Many of our customers eventually wonder if they should fix their Audi or just trade it in and buy a newer Audi. Audis are cars that with proper maintenance can easily see over 200,000 miles and still be in amazing shape. Even when parked outdoors in harsh weather conditions due to Audi’s high quality German paint. We have a handful of customers with 10 to 20 year old Audis that regularly come in for service. Every once in a while, one of our customers’ older cars develops and issue that requires a costly repair such as a timing chain job on a twin turbo B5 Audi S4. Then comes the difficult decision, “Do I spend the money to get my Audi fixed or do I trade it in for a newer Audi?”.
Things to consider about your older Audi
This is a difficult decision that comes up from time to time with our customers at the shop. This is a complex dilema with a couple of things to consider. What other repairs does my car need? Are there other major maintenance items that tend to come up at my Audi’s current mileage? Are there any serious rust issues? Finally, and potentially most importantly, what is my emotional attachment to the car?
Things to consider when buying a newer Audi
On the other hand with the new car there are other things to consider as well. How comfortable would you feel having to make a new monthly car payment? If you get your new Audi with a loan you’ll have to put full coverage on it, which in New York City could easily increase your insurance rate to over $300 a month. Then there is the extra time investment. Time is money and you have to consider the time you’d put into researching the model and finding one with the options you want. If you decide to avoid the initial depreciation hit you might go certified pre-owned. You have to search for the right one with the options you want. Now you found it, but is it in another state? Will you go pick up the car or make arrangements to have it delivered? All this requires a massive time investment that most people don’t consider.
Definitely do a pre-purchase inspection on your new European automobile
If you decide to consider a newer Audi that is out of warranty, then we definitely recommend a pre-purchase inspection from us at S-line Auto or another shop that specializes in European Cars. Used cars can be great if they were properly maintained and the seller isn’t hiding any major issues. These can easily be discovered and diagnosed with a pre-purchase inspection. Then these issues can be used to haggle the asking price down.
What if the seller will not allow me to get the car pre purchase inspected?
If the seller is honest, then they will have no issue with you getting the car inspected. If they make excuses or make themselves unavailable for inspection then they are obviously hiding some major problem. As the last thing you want to deal with is a large repair or maintenance bill on a car you just bought.
These are the things that we tell our customers to consider when major repairs come along on an older Audi or other European car and our customer has to think about the pros and cons of getting a newer automobile. We leave it up to our customers, but are always happy to answer questions or lend guidance.
