Searched Forum, more questions about potential purchase

[DreamingOfCars]

It's odd that the auction price was so high compared to others. The exterior was in awesome shape, it had all options, and it had that detailed carfax. I would think that carfax would be more of a liability than a help, I'd love to know what qualifies cars to be sold into these below/avg/above tiers other than exterior shape/accidents/mileage/number of owners.

Slightly bummed, but I'll tell myself it had problems. Just hope no one snaked it based on this thread (though I doubt it, apparently someone walked in yesterday and paid asking price of 30).

Anyone know current auction prices? I feel like a lot of the listings on auto trader are high for their condition/mileage.

[speedtrapped]

Did u check out the one on ebay being sold in Texas ? Decent shape I think they want 28.5k, but when I called and spoke to him, he said they would come off 1k, so if ur serious I bet 1500-2k. Nice looking, just I wasn't thrilled about light gray interior

[marklar182]

There are a few of us down here in the Dallas area, let me know if you want the one in Addison looked at or have a PPI done on it.

[mmaturo]

A few comments on maintenance but $2500- $3K seems to be what i do spend, less now that i have a TT I am using as my daily driver instead of the RS. Most comments are dead on but my tires are closer to $400ea and go at 16K (3 sets now at that mileage)...its the inner wear on the tire from the camber that does it as the center and outter edges of the tire still have life in them. Rotors everyone has about right at 14K (mine like clock-work but i'm a little hard on on them) to 25K. $280ea at genuinevwaudiparts.com...this site seems to be the best prices i have found in 5 years for OEM parts, but pads depending on which they are have a half life of the rotors. But EBCs are nice and cheap and work well. Rears last 50K+.

Dealer is $150+ on oil change. Indy shop is $100. Stabilizer bar has to be dropped to get the filter out so that's the extra cost.

The only other maintenance thing creeping up is oil leaks that seem to show up around the pulley/roller openings around the timing belt but you can't see them without popping the cover over the belt (have all replaced with timing belt service) and the valve cover gaskets. I think the lowers are starting to go a little now in my car but oil leaks really are not a concern with these things as none are critical leaks other than a little smell after a spirited run. After growing up with GM V8s nothing bugs me with leaks on this thing.

To help tell tranny health the major symptom i have always had as the most obvious failure (I'm on #4 so i should know) is a delay in shifting into 1 coming to a stop. If you are glidding in you can feel it leave 2 early but then nothing for an extended period of time...then a more sudden drop into one. The slip you will notice a bit on hard acceleration in the 2 to 3 shift and after as sort of a stop of acceleration but you are still pressing the gas...car sort of hits a plateau for a brief second then engages and goes.

In the 50 to 80K range bushings in everything in the front suspension will go so new control arms upper and lower, links, stabilizer bar may be needed. If test driving a car and you hear any clunks in the front its something going. More of a clunk shudder over say an expansion joint at speed or bump inthe highway but more noticeable at slower speeds over sharp bumps and slow turn ins. Easy way to find them is slow turns into curb cuts with a good change in elevation. CV boots also fail at this time...inners and outers.

Fuel gauge is the only gremlin i have left as it reads in correctly down low now (at all...you get out thinking you have 40-50 miles to go and you get back in with 0). This after a cluster change, sender and new fuel tank...oh well. The original in the car was perfect. Something happened to it on one of my tranny drops.

On the water noise its a moot point now that the car sold but i bet it was a clogged drain line from the condenser behind the dash...i have had that problem in every Audi I have owned including the RS. Easy to unplug.

[DreamingOfCars]

Thanks for the extra info MMaturo. With regards to oil leaks, I have heard this is a common problem on turbo Audi engines in general, and a number of RS6s I have looked at seem to have this issue. One of them had the turbos replaced but the car still seems to leak. The smell is kind of annoying, but as long as it isn't an issue that would damage the car long term I could probably cope.

As to the control arms/links/stabilizer bar and CV boots, are these things covered under warranty? I think they might be considered wear and tear, in which case, I'm curious as to what the cost of replacement on these is, and how often they will continue to get eaten up.

Thanks for the advice on what to look for in a test drive.

I'm still contacting various sellers on Auto Trader. Seems to me like a lot of private party sellers over value the car as I'm generally looking at between 45-60k miles. Most of them need one or more major services (brakes, 35k, 55k, etc.) and few if any have warranties (or have less than a year of coverage left). Average list price is around 32-34 and most people are willing to drop the price by 2-4k but not much more.

[mmaturo]

Yep you should be paying in the mid 20s in my opinion with no warranty and services needed max. Closer to 30 in excellent shape and warranty. They can all kiss my arse because my car at that mileage was not worth that much period two years ago. Go tell them to try to trade it in...the trade in would be very low 20s for them. I'm at 86K and i bet mid teens is all i could get in trade although car is in excellent condition body and mechanically (for once). $24K with RNSE and my 19" wheels takes my car off my hands.

On the oil I don't know of any RS6s that have had turbo failures so new to me there (5 years and going). They seem to be tanks in this application. The oil leaks are gaskets here and there and minor in my opinion. The only reason Turbos on my car were once replaced is that they couldn't get the bolts out when dropping the engine so they were damaged/drilled getting them out so both have to be replaced even though only one may have had seized connectors.

CV boots are wear and tear and replacement at my independent shop was $400 for one so that's not exactly cheap (that may have been an inner boot). Control arms, links and stabilizer bar I had all replaced under warranty several times. I'm on the hook now but they don't seem too pricey...in the 100s ea I think seeing. You can live with the clunking for awhile though. Longevity seems to be in direct relation to how they were last installed. The suspension must be loaded and then tightened down or the bushings will be under extra stress and fail fast...15K fast in my case...twice. My indy shop pointed that one out. The techs at the dealer if not too bright will just put everything in and tighten it up too much while hanging in the air. That's bad.

