So let me get everyone's input

[get me out of GA]

When I was 15 I worked full time, saved some money and bought a car.

I bought a 1985 Mercedes 500 SEL from my guitarist's grandparents. His grandfather is an architect and this was one of three Mercedes tha they'd owned. This was the one that they used as their everyday car so it had a bunch of miles on it. With this car we got all the service reports that they had accumulated since they got it. We looked through all of them and added it up to $37,600 worth of getting this car serviced. I knew going into buying this car that it can be a hassle to maintain, and even after being warned I bought it. I paid $1500 for it, because that is how much they agreed to sell it to my friend, their grandson. My insurance company actually valued it right under 2 grand.

Here's a Picture, except mines light blue:

http://www.mbca-wi.org/classifieds/500sel_0602.jpg

I've had this car for about 2 years now. It is now at about 215K miles and rising. It has been in a couple accidents. The first it spun out of control and then off a 3 and a half foot drop which would have either flipped a different car or left it with its back end sticking up after it did a nose dive into the ground, but since my car is a tank all it did was rip the front license plate off and crack the radiator. I also got into a front end accident after a dude ran a light and swerved causing me to hit him on the driver side. This crash ****ed up his car and all it did was scape up the front and break yet another radiator. Along with the cosmetic damages that I have done to it, the engine is in bad shape. This is a car that needs constant repairs and I just cant afford it. The fuel distributor is ****ed up and needs to be replaced. This along with the fact that the engine is a V8 and runs like ****, I get anywhere from 5-7 miles to the gallon (I am not kiddding). I cant afford to fix it, and I cant really afford to buy a new car. Plus if I tried to trade this in the only thing they'd do is laugh, or maybe just give me $20 for it.

My parents said they would help me out with getting a loan for a new car. They'd get it and I would essentially be paying them back and not the bank.
And since I have a nearly full time job (I only go to school for 4 hours a day then go to work) I can pay it back, it'll just take awhile.

On my way to work today I spotted a car........

It was on the most trafficed (spelling??) raod here in town and theres a K-Mart there that there are always like 15-25 cars sitting there for sale.
Well I spied with my little eye..........

A 1998 Audi A4 in Cherry Red that nearly made me jiz my pants.....

They want $5500 for it OBO.

I am seriously considering it, and I wanted some input.


Here's a pic:

http://www.eurotuner.com/web/160_0603_14z+1998_Audi_A4_18T+Drivers_Side_View.jp g

(And yes it was necessary to tell you the long pointless story just to tell you about this new car......you just have to know where I am coming from)

[Jutty]

i love audis...just odnt know much about them...looks like it has a few upgrades...i might be a little concerned with them asking that price...seems a little low, making it seem a little sketchy to me....but i could be wrong...miles?

looks good though....jsut needs some tint...

[get me out of GA]

Yeah I looked inside the car today and I coudnt read the mileage( which I dont think would matter because I think its digital) Its not that car exactly in the picture I just pulled the two pics off of google the one that I am getting has different rims and dark tinting

Everything cosmetically looks amazing.

I think it was a chicks car because it says University of Indiana on the back and if I rememvber right there was some sorority sticker right under it.

[Jutty]

ah got it...the one in the pic looks like its lowered a little as well...is it? and looks like they put a body kit on the one you posted maybe...im a truck guy moreso so im not too sure on this stuff...no big ass mufflers/tips please...

[get me out of GA]

no this one looks pretty stock

[Fae]

My boyfriend is an Audi fiend. Seriously. He drives an A4 also (one would think I could remember the year. I think it's a 2002). So he would know more than I, but I can chime in and say I really love his car, even though there are gremlins in it that randomly decide to open up the sunroof for no reason.

I'll get him to get onto SBA tonight so he can offer up some better advice than I can.

(http://www.snowboardaddicts.com/gallery/showimage.php?i=1132&c=3&userid=1122 that's his car.)

[Jutty]

woah...that is a slick audi your boy has!

[burton brder]

That would be a pretty sick car, any audi would be sick. You could try and trade your car in at one of those push pull or drag car sales car lots have every once in a while

[get me out of GA]

yeah I have always had some sort attachment to Audi's. Even if it was just a plain and simple audi sedan, I always salivated when I saw one.

