Austin Martin

I'm the parting owner of a good condition 2006 Audi A3 2.0T and I'm hoping to poll the community for your opinions on value. The car is a salvaged vehicle and has performed admirably for me from about 60k miles minus a few small electrical issues (tail light keeps shorting and the radio controls only work from the steering wheel). Around 80k, the transmission started to clunk and jolt in the lower gears after around 25 mins of driving. A transmission fluid flush and some dyno time revealed no issues but after going down the rabbit hole I discovered a possible mechatronic unit solenoid failure. Replacing it may solve the problem but I can't be sure. The safer fix would be to replace the transmission outright which the dealership quoted at 7k. Checking on Kelly Blue Book, the value of the vehicle is estimated at a chilly 2k. After a recent visit to the dealership, the appraiser quoted an even chillier 500 dollars for a trade-in value. Trading the car in is an easier option than keeping it and trying to self-sell. However, if there's a possibility someone would take the car in for some TLC, I am curious if y'all think I might get a bit more out of the vehicle. The car has brand new shocks and struts, new transmission fluid, < 20k miles on nice Continental Tires, and has been cared for lovingly for the last five years. Only a tiny driver's side dent.

findalex

If you know how to work on cars, the solenoids are cheap. I would try that. If you want to get rid of the car, I would definitely disclose the transmission issue if you're selling the car yourself.

Salvage titles are cheap to begin with. A car with a potential $7K worth of needed repairs makes the car basically worthless.

I think you can extract the most value out of this car by parting it out. But that would require a lot more work.

Austin Martin

Thanks for the thoughts findalex and good idea about parting it out. However, without a good place to store the vehicle, I think I'd be in over my head. Based on your comments and consulting with some others, I think I may settle for the trade in value.