[DreamingOfCars]

Also - thanks for the offers to check out cars. I will continue looking across states and see if I can find someone on the forum to do a check on any that look promising (assuming someone here is nearby). As for the one in Texas, it didn't look like it had records, which is what I want to avoid, and it had 3 or 4 owners. I'm trying to stick to a 2 owner car (or 1, but it's unlikely), stock, with history, under 55k miles, in almost any color/option configuration except green/red exterior. I'd like the SE tips, carbon fiber, and sun shades, but none of those are deal breakers (well...maybe the tips). I've contacted several people on auto trader, but as I mentioned very few people seem willing to part with a car in my criteria range for under 30k, and most of them need at least some work equivalent to 1k+ in costs.

Another quick question about buying - how does titling work if I buy it across states? Do I do it once in the state I buy it and then once in my home state? I assume I only pay taxes when I title it back in my home state.

Another one - does anyone have a recommendation for a car shipping company? Are rates posted online?

[Chung]

I am currently in the out of state buying process as well. The Washington Licensing Department is less than helpful but here are a few things I have learned.

You will pay Washington use tax when you license it (around 10% of the KBB retail price). You can use other reputable sources for pricing info I believe and I am going to try to use either Edmonds or NADA for the “value” of the car (does anyone else here believe the value is the price the transaction happens at?). Another tidbit of information I learned is you can deduct needed repairs off of that value if they come from an accredited shop (I don’t know what this is but I am going to use my PPI data).

There are three forms I think you need to fill out:
- Odometer statement (you need to go into a licensing office for this)
- Value of the car statement
- Bill of Sale

Once you get your car you need to get the emissions check and take the title and the above documents into the department of licensing. Since I am still in the process (I am flying out next Thursday to pick up the car) I will let you know what parts are correct and which ones I do wrong.

[DHall1]

You poor serfs in Washington state. 10% sales tax on KBB retail? You must be kidding me. My god why dont you throw the bums out on their a$$es in the capitol. That is friggin robbery.

Time to open a LLC in Montana.

I see why WA cracks down on people coming over the border to OR and buying cars.

Damn people.

I am currently in the out of state buying process as well. The Washington Licensing Department is less than helpful but here are a few things I have learned.

You will pay Washington use tax when you license it (around 10% of the KBB retail price). You can use other reputable sources for pricing info I believe and I am going to try to use either Edmonds or NADA for the “value” of the car (does anyone else here believe the value is the price the transaction happens at?). Another tidbit of information I learned is you can deduct needed repairs off of that value if they come from an accredited shop (I don’t know what this is but I am going to use my PPI data).

There are three forms I think you need to fill out:
- Odometer statement (you need to go into a licensing office for this)
- Value of the car statement
- Bill of Sale

Once you get your car you need to get the emissions check and take the title and the above documents into the department of licensing. Since I am still in the process (I am flying out next Thursday to pick up the car) I will let you know what parts are correct and which ones I do wrong.

[Chung]

Well we don't have income tax, so that is a plus.

[DHall1]

Indeed.

So setup the LLC in Montana to make all vehicle purchases and pay 0 WA state income tax. We kept a property in Oregon for this exact reason. All vehicles are purchased in "Oregon" and the lic fees are still dirt cheap.

RS6 license fees in OR are 86.00 for two years.
RS6 license fees in AZ were over 800/yr the last time I checked.

I stopped in a high end car dealer today up in Phoenix. Imports, Pcars, MB, BMW and Audi shop. Been in business 25 years same spot. He is selling 20% of vehicles and almost no local sales in AZ. AZ just raised sales tax to 10% on top of high property tax, state income tax, electric and water rate increases. The people in AZ are f'ed. He is only selling out of state. Amazing.

[ben916]

...I am flying out next Thursday to pick up the car

So you found something?

[Chung]

I did. Actually I am buying a fellow board member's car (p3u). He told me about these forums. There are some minor issues but for them most part the major stuff appears to have been taken care of. I have been holding off on the RS6 for a long time because of it's history but it is starting to feel like the problems are being ironed out and that it will be a fun car to own.

[skribe]

Seems like a good buy, from what I gather P3U's car is well-modded, well cared for, and darn quick.

At some point, RS 6 prices will bottom out and hit a point where they don't devalue very quickly, I think that we're close. KBB and others aren't good at quantifying something like an RS 6 -- there are very few, the car is a bit of a legend, it's considered by some (like an e30 M3 or e39 M5) to be the best of the breed, the Audi brand has never been more popular, etc.

They are worth exactly what someone who really wants a particular car is willing to pay for it. Scarcity and demand. I ran into a couple of guys who had very good examples who just wouldn't entertain offers below a certain emotional threshold, that's what the market will start to do.

At some point it becomes like an old 911, only the thoroughly used up ones drop into the cheap seats, and the really good, low mileage examples start to creep up a bit in market value (which is very different from KBB value.)

Congrats on the purchase.

[DreamingOfCars]

I suspect that only really low mileage ones are going to creep back up in price, and will only be valuable to owners who intend to keep them low mileage. I think you're going to see a flood of them enter the market in 2-3 years when no one will be able to get warranties on them, and a lot of them will be gobbled up in the 15k range by people who beat them up and resell them without taking care of them. 5-10 years out, many of these will die a horrible death or be parted out and the remaining ones in good shape with low miles will become collector's items.

It was mentioned that prices seemed to have crept up recently for low mileage RS6s, but this is a side effect of the massive increase in used car prices since early '09. Take a look at the Manheim report:

http://www.manheimconsulting.com/Use...hly_Index.html

Used car prices are at an all time historical high, though they have slightly dropped in the last month or two.