[Chello0o]

ooooooo.
Cherry Red Audi.
Get it :)

[NEFFsteeze]

Yo that A4 has a body kit on it. But for 5500 how many miles does it have on it? Also is it the 1.8T or a 2.8? And is it auto or manual? i need some more info to let you know if its a good deal. I might be young but i really know a lot about german cars, especially bmws, audis, and VWs.

[get me out of GA]

Yeah I have gotten better accustomed to german cars since I got and had to work on my Benz.

I dont know the mileage for sure.

Its a manual, which I dont drive one on a normal basis, but have before so adapting to a manual is possible for me it will just take a little bit the first week or so.

[Clash360]

yeah its a nice car, alot better then the one your drivin now. and for a good price too. get it, and next year you can meet at my house, and we'll have a rally race to boone.

[NEFFsteeze]

Its a manual, which I dont drive one on a normal basis, but have before so adapting to a manual is possible for me it will just take a little bit the first week or so.

I woudn't worry about that. When u get it, youll be a little shaky at it at first, but it jsut takes practice. thats how i was when i first started driving stick like 6 months ago, now im fine at it.


depending on the mileage is if you should go for it.

The 1.8T model A4 is just a 4 cylinder with a turbo and the 2.8 is a small block V6. The 1.8T deff has better acceleration and is the same exact motor that VW has for there 1.8T since after all they are the same company. And the 2.8 means more $ for gas.

Also is it quattro?

[grenade_154]

cant go wrong with an audi, my friend just picked up an 03 s4.....172 in 5th is a scary place to be....but fun

[get me out of GA]

What kind of gas mileage do you guys think it gets.

I mjean anything will be better than the 5-7 that I am getting now

[Clash360]

around 17 city and 27 highway. alot better then yours.

[NEFFsteeze]

The 1.8T will average about 25 between city and highway. Thats what my brothers used to get. The 2.8 will average around 20. And if you have quattro all wheel drive that will lower it too.

[get me out of GA]

yeah I looked all that up, around the city its around 25 on average and between something like 28-36 highway which would be AMAZING from what I have now.

[get me out of GA]

Update: So it looks like getting this car is a definite posibilty.

I talked it over with the folks and they've seen it. Now all we are really working out is trying to figure out getting a loan, making car payment, having to get full coverage insurance, etc....

I have yet to contact the seller and get all the specifics info about the A4 but we wanted to make sure that if and when we make an offer on the car that we can back up what we say.

Hopefully when and if I do get it I will post some pics so you guys can see it.


On a side note.......

Anyone want to buy an '85 Mercedes 500 SEL, minor cosmetic damage, oh and the engine runs like ****, just to let you know. Around 215K miles

[Tranceilicious]

I love Audis .... and that looks like a really cheap offer for such a sweet lookin car like that ... when u test drive it see if you can get a mechanic (if u have a friend who works on cars that would be awesome) to take a quick lookover at it for ya ... just to make sure that its not that cheap on purpose and there is nothing thats wrong with it ..... good luck =)

[get me out of GA]

yeah thats the cool thing, my dad could basically be a mechanic.

We pretty much never take our cars in, the only thing we have done it for was getting the pos mini-van a new transmission. My dad has taken out and instralled new engines a number of times on our old cars, plus all the work on my current piece of ****.

[Tranceilicious]

then ur pretty much set =) Score!

[Leo B. Jibbins]

my friends dad is a mechanic, it dont mean ****.....****in advised his son that driving a 94 jeep to cali with an 8ft trailer w.o an oil change would be fine........i would never take my car to that hack....lol who does that

[Tranceilicious]

yeah but that doesnt mean that every mechanic has no idea what he's talking about ..... that kid's dad is just one out of many mechanics lol

[get me out of GA]

my friends dad is a mechanic, it dont mean ****.....****in advised his son that driving a 94 jeep to cali with an 8ft trailer w.o an oil change would be fine........i would never take my car to that hack....lol who does that

We're not idiots so its okay.....

However, my friend just did his first oil change on his jeep about a week ago. He'd had it for like a year or so. His exact words were, "well hell I didnt know I had to put oil in it." He said that thing was dead empty on oil, dumbass....

[Tranceilicious]

This makes me miss my car =( had to leave my car in NH when i moved to Hoboken

[Jutty]

carfax it...

[get me out of GA]

I was about to, but is there anything other than Carfax that does the same thing but doesnt cost $20?

[Jutty]

umm i might be able to help you out...PM me the VIN when you get a chance

[gavn]

$5500 seems like an amazing deal for an A4. I love Audi's myself, but will never buy anything made by VW again.

