Never Summer

Hey guys, wanted your opinion on which car I should get. I'm currently looking at four different cars, two of them I really like, two of them the price is more doable. Let me know what you think.

Car number one is a 2002 Acura TL Type-S, it's that weird emerald green color with a tan interior, neither of which I'm fond of by any means. The car has 30,000 miles though and a brand new transmission as well as a 3 year/30,000 mile warranty. The price is $7499

Car number two is a 2002 Audi A6 with the 4.2 litre V8. The car is black with a very nice looking cream interior, and in immaculate condition. The car has 100,500 miles and has had all of the belts and fluids replaced in the last 5,000 miles. The dealership has a 3 year/100,000 mile warranty which seems odd to me, but whatever works. Carfax shows one front end collision in 2006, something I'd likely use as a bargaining chip to bring the price down. The price is $7990.

Car number three is a 2000 Audi A6 with the same 4.2 litre V8. The car is dark blue with a tan interior, not my favorite exterior color but the interior does look nice. The car has several scratches and in general doesn't look as nice as the 2002 model. I prefer the styling of the 2002-2004 A6 over the older ones, this car isn't one I really want but would gladly take if that makes any sense. The mileage is 113,737 miles with a price of $5988, which is within my price range of $6000.

Car number four, my least favorite of the group, is a 2001 Audi A6 with the 2.8 litre V6. I personally do not like this car, but my mom (who would be paying for the car) likes the fact that it has Audi's anemic 2.8 litre engine with 190hp. For a nearly 4,000 pound car it certainly would be slow, but I've never had a speeding ticket as I prefer to keep it 4-5 miles above the speed limit at most. The car is the same blue as number three with the tan interior. Mileage is 107,043 for $7995.

Will Y.

Can't you consider a car that won't be in the shop for half the time you own it?
All four choices look... questionable.

vas25tl

Uhm.....

The 4.2 A6's are not reliable, the 2.8l A6 just sucks all together.

The TL would be the only practical choice although 30K miles on an 02 with a new trans is probably mileage rollback.

I choose #5 "Other"

Moog-Type-S

None of the above.

Never Summer

Since none of those choices seem very popular where would you guys look with a $6000 budget? I can spend as much as $7500, but still that's not a whole lot of money and I don't want a Civic or anything of the sort.

tmnhs81

Accord MT??

tmnhs81

Forgot to add, a 2G Lexus GS300 maybe??

JS + XES

iTrader: (1)

revise your choices, then i'll vote.

myron

iTrader: (4)

if those are the only choices I'd go for the 2002 4.2 A6. I don't know how reliable those are but they are ballin' and I like the look of those. I wanted one before but I ended up in a 99TL because those were too much mney at the time. If I had money I'd be in one

Never Summer

My understanding is the 4.2 is at least a lot more reliable than the 2.7T. I had wanted a 2001 S4 for the longest time but decided the possibility of the twin turbos failing was just too big of a risk. Plus for the 2.7T it's more of a when not if scenario.

vas25tl

With $7500K budget...(depending on mileage of course)

00-03 3.5RL
99-02 GS300
Accord
Camry

vas25tl

I don't know if I completely agree with this statement. They all have their fair share of issues.

I wanted an A8 for the longest time (4.2L) and when I saw a friend pay $950 to change out a thermostat, I decided to change my options pretty quickly.

If you have money to sink into these choices you have listed, go for the 02 A6. If you want something reliable and less headaches, I'd stay away from all listed options

1slo23

What about an IS300?

charliemike

If you have a $7500 budget, do not get an Audi.

There is a very good chance you could spend half to all of that on repairs in the first year.

Get an Accord EX V6. You can probably find a decent 2003 with 75k miles for about $7500.

Dude, those Audis will maul your bank account like a chocolate covered poodle in a polar bear tank.

HBaJ

What's wrong with the TL you have? The only A6 i'd get is the 2.7T..but yeh go with the IS300 or TL. That warranty is looking tasty.

Never Summer

I sold my TL in May of last year. I was moving to Germany the week before I sold it and the day I sold it I noticed an oil leak from the rear main seal, and it also needed its timing belt replaced. There's absolutely no way I'd go with the 2.7T unless I had A LOT of money to spare.

The only reason the budget for the car is $6000 is because we want to leave money aside for any repairs that might be needed, after all the TL has a glass tranny, and the Audi has a big V8. I'm still leaning toward the 2002 A6. I really do not like the IS300, nor do I like the Camry or the GS. I still have a couple of weeks until I really need a car but it'll have to happen soon.

phee

iTrader: (5)

stop being a brand whore. way better cars in that price range that wont be as unreliable.

and that ugly emerald green color on a type-s is one of the rarest colors.

also gorgeous if well taken care of.

ineedmyfixofacura

iTrader: (2)

You're going to be spending all your money on repairs if you go with Audi, but goodluck.

invisiblewar

for that price, any of those audis are going to cost a pretty penny to keep running. The tl will always have tranny problems too. Go with a maxima from 2002ish (with the 6spd) or maybe look at a legacy with the n/a engine. Go with something less luxurious and a bit newer man. Mazda3s are cheap now. Can either be had as a sedan or hatch (same with the 6) or a newer(previous gen) accord?

