Audi A6 - My surprise at 2nd hand value

connundrum

Hey, a couple of months back I was looking to spend €7-9k on a car and I had a Passat/Octavia set in my mind for some reason. I hadn't even considered an A6 because.. well I don't know really, I just thought that it'd be far more expensive than it actually was (1999 model onwards like).

Is there a reason for this? Is it a decent car like? I deffo will look at it as a next option this summer if its given the two thunbs up

Example

comanche

connundrum wrote:

Hey, a couple of months back I was looking to spend €7-9k on a car and I had a Passat/Octavia set in my mind for some reason. I hadn't even considered an A6 because.. well I don't know really, I just thought that it'd be far more expensive than it actually was (1999 model onwards like).

Is there a reason for this? Is it a decent car like? I deffo will look at it as a next option this summer if its given the two thunbs up

Example

me i'd be dubious of the seller - would want to see service history, would verify service stamps and get car checked out...

millage doesn't really add up for a diesel

but that's just me, I'm cautious!

Eoin

If you click on the "See other Audi A6s 1999" link at the bottom of the advert, you'll see that the other 1999 A6s are all within €1000 of it either way.

The mileage equates to roughly 12K miles a year - or probably slightly more as it wasn't registered at the beginning of 99. This is below the traditional average mileage for a diesel, but I think that more and more people are buying diesel cars even if they aren't doing stellar mileage every year (since moving house, I'll be doing less than 10K miles per year in my diesel car).

peasant

These days you're a social outcast if you drive anything older than 03 and you're really showing your poverty if you're seen in a sub-00 vehicle

This obsession with the age of the car hits upmarket models really hard, because the people who can afford to run/tax/finance/repair them wouldn't bee seen dead in an old one and just buy new and those who can just about stretch to a 99 or 00 would usually shy away from the higher (perceived) cost of running the larger model. If those kind of people ARE tempted towards the premium brand, they tend to go for the smaller models.

Hence you will see more money being asked for A3/A4's than A6's, more for the 3-series than the 5-series and even more for a Focus than a Mondeo because nobody really wants big, older cars.

Bargains to be had there !

bazz26

The old A6 never really had the elegance of a MB E Class or the drivability of the BMW 5 Series. This and the fact that it looked very similar in size to the A4 meant that it was never really competing with the E Class or 5 Series at the time. Also they had an odd range of engines which did not appeal to people in the market for a mid size executive. This effected the resale value of them big time.

The current A6 is much improved.

colm_mcm

A6 is very much like a big Octavia, nothing special about it. Had a 2.0 for the weekend and wasn't overly impressed.

unkel

I feel the previous posters summed it up nicely. Still, a '99 A6 is a nice car and a lot of value for money for around the €8k mark

Larger, slightly older cars are very cheap in this country. If you can afford the running costs, you should surely consider buying it!

kikel

peasant wrote:

These days you're a social outcast if you drive anything older than 03 and you're really showing your poverty if you're seen in a sub-00 vehicle

I'm a social outcast!!!! :eek:

Seth Brundle

me too - and proud!

opus

Hmmm rapidly developing a complex about venturing out in my '96

Dilbert75

Used to have occasional access to a 1.8T A6 - very quick acceleration, but always found it a very detached driving experience. Maybe I didn't get enough miles in it to get used to it but always felt like a barge. That said, if that 1.9TDi is genuine for €9k, you'd have to be tempted.

mike65

Be brave risk ridicule!

Mike.

peasant

kikel wrote:

I'm a social outcast!!!! :eek:

I'm showing my poverty (mine's a ninety-nine )

But it's true though, isn't it?

In the land of post celtic tiger one upmanship, now that the SSIA's are roaming wild, anything older than 04 won't keep up with the Jones's.

If you're into that kind of thing, that is

Do-more

Did a few long trips on the continent around '00 in rented A6 avants and must saw the seats were fantastic. However FIL has '99 A6 and I really hate it's overservo'd brakes, I know it's a common complaint with VAG cars, but his is really bad. No feel whatsoever more like an on/off switch! Be sure to have a good test drive...

maidhc

The car is still a 1999. Snobbery aside, an 8 yr old car more often than not will look a bit tired, low milers will often show battle scars from the supermarket car park. On top of that are expensive audi specific suspension components, and no guarantee that the car doesn't have 180k miles up.

I don't think snobbery in relation to year is as common outside the pale!

kikel

peasant wrote:

I'm showing my poverty (mine's a ninety-nine )

But it's true though, isn't it?

In the land of post celtic tiger one upmanship, now that the SSIA's are roaming wild, anything older than 04 won't keep up with the Jones's.

If you're into that kind of thing, that is

Mine is 77. What does that say about me? Luckily i'm not into tnhat sort of thing.

Fey!

I quite like the A6, and seriously considered one when I bought the 5 series. What went against it was spec level; where the 5 had cruise control, which I wanted, I couldn't find an A6 that did.

The first Audi I drove was a '92 100 Sport, and I loved it! Couldn't afford to buy it at the time, though.

maidhc wrote:

I don't think snobbery in relation to year is as common outside the pale!

Ya think?

I must be another outcast with my '98!!!

optiplexgx270

A^ is impressive was scouting for an A4 and found a decent spec 02 A4 1.8T Quattro leather,RS6 wheels, 80k for 17,500 and thought that was decent but after looking at the A6 prices it has me wondering if i want to buy into the outcast class .

peasant

Another problem, of course, is resale.

Buy a 00 / 99 bogstandard econobox, put some gentle mileage onto it and some three years down the line you will still get actual money for it.

Buy a 00/99 "barge" and three years down the line you will have to give it away. So you really have to be prepared to afford driving it until the very end.

unkel

peasant wrote:

anything older than 04 won't keep up with the Jones's

Anything other than 07 sitting in the drive right now won't keep up. I think it's great. All those people buying brand new surely feel good about themselves. Fair play to them. All other people have access to relatively cheap second hand cars because of it

ninty9er

kikel wrote:

Mine is 77. What does that say about me? Luckily i'm not into tnhat sort of thing.

Well mine's a 00 "econobox" with 92k on the clock and I'm changing it for another 00 econobox with 92 k on the clock (subject to test drive next week) and that suits me just fine.
Psychologically anything that doesn't start with a 0x at this stage will be harder to shift regardless of condition

Do-more

unkel wrote:

Anything other than 07 sitting in the drive right now won't keep up. I think it's great. All those people buying brand new surely feel good about themselves. Fair play to them. All other people have access to relatively cheap second hand cars because of it

Yeh, looks like all the farmers round my way will be carting their bales of hay around in the back of Range Rovers in a few years time! '05-'07's are common as muck at this stage, but who's going to buy them all in a few years time? The arse is really going to fall out of their value, reckon they will all be converted to PPO and gettin' muddy like they were designed to do in the first place!

hiscan

unkel wrote:

Anything other than 07 sitting in the drive right now won't keep up. I think it's great. All those people buying brand new surely feel good about themselves. Fair play to them. All other people have access to relatively cheap second hand cars because of it

the people who buy new think the people who buy second hand are daft and vice versa:p