[get me out of GA]

Why?

This A4 has the same motor as the VW's so this could really tell me if I am getting into a bad situation.

[NEFFsteeze]

Dude just cuz the car has such a good deal on it, 20 dollars for Carfax is way worth it instead of buying it and learning its a lemon.

And Deff go with the A4. Some people just have problems with cars as does everyone. But Audi and VW are quality car makers and are well worth it.

[Jutty]

i should have the info for you tomorrow...

[get me out of GA]

cool, thanks jutty.

I think we are going for a test drive either today or tomorrow.

Something I have been thinking about, is that everyone has been skeptical because they are only asking $5500 for it, but I have looked all over the internet and that seems average, if not high for this car. Reasle value seems to be anywhere from like $4600- 6100

[NEFFsteeze]

but how many miles are on it???

[dirtyjerz]

audis are great, a kid in my school has an RS4 that his dad bought him for his 16th birthday. scary fast.

let us know how many miles are on it, and how the test drive goes.

[get me out of GA]

It looks like it may be until the end of the week for a test drive because both me and the seller are at work until like 5:30-6:00 and my dad has to go from teaching at the high schol he teaches at to teaching at a college when we could go drive it, so it may be until friday until he's free and I want him to be there to look at the engine and****.

Oh and it has 123K miles

[RomeRider101]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/SPORT-PACKAGE-XENONS-17-INCH-WHLS-WARRANTY-60-PICS_W0QQitemZ220088665949QQcategoryZ6003QQrdZ1QQc mdZViewItem#ebayphotohosting

[get me out of GA]

dude the reserve's not met, the buy it now is like 14 grand and its in texas

**** that audi, I'm getting the one that is here in town and I can drive and check out before I buy

[FearMe]

Where is that Audi thats what I've been looking for and its in my price range.

[get me out of GA]

man fear you are not getting this car.

I highly doubt that you would come all the way from CO to GA just to get this.

[FearMe]

Want to bet? I'm also eyeing up an 1985 Toyota Land Cruiser in Tennessee. You're talking to a guy whose brother flew to California to buy a 1982 Subaru GL wagon with power everything then drove it back to NY.

[get me out of GA]

Well DONT ****ING TAKE MY AUDI!!!

I am in desperate need of a car, and this one is nice, I can keep it for a long time, and at a good price.

[get me out of GA]

Plus you could just look on ebay and find a newer one at the same price or cheaper that is close to you

[get me out of GA]

The S H I T's going down tomorrow.

We agreed on $5200 for the car, and I have already worked out getting a loan and making car payments, and getting raped with insurance costs compared to my older piece of ****.

I'll try to get pictures of it either tomorrow or thursday.

[Jutty]

congrats man...sorry i never got a response from my guy on the carfax...

[get me out of GA]

thats okay.

Thats the one thing we haven't done, but we are having a mechanic of ours who knows about audi to look over everything to make sure that theres nothing wrong with it before we buy it

[NEFFsteeze]

Congrats. welcome to the Euro Family. Now that you drive a European car, your not gunna settle for a rice burner (asian car).

[get me out of GA]

I already drive a mercedes, but its really ****ty

[Randaddy]

Am I the only one that thinks the old school Benz is way hotter?

[get me out of GA]

did you read the part about only getting 5-7 mpg?

or the fact that the whole back left side has been dark black because the exaust burns so much oil that I leave everyone behind me in black smoke.

and no, the audi is sweet as hell, and I have already ben promised a good "christening" of it by my girlfriend, so I think the audi has the upper hand, and 35mpg hwy isnt bad at all

[dirtyjerz]

did you read the part about only getting 5-7 mpg?

or the fact that the whole back left side has been dark black because the exaust burns so much oil that I leave everyone behind me in black smoke.

and no, the audi is sweet as hell, and I have already ben promised a good "christening" of it by my girlfriend, so I think the audi has the upper hand, and 35mpg hwy isnt bad at all

35 mpg is really good.

compared to the 17 my durango (my PARENT'S durango) gets on the highway.

[get me out of GA]

That **** is mine......

I hate the south's weather right now though. The pollen count has been up around like 5000, so everyone's car has been covered in yellow ****. I washed the audi on monday and then now thats its been paid for and ****, I wanted it to look nice, so I had to wash the damn thing again two days after I did it the last time, and by the time I got home its already a little dirty.

I'll get pics up tomorrow, thanks for everyone's input.....