Need advice before selling

[Delraypete]

2002 S6 Avant, 100,005 mi, very good cosmetic condition, but electric and mechanical stuff is starting to go on a regular basis. I've made up my mind I'd like to sell because I need a dependable daily driver as I have 2 very young boys and no garage, but here's a list of things that need attention and I'd love some advice on whether it's worth it to fix them or just to sell the thing as is:

- A/C stopped cooling - local non-specialty shop can't determine if it's a bad relay, control head?(I thinks that's what they called it), or the compressor. When they test the compressor they supposedly get power to it for 2 seconds and then lose power. He recommends I take it to the dealer as their equipment would be more geared towards the specific make of car.
- Auto headlight level malfuction light, but headlights "work"
- Rear tail light not working for headlight function only (error light on in dash) - works for turn signal and brakes - local shop also could not determine cause, said "getting no power to it"
- Catalytic converter (check engine light)
- Headliner has started to fall in the back - roof portion only
- Coolant leak - had this looked at and attempted to fix probably half a dozen times, line to the radiator was recently replaced by a very reputable garage, and still leaking
- Power steering is "creaky" at start up pulling out of parking space and starting to get noticeably heavier as of late. Hose was replaced by reputable garage in last 6 months. Thinking they didn't do a go job.

There are other various non-urgent front suspension issues, but all front control arms are new. New CV boots too.

All said, this is a very clean car that has been garaged for all but about 2 years of its life. Timing belt and regular maintenance is all up to date. Should I fix any of these items or just cut bait? Wondering if any of them would have a serious impact on sale or sale price. Thanks.

[carmudgeon]

The catalytic converter would be the main concern for me if it were mine. Do you know what code it threw? Mine threw a P0430 last month at 132K but it ended up being a false alarm.

[mr_dave]

That's a tough one. With all of those issues you'll have a hard time getting anything close to a decent price for it. But unless you're DIY-ing the fixes, it would probably cost thousands to get everything 100% working. So I guess my advice is just cut your losses and sell it as-is unless you can fix some of that stuff yourself. It would probably be a perfect project car for someone to fix up.

[JTown77]

set it free, i'll come pick it up tomorrow

[rollerton]

If you can't fix any of those things yourself or really cheap then you need to sell it. The bill on those repairs will be pretty steep (coolant leak alone could be a couple thousand $ depending on what it is) and the values of these cars isn't great anyway- unless you have something "special" like Rs6 body work or..something.
I'd estimate you're looking at about $5k +/- depending on your area if you sell it as is..maybe less. If the car was PERFECT and you fixed everything then you'd still likely not get over $10k.
If the car is a rare color- Like white or Green? then you could do better. I've seen a couple decent S6's sit for sale at even the $5k mark...I think your region and the market has alot to do with it. Another example of why knowing how to fix these cars is valuable- someone who knows them could probably fix all of that in a weekend for a couple hundred in parts.

[lucio_liu]

bad catalytic converter means CEL and in most state inspection it's a fail.

A/C stopped cooling is another big issue to potential buyers.

with all problem listed, it sounds like a money pit to fix. I suggest you sell as is

[4rings2turbos]

- A/C stopped cooling
- Auto headlight level malfuction light, but headlights "work"
- Rear tail light not working for headlight function only (error light on in dash) -
- Catalytic converter (check engine light)
- Headliner has started to fall in the back -
- Coolant leak -
- Power steering is "creaky" at start up
There are other various non-urgent front suspension issues

None of that is too serious to not bring back from the dead, but like Bob said it's going to only really be valuable if you can do the work yourself. If some things can be addressed for cheap and easy they're definitely worth doing.

-assuming it's been scanned for, but can you take your climate control out of Econ mode? If not then it's a simple and affordable pressure switch that needs to be replaced.
-a used level sensor can be found for pretty cheap. Just need to scan to find out which one is bad. Also incredibly easy to swap.
-would be worth while finding a working headlight switch to borrow, I even have a beat up spare one I can send you. It's super easy to swap it and see if the switch is your issue.
-post up the cat code and we'll see if we can help there. If it is a bad cat maybe someone here has their old cat after upgrading exhaust. Couple hundred for cat, couple hundred to weld on and the biggest issue could be taken care of.
-an upholstery shop could fix the headliner for you, or probably for free you could find someone looking for your highly sought after Alcantara headliner and swap with you. That idea is a bit out of the box but I know how hard they are to find- I looked for 3 years!! It's possible you could even make a couple bucks off it too. Needs to be a prefacelift allroad/Avant though because the pillar panels changed a little. I know if you were local and I still needed a headliner I would definitely be down. (this might possibly limit your market a bit since it takes away a desirable feature, but also there are buyers that don't care/are unaware as well
-4.2 guys can tell you, but I think it's the coolant crossover pipe that usually leaks? I think that's a bigger deal and not really for the beginner DIY-er.
-not sure about the power steering, if we keep this thread fresh someone might have some info/experience.

Good luck!