Really want to get this car, but fitting it in my budget would be a squeeze... Anyone here went ahead and bought one anyways? Regrets? Thanks!<br>Aaron.

Yes, I took the plunge when I couldn't really afford it. The car absorbs all of my toy money and I take my lunch to work or buy taco bell these days. Is it worth it? I don't know. Every time I drive the car I love it, every time I make the monthly payment I hate it. I want to upgrade the chip, tint the windows, put on a clear bra, and bigger brakes, but I don't have the dough to do it. It's a bummer. Had I to do it again I would save more money for the down payment and buy a 1 to 2 year old car- as it is I am eating the depreciation- I've got the car up for sale right now, but I can't decide if I'll even sell it. Fun stuff huh? Go get a paper route to buy the car and you'll love it forever

Please take soom advice from an A4 owner who loves his car and has lived a few more years than most that post on this Forum, DO NOT buy a car that you really can't afford. No doubt you will enjoy an A4 a great deal during your time behind the wheel. But, then the unforseen happens and all of a sudden you find that you can't take care of your essential expenses AND your A4 payment(s) too. Then its all too likely that the pleasure and pride of ownership will not overcome the finincial hardship, worry, and possible longterm negative consequences to your credit rating that an ill-advised purchase at too early a point in your financial life might bring.<p>Wait awhile and put the money that you would be paying in monthly A4 payments into a savings account earmarked for your A4 purchase. This helps you 2 ways. One, you find out how such a sum will effect your life without incurring a large financial obligation, and two, provides money for a bigger down payment that will reduce the size of the monthly payment when it does occur.<p>Remember, like waiting for Christmas, the ANTICIPATION of buying the car of your dreams is, in many ways, equal in pleasure to the reality of ownership (without the real world costs).

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My wife and I each bought new cars out of college, me a Ford Probe 1990 $16,000and she a Pontiac Sunbird 1991 $7,000. My wife will be receiving her brand new A4 1.8 Quattro w/no sunroof, tip, allweather package in 4 weeks. We saved enough money and bought a house and now have enough equity that we we've been able to set up a home equity line of credit for $24,000 at 7.5% which net of federal taxes will be about 5.75% when we draw from it. My wife also has saved a down payment of $10,000 as well. We have done all this on a combined income of less than $75,000. My advice, is if you have to buy brand new, buy in the $16,000 to $18,000 range, otherwise buy used or keep driving the car you have. I plan on driving my Probe for another 3 years. I have 175,000 miles on it and its 9 years old. I figure if I get twelve years out of it, I'll have been driving it 8 years free(no car payments). Granted you have the major maintenance costs during that time...brakes, radiator, tires. To each his own!

nt<br>

When I started my search for a new car, an A4 was not even in the mix. I was looking at a loaded out Jetta or a 1 or 2 year old Passat. I never even considered that I may look at leasing a car, but after running some #'s on the VW's with 5 0r 6 thousand down, I was still looking at close to 4 hundy a month (I assume a A4 would be in the high 4's with that much down). The thought of writing a check for 6 thousand to a dealer and driving off the lot and that money effectively being gone was killing me. I started looking at lease #'s. To my surprise, I was able to negotiate a better deal (54 bucks less a month) for the A4 than the Passat, strictly due to the residual values being so much better on the A4 (57% to 63%). I was looking at around $380 a month for a Jetta, and now I have a 99.5 1.8T quattro, manual, sport, sunroof, bose, all weather pkg for $398 for 36 months and 15000 miles a year (way more than I actually need personally, but believe me I'll use all of them). The best part was that I put a big fat ZERO DOWN. I just showed up at the dealer with a check for the first month's, security deposit and assoicated fees and I drove off one happy SOB. I was then able to invest my "down payment' which will hopefully bring me a nice return. I assume if you were considering buying one, than the lease payment would be alot easier to handle. Granted, I had to make some compromises with a lease, but at this point in my life, I think it was a great trade off. I was mentally ready to pay 380 for a jetta (which in five years when it was paid off, I probably wouldn't have wanted anymore anyway), so for 20 bucks I was able to go from a decent ride to a UNBELIEVABLE one. I can leave work in the worst mood, and buy the time I get home, I am smiling again. This car is like therapy! In three years when the lease is up, I will be a much better financial position, so if I decide leasing was no good, I will buy a new A4 or purchase my current one. If the car payment will leave you with nothing, think long and hard, but a lease with a great residual value like the A4 is something to consider. just one guy's story

I felt the same way.<br>What I did:<br>- I looked up the trade in value of the A6 and A4 in Edmunds.com. (Added 'NOTHING' for any options.)<br>- Determined my financial limit.<br>- Every time an A4 or A6 hit the want ads, I called and test drove.<br>- If the car was in good shape, I made my offer.<p>I hit the mother load, got an '98 A6 Quattro with all options, except warm weather, for $29,000.<br>(divorce clearance sale)<p>Good luck shopping.<br>

To start the car is a few thousand less. Add in Automatic climate control that you get standard with the A4 and it's only a couple thousand less. Add in $1700 for Quattro (which isn't even an option for the Passat) and they're almost the same price! Now realize that the residuals are lower for the Passat like you said, and you see that you're actually paying MORE for LESS of a car!

I went through very similar thinking as posted here. In addition, I worked up the financial numbers, assuming that money not put into a down payment or into a higher monthly payment would get to stay in my mutual fund accounts. Even assuming a very modest return of 8%, the total cost at the end of 3 years turned out to be similar to buying. A more likely higher return on my mutual funds would favor the lease further.<p>In addition, the saved money is now available to me if I should require liquid cash in a relative hurry, instead of being locked up in built-up equity in the car (you can't easily sell, say, $2000 worth of your car back to your auto loan should you need the money).<p>Of course, for an apples-to-apples comparison, my cost analysis assumed that the car would be held for 3 years (returned in the lease case, sold in the purchase case). If you keep your car longer, you may get a different result. Further, the lease has mileage limits. While mileage also impacts the cost of a purchase through the resale value, the resale value impact is more flexible and dependent on the buyer than the definite mileage deduction of a lease.

I've been looking at the A4 for at least 2 years now. Right at the beginning I realized I couldn't afford it. Well some time has passed and I kept hunting, I finally got a great deal on a 99.5 A4 1.8Tqms. During the wait I was able to save up a huge down payment which made the purchase possible. Just keep looking and I bet you'll find a way. Good Luck.