Jerry Duvall

I've had my A8 for more than 10 years and I am looking catch up sort of with this generation and purchase a D4 for under 40k. I'd like to expand my search to other cities and read a few post here about others buying out of state. I'm particular in that I want an L series, Black or Blue and reasonable miles so I figured I'd expand out to other areas.

For those that have purchased an Audi out of state, did you call a company or shop to inspect the car? Did you fly out? Or did you have the car shipped without seeing the car?

LexusLSguy

I purchased mine out of state but it was only a 3 hour drive. I drove to the dealer of course. I would definitely be patient in your search. I don't know the accuracy of the info I received but I was told dealers have a network of off-lease / trade-ins and for the cpo market that makes it pretty easy to locate what you are looking for. Should not be too difficult to let the dealer do the footwork for you and bring in what you want.

Seaclav

Never done this as I've always been lucky enough to find what I wanted fairly locally.

I have thought about it a couple of times, however, and one of the things that always put me off was not having any knowledge about the reputation of the seller if it was coming from a dealer.
One can make reasonably safe assumptions about quality control at main dealers, but it can be very difficult to discern anything useful about independent / specialist shops. They could be anything from a pretty professional outfit, to a gang of cowboys.

There's a pretty decent geographic spread of folks on this forum; I would guess that if you were thinking about a specific vehicle and asked 'what's the reputation of XYZ automotive in Boise, ID' someone would have an opinion that could help you get a little further down the path of whether it was worth the risk of further investment.

Yes, of course you can always get a lemon from a great dealer, or a great car from a cowboy, just evening up the odds a little bit.

Jerry Duvall

Yeah that was my fear, since I never purchased a car sight unseen I was worried the car could have hidden scratches or dings or even worse. The closes thing to my ideal Audi I found down here in my area is a car that is has

​​​​+ 4.2 engine
+ Adaptive Cruise control
+ dual sunroof
+ around 41K miles
+ black exterior and brown interior
+ card as shows it was single owner since 2012 and was traded in 2 months ago.

- Carfax also shows that the car had a driver's side accident (sideswiped) in 2012. Carfax states "minor damage". Didn't say whether it needed a tow or not.

I noticed that the car was for sale since May 3rd so I figure the accident is scaring others off. I may still go check the car out though.

Twglasgow

I don't think these cars move that quickly. Did the Carfax report have a frame inspection report?

Jerry Duvall

The Carfax did not have a frame inspection report listed, only listed that it was a left side impact, sideswipe collision, airbags did not deploy, minor damage.

Jack88

If the airbags did not deploy, I doubt there is any frame damage. Still, a VCDS scan would be something I would want as part of a PPI, never hurts to see what one has to say.

Jerry Duvall

Good advice, I will as for a VCDS today. I went to look at it yesterday and the car overall seem to look good and the features I tested worked. When I initially turned the car on I noticed a little vibration from the engine but it evened out after 5 minutes. When I used my hand to open the door with the key, the door didn't unlock either so I had to manually push the button. Even then the price is one of the selling points for me, but I remember the trouble I had trading in my wife's car that had an accident history in which most would knock off 1K or so in value.

Jack88

The door lock not working by touch could be a symptom of poor repair, if the handle had been damaged. I'd say definitely get a ppi at an experienced Audi shop and express your concerns to them.

Jerry Duvall

So to update I looked at the car this morning with intent on possibly purchasing and it turns out they "forgot" to mention on their webpage that they charge a $1600 reconditioning fee. Also there is damage to the wheel well body that is although minor I fell should have been shown in the pictures or upfront with me. Due to this I didnt feel as though I should get the car...oh well.