TheMirror

Seriously, stop looking at high mileage used Audis NOW.

$6,000 is clean, good used Maxima money to me.

Type34

I'll probably get flamed for this, but IMO the best option in the $7500 price range is to get a low-mileage 2007+ Ford Focus SE. The 2.0L Zetec is a nice engine and the handling is above average. Plus there's decent aftermarket support for the Focus and the gas mileage is attractive. A Nissan Sentra SER is also a decent alternative.

You're 19, save the luxury brands for later when you can afford a newer model. Enjoy being 19 and enjoy having a pocket rocket...

phile

Also, just because it's a used car doesn't mean you can escape the maintenance of a luxury car.

Like people who buy used Lexus and then are surprised when they take it to the stealership to find out that an oil change costs $100

Burnricers

I had an audi that I babied and was in the shop every 2-4 weeks, fortunately it was still under warranty. 2 weeks after I sold it the engine blew. If someone gave me another audi i'd just turn around and sell it.

CL6

TL Tranny will go out, Audi will eat your wallet.

Never Summer

Well looks like the TL is going to be it.

tmnhs81

Look around. There is much better fish in the pond to catch. Like mentioned look at Maxima at least..

phee

iTrader: (5)

ask for opinions and then do whatever you want anyway. why bother

Never Summer

Well mostly because I wanted opinions on the cars listed. I just ran a carfax on the TL, so yet again that's out. The 2002 and 2000 A6's sold, I've found another I'm going to test drive tomorrow. I realize the cost of ownership for an Audi is a lot higher than many other cars, but I've planned accordingly and am willing to sacrifice some money to get a car I've wanted since before I ever had my TL.

invisiblewar

Fixed, and after 2005 they got the duratec

invisiblewar

my first car was an audi. A b5 A4, I thought I was baller when I had the thing. Then one problem came and oh shit that was expensive. No biggie it wont have too many more problems. Another came, then another, then another, then another. The car was sold pretty soon after. And I only owned the car for 7 months.
Its a money pit just in maintenance, then youll want to mod something and thats going to cause something else to go wrong

Burnricers

In all fairness I believe that's just inexperience talking and ignorance to the reality of just HOW expensive these repairs can get. When my engine blew it would have cost 4 grand to replace it, not counting the engine blowing the repairs that were done would have cost close to 5k if it weren't under warranty.

I had a '03 A4 3.0 quattro for about a year with a similar experience and personally know 2 other people who also went through similar things.

Audi's are not a good option for a reliable cost effective daily driver.

Shift_Acura

Another vote for the Maxima (preferably 02/03 w/ 6MT)

Costco

So you've only narrowed it down to four cars

My longest period of car shopping involved 3 months and I looked at and drove 20+ cars

TheMirror

We've probably done all we can do here, I just really hope the OP doesn't insist on learning the hard way. At least he should ask some questions on www.audiworld.com about this impending purchase.....

invisiblewar

Maybe not your ideal car seeing what youre looking at. But it has a 6spd transmission, optional recaros, pretty good suspension and was designed by SVT, which is a pretty respectable name

mrmako

TSX? Legacy GT? IS series?

Early ones would be better choices.

PortlandRL

I drove an A6 2.8 once and I kid you not, that thing is slower than hell. Keep in mind this is coming from somebody who drives a Santa Fe...not the most performance-oriented vehicle in the world but the A6 2.8 made my car look like a freaking Veyron. Merging onto the freeway with that 2.8, I seriously thought I was going to die. I had my foot planted almost through the firewall and all the engine did was make more noise. Thank goodness the on-ramp was long (a rarity in Portland) and traffic was light. I would not want to put up with that car in Atlanta, LA, or NYC.

If you insist on looking at an Audi from that period, ditch the 2.8 and the 4.2 options. As I said, the 2.8 is an anemic asthmatic and the 4.2 is a hypochondriac. I worked for an Audi dealer for two years and the 2.7 Bi-Turbo V6 is probably one of the most trouble-free engines Audi ever made. I have a friend with an Allroad 2.7 6-speed manual and that thing is FAST. It takes the black off the road. The parts and maintenance are expensive but he evens it out by doing most of the work himself; including the timing belt.

But seriously...there are much better and more reliable cars out there for the money you're putting up. Look at the Maxima or even a good used Accord. The Audi will make you wish you were never born.

vas25tl

This is full of fail.

I wish you luck with the Audi. At 19, that would be the last thing I'd look for.

I hope your city has good public transportation you can utilize when the thing is in the shop.

JediMindTricks

ody! wait, wrong thread.

this.

chill_dog

Might as well throw a couple of 20 year old Mercedes' and BMW's on that list.

Seriously, look into the Maxima's, Camry's, and Accord's people mentioned. The Focus and Mustang are good cars, too. All of these I would drive before I drove anything on your list.