F18Lumpy

All,

I could use a little perspective on a car I'm looking at. It's a 2004 A4 Cab, 3.0 CVT with 124,000 miles. Asking is $7250 from a private party. I think that's a bit pricey given that all the website evaluators are landing in and around $4100 for a private party sale with an assumption of "excellent" condition.

I'm going to look at the car this afternoon and have been doing some research this morning on the model (via audiworld) and the vehicle (via carfax). The carfax threw me a curve that I need some opinions on.

The owner is calling it a "one owner" vehicle with complete service records. Carfax is showing that the car was repurchased by the manufacturer within the first 3 months of life (~800ish miles). The car tried to start its life in CA and then was repurchased. The current owner appears to have acquired it 3 months after the repurchase with 850 miles on the clock and has had it in MO ever since. Other than the repurchase...everything on the carfax looks normal and demonstrates consistent ownership and maintenance. Nothing out of the ordinary.

What are your thoughts? Am I crazy for even considering this? I'm looking for a first car for my daughter and this one seemed to be fitting the bill until the carfax. Right now I'm thinking that if the service records seem reasonable and complete, that this car is still worth considering. 11+ years of good behavior with the same owners should be worth something.

What are your thoughts?

Thanks
Jeff

mromanik

I purchased my '04 two yrs ago. It is a quattro with the tiptronic trans & 124000 miles. I paid $6900. It has been a good car. No major problems.

Brian Cecil

I owned a new 2003 3.0 Cabriolet with CVT for close to 8 years before trading it in for a new Audi A4 4-dr sedan. The original CVT in the Cabriolet went bad in the first month of ownership, and was replaced by the dealership under warranty. There were no further problems with the car during my ownership, other than a separation between the rear window and the top, which the dealer repaired for around $150. I traded the car in right after that, with around 24,000 miles on it. I really like still the styling of the A4 Cabriolet, but I probably wouldn't want my child owning one with a CVT unless he had a lot of money available to put into potential repairs. Make that a whole lot of money.

F18Lumpy

Well I bought it. What can I say, I'm a sucker for my little girl and a nice looking German automobile. And so it begins....

Brian Cecil

Good luck! They're very enjoyable cars to drive, and very elegant.

ltooz_a6_a8_q7

and perfect for any girl... Congrats.
<a href="http://www.dognmonkey.com/audi/category/a4-b6-cabriolet">Keep this link</a>, it may save time and money. Audi Cabriolets have gremlins and I have encountered most of them. My sister still has the car and she doesn't want to part with it ever.

Cheers,

<a href="http://www.dognmonkey.com/audi/category/a4-b6-cabriolet">Louis</a>

F18Lumpy

Thanks guys. Building my punch list as I'm cleaning and grooming the car. Window corner separation is high on the list. Previous owner did it with some dap silicone sealant but that's broken loose. I'm not afraid of some detail/meticulous work but am wondering if I might get a more lasting repair by taking it to a top shop.

Louis, thanks for the link. Lots of great info!

Brian Cecil

My local Audi dealer farmed out my top/window job to a convertible specialty shop, and charged me around $150. There's a multi-page thread on this forum that's around 5 years old dealing with DIY top/window repairs, that basically settled on the use of industrial glues and the use of large magnets sandwiching the top and window together during the glue curing process. The cost of a new Cabriolet top was around $2000 back then.