wgang

Looking for some advice…

HERE IS THE SCOOP
After a lovely 20 year relationship the time has come to part with my 1998 A4 2.8 30V Quattro sedan. She is still in great shape inside and out. I purchase the car new. In fact, I ordered the car I wanted and waited a couple of months for it to come in. I took delivery in March of 1998 and I think the car had 12 miles on it when I drove her off the lot. Silver over black leather. I dreamed about this car and I still enjoy driving it today. The car is tight as a drum and rattle free. About to hit 140K miles. The car is accident free. I always parked on the edge of parking lots to avoid getting any dents. Outside of the handful of times my wife needed to run an errand, the miles are all mine. The car has been garage kept at home and at the office since day one, finish is still bright and the interior is clean. The car was built with every single option except for the sports package and the automatic transmission – I wanted a stick and I liked the look of the five spoke wheels. She has a sunroof, the Bose system with CD changer, trip computer, heated seats, etc. I even got the sport steering wheel that is still a delight to hold. I have all 4 keys (2 switchblade keys, remote on one works, valet, and the plastic wallet key). I have the original window sticker, the title, the 1998 marketing brochure from the dealership, and the car mags form 1997 and 1998 that reviewed the car along with print outs from my research efforts at the time. The car has not been modified at all. I did purchase an extra five spoke wheel to have as a spare (never had a flat) and I still have the original spare as well. Everything is stock. Outside of a couple items I maintained, the car was dealer maintained from day one (I know … a waste of money but all parts are Audi and I like that). My service advisor says he can get me a stack of records dating back to my first service visit. She is still in great shape inside and out.

SO, WHAT IS THE DEAL?
Well, in May of 2018 I need to renew my plates and there is an issues … the Check engine light is on. It is the secondary air induction pump. Might be the pump, might be the hose. I can’t renew the plates with this issue. I don’t want to pay for another repair and, to be honest; I am ready for something new. FYI, I am thinking about a 2015/16 A6 3.0 as a replacement – white over tan with tinted windows.

So you know, there are some other issues:
- Blown subwoofer – I unhooked the wire to it. I want to replace it with a factory unit but I am not up for all the work associated with this repair for such a little reward.
- Oil leak – a couple of drops happen overnight. It does not bother me except for when I park on my driveway.
- Trip computer display is missing some lines and in the summer the edges of the display are washed out.
- Cruse control stopped working years ago. Every so often it will work, but I have given up on checking as my daily commute is only 7 miles and we always take the wife’s minivan on road trips.

THE GOOD NEWS
Someone I know wants to purchase the car from me. He knows of the all issues. I have told him everything I know about the car. He likes to wrench on cars and he knows how to fix the mechanical issue. I went for a test drive with him last week and he said this is exactly the car he likes and he said tell him what I want for it. I have looked online and I am not finding many like cars. I see tired versions of A4’s for 2,500 or so. An online tool places the car at about $1,700 to a private party. Dealer trade is $500 (sad). So, this is my challenge… $1,700 seems low. I would think $3,000 to 3,500 is a fair price for the car as it stands. Am I crazy? If you have advice, let me know what you think a fair price would be?

Thanks!

carkarl

I faced a similar question when I sold my '99 A4 1.8TQ manual Avant early this year. Honestly, nearly anybody hearing the story will just see it as a 20 year old car that had a hard service life of lots of short trips. Unless you want to sit on it and wait for a unicorn buyer to come along and pay you your dream value, you might need to embrace the KBB numbers. If your friend is very close, you should also consider whether you can remain on good terms if you sell him on a high value and then some of those 20 year old gremlins blow up in his face, requiring thousands of dollars of parts to keep it on the road.

Mine had a mixture of short daily trips and long highway miles because it was our primary fun car to head all over CA for mountain trips. Mine was also garaged and had amazing paint condition though it did have a few small parking lot dings. It had none of the maintenance issues you listed, because I kept throwing money at it. My reason for selling was an overall shuffle of family cars and also realizing it would soon deserve another timing belt service due to years since last repair, even though it still wasn't due for its first belt if you just went by miles. I'd already cycled through nearly all the old parts that rotted from old age: engine and differential seals, hoses, power steering rack, brake lines, driveline mounts, and several sets of tires that expired with most of their tread remaining. I even replaced those rotten old speakers and refreshed the sound-deadening in the doors while adding more in the rear cargo area. It was still cranking out a dependable 28-29 MPG on the highway with no leaks and no oil loss between the 5k mile services.

I actually ended up selling it to my mechanic for around the high KBB number. He definitely knew the condition inside and out as he'd been servicing it for the past decade or so. I am not sure if he kept it in his family or managed to turn around and sell it at a profit. I felt that it was a reasonable transaction in the end, thinking about how much it cost me to keep it on the road for only 8k miles/year or so of use and knowing what it takes to keep such a sentimental treasure in running order.

wgang

Thanks carkarl. Good advice. As is often the case, the car owner (me) thinks the car is special and worth something... in reality my AUDI is just a run of the mill car that is really old car and it is not all that special. Thanks for the reality check. Cheers.