Buying a Used Car

[Rein]

First of all, don't rip on me for posting this here. I am in the market to buy a used Audi A4 and if I posted this in the Audi forum it would take 2 weeks to get a single response telling me that he or she doesn't know the answer. I figure that a lot of people in this forum will know the answer, so here I am.

My budget is $15k and I just found a 1998 A4 in the Santa Clarita (661 area code) for $13k, however it's on a salvage title due to a previous accident that has been repaired. I want to hire a mechanic to inspect the vehicle before I buy it and I was wondering if anybody here knows any good mechanics in this area that I can hire to do this. Also, it doesn't matter that much but I'm curious as to how much it costs.

[911GT2]

Late 90s VWs/Audis are on the "definitely don't buy" list. There's a good reason it's cheap. They break. Alot.

[Rein]

Its my understanding that in the early 90s they had to recall a bunch of the audis cause they made the auto transmission model's pedals (the gas and the brake) the same height. Audi is still trying to gain consumer confidence from this and as a result they have shitty resale value.

[911GT2]

Ah, the 5000. Many dumb Americans drive straight through their garages with them. The recall was token, just something to say "we fixed it" when there wasn't a problem in the first place.

But the late 90s VW/Audis had electrical problems galore.

[Rein]

Well, I guess I will be finding this out on my own, but it was between an a4 and a passat...quattro= great.
I'm gonna love modding this car as opposed to the civic...a $400 chip will give me 50 hp and 87 tq. cant wait

[911GT2]

Quattro definitely = great. Although it gives more understeer than other AWd systems, it's still pretty fuckin cool.

[911GT2]

And I just got an idea: ever thought of an older S4 with the turbo 5 cylinder in it?? Those are rock solid and dead easy to boost.

[Rein]

Yea, I was definately looking at those, and will most likely be in the market for one in a few years. This A4 I'm buying is just going to be a mellow luxury fun car (heated seats ) It will prolly run mid to low 14s, not really sure. That's fine for me right now. But I'm definately hooked on the germans now. My uncle has an old 50s roadster porsche, its beautiful. I was also looking at buying a rare m coupe and modifying the engine and all that good stuff. All of that fun stuff will be after college...in 3 years. So the A4 will suffice until then.

[911GT2]

Ah, that's cool. Does he seriously own a 550??? Or is it a replicar?

[Rein]

He seriously owns it. My uncle has the best job...just go around to different cities and look for good deals on cars, fix them up, then sell them on ebay. He's been getting into old Ducatis lately though.