New versus Used

[bluetrade]

Originally Posted by dr150 In my region (N. CA), the spread isn't small. I could get a 2011 3.2 with 13k for $39k. That sounds pretty good to me. thnaks for the input. There seems to be no shortage of 3.2L on the lots. My local dealer has had the same dozen 3.2s sitting there while over 2 dozen 2.0s have been sold. The pricing on the 3.2 is a little softer. The 3.2s are priced so much higher to begin with that there is more room to fall and i just dont think the demand is there for an engine that doesnt dramaticaly outperform while being more thirsty.

[2012A4Q5Owner]

Our 2012 was $41,000 for the 2.0T Quattro Premium Plus. I test drove the 3.2L first and then the 2.0T right after. The 3.2L felt heavier for some reason. The 2.0T was significantly cheaper and had about the same peppy response as the V6 because of the low end torque. My wife drives this car primarily and she almost never will go over 4,000 RPM's driving this thing to realize the higher horsepower of the 3.2L. I've never had good luck with used cars. Every used car I've ever bought always had some kind of issue. There has to be a good reason why the previous owner wanted to get rid of it. Sometimes the cars have been wrecked and you can't tell until later on. My sister bought a used van. I thought the front end had taken a hit and was repaired. Sure enough it's only 4 years old and the clear coat is already starting to peel on the hood. Somebody didn't do a good job at painting it. This is why I'd rather pay that little extra and buy something brand new knowing full well that there were no accidents. I bought our Audi's with the wrapping paper still on paint and seats after they came off of the delivery.

On the highway with cruise control on at about 60 MPH I've seen the MPG go just above 30 MPG in our Q5. I don't know if the 3.2L would ever get that kind of gas mileage. And when we want to have as much torque as a V8, we simply pay for an APR ECU update and call it a day. Then we'll have 330 lbs of torque on tap. That's almost as much torque as the older LS1 engines using in Trans Am's and Camaro Z28's were putting out years back. Big increase in torque for maybe $1000 or so? That's what is nice about having a turbo!

[The G Man]

Originally Posted by bluetrade

I am enjoying everyone’s input. I have had trouble justifying buying used with the spread being small. When I ask for advice from friends over beers they think I’m crazy to buy new. I don’t think they realize how small the spread is though.

I have a friend like that, all he buys is used cars coming off lease. He would pick up 2 year old cars that’s around $10000 cheaper and buy extended warranty for them. The extended warranty usually cost about $3000, so all he really saved was about $7000 for a two year old car. He has had good luck doing that with one exception with a Infiniti M that gave him a lot of trouble. Personally, I like new cars not because of the fact that its shiny or the new car smell, I like new cars because I don’t want to take the chance of buying a car that has been abused.

[2012A4Q5Owner]

Originally Posted by The G Man

Personally, I like new cars not because of the fact that its shiny or the new car smell, I like new cars because I don’t want to take the chance of buying a car that has been abused.

That is exactly why I only buy new. Believe me, I would love to buy a used car and save the money. When you go to the dealer, they won't give you the previous owner's names so you can find out if they dogged out the car or not before they traded it in. You don't know if anybody did any 5,000 RPM neutral drops or anything. All you can do is hope for the best.

I have GEICO and I got the 100,000 mile mechanical break down warranty included instead of paying for the expensive warranty from the dealer. GEICO will only give the mechanic breakdown insurance on cars that have under 15,000 miles on them when you buying them. The GEICO insurance is WAY cheaper than stuff at the dealer.

I am super picky about maintenance and who touches my car. When buying a car with 40-80k miles, you're rolling the dice. Yeah, an extended warranty can pay for repairs at no cost to you, but if you're busy at a day job, who has time to keep bringing their car back to the dealer all the time and miss time off work? My boss wouldn't appreciate me taking time off work all the time for car troubles.

It scares me to see low miles used cars out there. You have to wonder why people would buy such a nice car and want to get rid of it so quickly? If the car was so wonderful, why wouldn't they just keep it and put 150,000+ miles on it and get their money's worth out of it?

I've had lots of friends who had wrecks in their cars, get them fixed and then promptly trade them in immediately after the repair.

I was thinking about buying an R8 today. I was doing the math and a good one would cost almost $3,000 per month. I don't want a car payment that exceeds 10% of my income, so I would basically want to be earning $30,000 per month to buy a car like that. Man, that's crazy!

