501D22G

2006 Audi A6 3.2 Avant quattro, $16,995 - Cars.com

2006 Audi A6 3.2 Avant All-wheel Drive Quattro Station Wagon - WAUKG74F76N023604

Carfax:

CARFAX Vehicle History Report for this 2006 AUDI A6 AVNT QUATTRO AWD: WAUKG74F76N023604

I don't have proof (I should have saved the web pages to a .pdf) but I would swear to it that the original listings on both their dealer site and cars.com listed the car for $9995 a few weeks back. Now the prices have increased?

I finally made it over there to test drive it.

When the young sales kid went to grab the key and I found this in the back seat as I was checking for heated seats (not equipped)





So we hit the expressway, go a few miles down, working our way back to lot via surface streets. Annoying because he comes with us. My wife & I up front, my kid in the back in a car seat (wanted to check fit compared to our 01 A6 Avant) and he is seated behind me.

Car seems solid, quieter than our 01, but a bit of vibration (wheel balance perhaps) at speed. Suspension feel seemed good, softer and less harsh over Michigan bumps than our 01 (which is all recent.)

Gives us typical slimeball spiel about the car, blah blah blah sales pitch this, blah blah all our cars receive a extensive 172 point inspection... and everything is fixed...

Wife (who is not an ASE certified mechanic or nuthin but she is familiar enough to smell the BS coming from behind me (and it's not my rear-end ) interrupts him and says well the CEL lamp is on, what part of the 172-pt inspection missed that?

(score 1 for the wife, eh?)

He lies and says it's because the engine temp is off by 1 degree. Oh, okayyyyy, sure, and I was born yesterday.

He is telling me about all the climate control bells & whistles, how you can set the a/c temp for each side (really, did you NOT see the 01 avant we rolled up in? - we're aware how it works.)

I make a right turn into the sun and try to hit the windshield wash - BONE DRY. Must have been inspection point #174.

Wife looks for CD changer (she likes books on "tape" as she calls them) and would appreciate not having to change out discs like she does in the 2001.

Then sales dude breaks the news that audio doesn't work right as wife can't get volume up. I figure he thinks he can't hide it from us anymore. Audio is stuck on mute. The 4 buttons on the MMI - the one in the southeast corner does not work no matter what menu. We didn't have much more time to play around with it, but I figure something spilled on it or maybe (from the little bit of reading i've done) it's the amp/washer fluid deal. I pull back into the lot, put it in P and try the electronic p/brake - no dice.

We love our 2001 and are not really in the market - but I just wanted to try one on for size since A6 Avants are only getting more rare.

So sorry for wall of text.

I just wanted to know what you think fair market price should be on this car?

So knowing I don't really need this car, and all the problems & history, I made an offer. He goes to his boss and says "at $13,995 it's priced to sell..." not even a slight budge so i go to walk out. Backpedaling, he tries to show me a Chrysler 200 at the same price (WTF really?), then a 2010 A4 Avant for about $20k. I'm smiling inside because he's trying so hard to not lose the sale but he doesn't know how screwed he is. This kid's still wearing pampers and already he's telling all sorts of lies to customers. I tell him those are out of my price range and he really needs to do his research on the car we just drove. Hand him my card and tell him to call me if has a better price for me.

I'm wondering if they overpaid at auction? Gave too much at trade? I seriously doubt they got hurt either way.

If i look at comps nearby I'm finding cars BETTER equipped, NEWER year, with LESS miles and way lower price...

If you were going to buy, what would you offer? What do you think of the pricing inconsistencies? The lack of negotiating? The mechanic's page of notes?

Thanks for reading.

P.S. That was Saturday, didn't hear anything today (am actually surprised he didn't call and at least offer 13,495 or something stupid like that).

chrisone

this is a $8000-$9500 cars only because it a avant . regular sedan would've been in the 7k range. by reading the carfax I can tell it only had 2 actual owners with title moving twice between dealers which counts as two more owners per carfax criteria.
it's obvious the 1st owner leased it then did a buyout after lease ( that's where it says sold as cpo audi without title moving or re-registered) was over and he got rid of it @80k.
01/28/2011 the day it was sold at auction and an a ohio private dealer bought it.
very high mileage without good history at all plus it has a steering column problem shown on the paper you attached plus it looks like some wiring problem too.
Accident ( front impact) + no maint.history + 138k= steer away from it

501D22G

I think you are right on the money with your analysis. Good work on the carfax, I didn't catch the owner thing. I think I counted 3 because of the dealer sale, but didn't catch the CPO.

I offered $8995, after subtracting for the accident from a value around $9800 that i thought was fair for mileage and general condition. Really surprised they didn't come back with any other number. Maybe they thought I was just being a jerk with a 'lowball' but I guess they will wait for a sucker to buy this one for $14k or $17k depending on which site they see first.

But with what you pointed out:

Subtract:
-Audio broken
-MMI problem
-Steering column issue
-Probable rear windshield washer leak / probable blown amp
-Parking brake inoperative
-Harsh wear & tear on switchgear

That was my top dollar and I'm thinking closer to $7995 now considering all that's wrong.

The only thing maybe to prop the value back up:

*fact that it is an Avant
*color combo I desire (Brilliant Black/Orange-brown)

what is that brown/orange leather color called anyway?

Like I said, we love our 2001. We love having a wagon. I guess we are just in the minority. If anything we'd keep our current Avant and sell my car (older A6). But we don't necessarily need 2 wagons. No need to get into a problem-ridden vehicle but I was curious. My wife also noticed there to be a little less interior space since the windshield seems to have more sweep (just a perception thing looking out front maybe) and the rear hatch seems to give up some space too so another in the minus column.

My dogs don't mind being pinned to the back on grocery runs but they at least need a touch of room!

Gonna steer clear of this one.

Thanks for input.

LLskier23

No amount of money would be a good offer for that Avant. Electrical issues are such a toss-up on diagnosis and repair costs that you could be in for a real headache trying to get to the bottom of it. Even worse buying from a dealer that is trying to pull the wool over your eyes.

I bought my '06 last year for about the same money as they're asking but with only 58k on the odometer, one owner, and no accident history. Plus it was loaded with the heated everything, power gate, smart key, etc.

I love my C6 (upgraded from an Allroad), but it is a touch smaller in terms of trunk storage compared to the C5 generation. However, it's better on gas, has even more features, and looks so sharp from every angle. Good luck looking, hopefully you'll find something that suits you, but I'd avoid this one like the plague.

chrisone

just pass on it . definitely not a good buy, I was checking out the pics on cars.com you can see pic #16 the car is on and the CEL is on.
I know it's a good color combo (black/amaretto) and hard to find ....good luck and do your homework

haloguy628

Do not walk. RUN! The car has electrical gremlins. The worst of worst because you may end up replacing looms, components and switches and still not fix the problems. The ace is the slimeball used cars salesman with his 175 point inspection. Once you drive out of the lot the slimeball will deny ever selling that car to you if you come back with some new nasty surprises you were not able to gauge on the test drive. Discard your emotional attachment to this car and run away.