Looking to buy a brand new car

Torn between the A4 and BMW S3.

Nearly every magazine puts the BMW ahead, but I drove an Audi 80 for 10 years and loved it.

Any advice?

O.

Reply to
Oslo
Loading thread data ...

Drive them both and select the one you like best. Who cares what magazine writers say? Unless they are putting money down toward your car, only *your* opinion matters.

Never heard of an S3. Europe only?

E.P.

'95 UrS6

Reply to
Ed Pirrero

Agreed, I've long said that just because one cars specs add up better on paper or that one cars performance advantage is perceivable when two cars are driven back to back, doesn't mean that it's the better car for you.

Get in them and drive them, I bet you'll know.

Chris

Reply to
Chris D'Agnolo

It's kind of hard to give advice without knowing your driving habits, environment or pocketbook! But if you need/want all-wheel drive, I don't think the 3-Series is available with AWD yet, is it?

Dan D '04 A4 1.8Tq MT-6 Central NJ USA

Reply to
Dano58

Do you mean M3? If so you should consider the S4 not A4. Looking at resale value should help you make a decision.

Reply to
Dennis Wyatt

True.

Why? Buying a car is not an investment decision. Cars cost money, and the amount of marginal loss on the end of the life cycle of the car (life cycle as defined by the purchaser) will be very small in comparison to the original depreciation.

How a car drives, how it fits your driving style, and what your expectations of reliability are make much more difference.

E.P.

Reply to
Ed Pirrero

To a certain extent your second paragraph is true but when spending my own money I was as much back as possible when I sell on.

e.g. in the UK a Vauxhall Vectra or Ford Mondeo will loose approximately 50% of their initial purchase price in the first year alone. The A4 in comparison only looses around 30% and by the time it's 3 years old it's lost around 50% while the others are worth about 25% of their initial price. The GM and Ford products aren't even that much cheaper once you've spec'd up the car the way you want it.

So I end up with a better built car that is maybe not quite as nice to drive as a Mondeo but will be worth substantially more when I sell it.

Dave

Reply to
Dave

Yes, but you might have paid more for it in the first place so the actual depreciation might not be much different. i.e. 75% of 17k is

12.75k, 50% of 25k is 12.5k. It's the actual cash that counts, not the %age depreciation.
Reply to
news

So, under your definition of life cycle, the price difference means something. I don't look to sell my cars. I look to *drive* them. And will drive them until their resale value is about 5-10% of the orginal purchase price. And at that resale value level, there is really not much difference.

E.P.

Reply to
Ed Pirrero

The message from "Ed Pirrero" contains these words:

Why stop then? I run 'em into the ground - when I've finished you can't even give 'em away.

Reply to
Guy King

You should try to time their demise so they die on the lot. These days if you can just get the smoldering hulk to the dealer the marque will toss in at least a grand extra off the price of a new vehicle, even if the old one is destined to the crusher...

Cheers

/daytripper '00 s4 6spd

Reply to
daytripper

The message from daytripper contains these words:

Dealer? I've never bought a car from a dealer and I don't intend to start now! Then again I've never taken a car to a garage apart from for tyres and exhausts.

Reply to
Guy King

I've found that the last six months of the life of a car is often the time you seem to MOST need a reliable vehicle. And that last six months is when it really heads downhill.

:)

So I try and get rid of the thing BEFORE it has that slide into the automotive grave, but after I've gotten the best years of its life out of it.

My Audis seem to reach about 250-300k before I take $800-$2000 for them. :)

E.P.

Reply to
Ed Pirrero

The message from "Ed Pirrero" contains these words:

That's about where I come /in/!

Reply to
Guy King

MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.