[hmn4858]

Originally Posted by 2012A4Q5Owner

It scares me to see low miles used cars out there. You have to wonder why people would buy such a nice car and want to get rid of it so quickly? If the car was so wonderful, why wouldn't they just keep it and put 150,000+ miles on it and get their money's worth out of it?

All sorts of situations could arise for why that would happen. My parents had been known to trade in a car just to get a different color. My Q5 just rolled 15k and I'm about to sell it. I had one kid when I bought it and have had twins since. I've been able to get them all in but they're getting bigger and I just can't justify the fun factor vs the convenience factor. Some people just hate the car as well.

As far as maintance, yeah you can't get the owner name but you can get the vin number and go to that brand dealer and they can pull the service records.

I never buy used either for the same reason others have posted. There's a Toyota stealer I went to yesterday trying to sell a used Sienna as new even though it has 11k on it. Yes I know it's hasn't been titled so they can do that but that's only 4k less that what I have on mine.

[dr150]

If you buy a used car, you can always get an independent evaluator to check out the car. Pre-certified cars have their own warranties so you should be covered in that case...or Geico if under 15k.

I wouldn't fret over a used car with low miles. MANY people trade in their cars b/c they MUST have the latest and greatest. Many people are predisposed to leasing in perpetuity and used to always having monthly car payments, so I wouldn't take issue with a used car with low miles.

As always, caveat emptor on cars that aren't reliable. Consumer Reports and car forums can give you some heads-up on that though....

[2012A4Q5Owner]

You would hope that those would be the cases as you guys have said. But I have known many people who wreck a car and get it fixed without getting insurance to pay. I once had a car that had $7,000+ in damages. I ended up fixing it most of it myself. The frame was bent and everything. We put it on a frame straightening machine. Unless I knew the previous owner, I feel reluctant to buy new. Every single used car I've ever bought in my life always had problems. I would always wonder why a person would trade in such a nice car and then after a short time I would see the problems creep up.

We had a family member bought another model Audi. The car looked great and the price was right. The car ends up burning like 2 quarts of oil every 3,000 miles. Now we can see why the previous owner traded it in. There's no leaks. Nothing is coming out of the tailpipe. In other cars that have had this problem, I've seen put Amsoil in and the problem went away, just like it did for our two Audi's. But even with this car, Amsoil isn't helping, so this is serious. So now he will be forced to put in expensive oil every few thousands miles. It's one thing to pay for expensive oil when it lasts 10,000 miles, but it really sucks to have to pay for it and keep dumping it in. These cars aren't like a Honda or Ford. You have to use the oils that meet Audi's specs or you could have problems and there's not that many oils out there that do that.

If this were a domestic or Asian car, we could simply dump in a thicker oil like a 20W50 and that often will solve the problem. This often works in cars that take a 5W20 or 5W30 oil. You can simply put in a 10W40 oil to make oil consumption go away.

All you can do is hope that the previous owner traded the car in for simple problems like you guys said, but that's not always the case.

[The G Man]

Originally Posted by 2012A4Q5Owner

We had a family member bought another model Audi. The car looked great and the price was right. The car ends up burning like 2 quarts of oil every 3,000 miles. Now we can see why the previous owner traded it in. There's no leaks. Nothing is coming out of the tailpipe. In other cars that have had this problem, I've seen put Amsoil in and the problem went away, just like it did for our two Audi's. But even with this car, Amsoil isn't helping, so this is serious. So now he will be forced to put in expensive oil every few thousands miles. It's one thing to pay for expensive oil when it lasts 10,000 miles, but it really sucks to have to pay for it and keep dumping it in. These cars aren't like a Honda or Ford. You have to use the oils that meet Audi's specs or you could have problems and there's not that many oils out there that do that.

By the way, Amsoil does not meet Audi's spec.

[GeodesicSAAB]

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[awryexperiment]

Originally Posted by 2012A4Q5Owner

It scares me to see low miles used cars out there. You have to wonder why people would buy such a nice car and want to get rid of it so quickly? If the car was so wonderful, why wouldn't they just keep it and put 150,000+ miles on it and get their money's worth out of it?

Here are a few of the many reasons:
- The owner wanted the newest model.
- The owner is fickle.
- It was a leased vehicle.
- It was a business vehicle.
- The owner died.
- The owner can't afford it any more.
- It was re-possessed by the lender.
- The owner got divorced and needs a better car to find a younger spouse.
- The owner got divorced and lost it to his/her ex who turned around and sold it out of spite.
- - The owner needs to relocate out of country.
- The owner lost their licence or was put in jail.
- The car was impounded and not claimed.