoughts? I really like the facelift, but that's about it.

I have a CPO'd avant with mods. (coils/end links/sway bars/wheels/exhaust)
I bought the car CPO'd and have brought it in after the mods with no issues. Had the water pump replaced until warranty about 10k miles ago and they actually complimented me on the look and ask me ho wit performed.

As far drop affecting handling in most cases it will greatly improve stock performance and if you go with a lighter wheel/tire combo than stock you can actually see slight (very slight) improvements in mpg.

[skis4hire]

Yep tried to get a hold if that one before, also inflated. He also won't budge on the price. That one is 4K over book. For now I'm stuck on the 12's because you can get the sline gfx with the titanium accents, and those awesome alcantara inserts. They don't show up very often in avant form this is why I'm trying to convince myself on it. But the price seems way too high, especially since I get half the warranty. I might pass still, ill need to drive it again to be sure. I'd feel dumb getting rid of the exhaust back to stock. Is the stock car back expensive? Is there any other exhaust to consider without any drone?

To be clear, for 2012 all premium plus models have the *exterior* s-line package. Only the true prestige s-line will have alcantera seats. The prestige s-line was about a $3k premium over the p+ sport with nav.

[b6onboost]

Well, if you're dying to have sport or s-line it's going to be a tough search. You'll likely have to give up the idea of getting a fair deal on one.

Personally. If pricing is the same, or less, I'd rather buy the Allroad. Mileage difference would be negligible and if you upgraded the suspension it would hanlde better.

As of now I'm stuck on the 12's for the sport pack with sline accents, with the optics. I'm sure I could do all of this on my own eventually but most other 12's are right around the same price with sline and sport pack..most are premium plus. As for the allroad, I really dig those also. But Id like to drop it a bit, and I've read the handling isn't as good and the mileage also suffers. Thoughts? I really like the facelift, but that's about it.

[name.goes.here]

Well, if you're dying to have sport or s-line it's going to be a tough search. You'll likely have to give up the idea of getting a fair deal on one.

Personally. If pricing is the same, or less, I'd rather buy the Allroad. Mileage difference would be negligible and if you upgraded the suspension it would hanlde better.

Plus there would still be some warranty.

[Frinkferta]

Carmax seems to have decent deals on Avants. I saw several S-lines for sale when searching for my sedan.

[supra92]

They are definitely out there, and prices seem to at least be coming back towards earth a little bit. I am wrapping up a purchase of a 2011 A4 Avant Prestige S-Line in black/black for less than $34k -- was definitely surprised to see it at that price, so pretty much slapped down the deposit to purchase it instantly, and then inquired as to whether the Audi dealer would CPO it. Once they agreed to do so, that rather sealed the deal. Hoping to take delivery of it before New Year's.

It was, however, a rather long search.... precisely because my Avant wants were so niche/specific: 2011+ (had to have the newer 8-spd tiptronic), Prestige, S-Line OR Titanium (both have their pros/cons) sport pkg, alcantara seat inserts. and had to be CPO with at least 2 yrs' warranty left.

Patience is a virtue when it comes to Avant purchases, evidently -- there are just so few of them around with the packages everyone wants. I test-drove a 2010 blue-on-tan (yikes!), basic Premium trim and no navigation -- totally different feeling car, and had noticeable body lean without the sport package.

And... obligatory statement that will guaranteed not be the last time I say it: as with many here, the B8 S4 Avant was the true dream. I have pondered/mulled/arguedinternally for months and months over the Avant 2.0 vs. the S4 3.0. I can't say this enough: I LOVE Audi's blown-six 3.0T. It is such an incredible engine in both the B8S4 and C7A6, and I would pay untold additional sums of $$ to have an S4 Avant. Sadly... it just isn't to be while I live in North America.

Supra92

[A4 Centaur]

Supra92, You will be so happy with the hauling capabilities and functional applications of the Avant over the Sedan. Plus the black paint looks the bomb on an Avant!

[NUBA4]

Gorgeous avant. The reason I'm stuck on the 12's is for the sline gfx, WITH the sport pack and optics, alcantara etc. I'm trying to grab this one in Cali, they met me at 39.5, 4 years total warranty with cpo up to 100k, so that's cool, vs the no warranty from boulder. And it's less miles, 11k. It was a lease, so practically brand new yet two years old. I would love to have the s4 avant, but I'm more in it for the gas mileage; and it's our only option in NA. Only mod on my list is maybe an APR chip, and eventually I'd like to update the climate controls, and taillights.

[NUBA4]

Centaur, what part of CO you from?

[Warren S]

^ that's a very nice one you're referring to. Prestige, S-line package option which includes sport suspension and alcantara (not just exterior on all 2012's), black optics and the 19" rotor wheels you were looking for too...isn't that Titanium Pkg? CPO, very low miles, practically brand new. Just make sure it has the backup camera (it should being a Prestige) as I heard some early '12's had a backorder from the supplier and then later retrofitted by the dealer. Glacier white metallic, one year color for the B8 A4 Avants to the US. Rare and exclusive. I hope you get it!

[A4 Centaur]

West Side of Denver. Golden/Genesee

[NUBA4]

Thanks for all the input guys, I'm in the process of getting it now, just waiting for the paperwork to show up. One last question I have is about extended warranty. I'm still under factory until 2/16, then potentially a extended warranty for four more years. I didn't get the third party name from the guy, but I'm assuming its fidelity. He was praising it to me, saying its basically an extension of the factory. They're asking 3K for three year or 3.5 for four. Both up to 100K. So this with cpo and what not takes my coverage up to 2020; which sounds insane. Anyways most of my experiences with extended warranties is I never need anything until they expire. So it seems money to save for a rainy day. Then again, that's not a lot of money it's a good warranty; and no deductible he said. Ill still have to see the paperwork and read the fine print. Any of you have experiences with these audi extended warranties??

[A4 Centaur]

I had one on my previous B7 Avant. Figured I never used it at all, so the car must have known LoL! Insurance is good to have. The price sounds good. I wonder if they would try some TD1 crap on you like the dealers are known for?

[NUBA4]

Here's a quick cell pic after we cleaned her up some. Beautiful!


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[TimNGobbles]

Here's a quick cell pic after we cleaned her up some. Beautiful!


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Congrats it looks awesome. Is this the one from California, if so I am jealous of those seats? I am guessing the wife approved of it?

[A4 Centaur]

Very nice work man!! Congrats!!

I recommend the DV upgrade when you get the chip.

[Warren S]

Congratulations!! Very nice.

[name.goes.here]

Here's a quick cell pic after we cleaned her up some. Beautiful!


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Congratulations - glad to see you found what you were looking for!