Audi A6

You will need deep pockets to run it and if anything much goes wrong be prepared to scrap it. cambelt job is 750 quid upwards

That was one of my concerns, hence the intention to check the timing belt history when I look at the car.

The last 5 cars I've bought for me and other people have all been there or higher! Two are now at over 200k and one of them is a Discovery(!)

I'd be doing my research on the autobox and transfer boxes at that age (dunno much about VWs) although I presume it must be well and truly at take-a-punt banger money at 18 years old.

What I can find implies that the transmissions are pretty bullet-proof, although I cannot find much info. about that particular model, it is fairly rare. The seller says, and I have no reason to doubt him, that he has recently put £2000 into it, and wants to get that back. Autotrader says it's too rare to be able to value!

A while back I saw a Hillman Imp with 250,000 on the clock. Most imps didn't make it to 50,000

Worth a look here, perhaps?

The trouble with cars not made in large quantities is that the lack of them on the street equates to a lack of knowledge among both mechanics and forum-dwellers. It also makes getting hold of parts harder. Both of which makes looking after such cars at a sensible price trickier.

My only recollection about VW 4WDs is that there's two systems - one reliable, one less so. But damned if I can remember any details!

I wonder what the breakdown of that is? £2000 of assorted niggly jobs a responsible owner would spent keeping it up together or £2000 to for a single humgrummet that's failed *again*!

I had a shufti at eBay and was surprised at the money late 90s A6s were up for. None the 4.2, but £2k-£3k for 2.4s and the like. Seems crazy money to me.

That is, in fact, quite encouraging.

Thanks.

Agreed.

The DSG, the double-clutch, was discontinued, so that may be the one that you remember as not-good.

I'll be asking all these sorts of questions when I go to look at the car next week.

I also found some high prices, such as £3,500 for a car the same as this one, but a couple of years younger.

If it is as sound as it is said to be, and the current owner lives about three miles from me, then it might be worth going for, for £2500 or less. I might get the RAC to check it out first, but I have never had one of those pre-checks done.

Absolutely no way to put a value on car from the buyer's point of view. Start from the basis of the car being properly maintained, and work down from there. And large expensive cars costs just as much to maintain properly new or old. It's just that those maintenance costs become more significant relative to the value. So they are often neglected.

It's also too old and too high miles. So must be valued on the actual condition, rather than 'book'. It's really in banger territory. Leave it another few years until they become very rare, and prices will rise.

Maybe buy it, run it, and if something expensive happens, SORN it and wait a few years. I have a place to store it if that happens.

It is tempting...

Just looked at the MOT history. It seems to have had an early problem with balljoints having play, and more recently has had fails with the emissions tests for CO, which have then been fixed. Might be a Miss, after all.

Nice car, but obviously it's complex and parts will be pricey. It would be nice if you could lay your hands on a copy of VCDS to scan it.

Very tempting if it's cheap enough, with the proviso that you may end up breaking it...

IIRC the front suspension is quite complex and balljoints a bit of a weak spot.

You're probably thinking of Synchro vs true quattro. Sychro as fitted to Golf II is probably a bit less robust and generally went with a transverse engine. True quattro well-proven, and I think we'll be dealing with that here. Sychro was primarily FWD with (IIRC) a viscous clutch to drive the back if the front lost grip.

Yes, indeed. But this one does seem to have had balljoint history, and if it continues to have CO trouble, it could get very expensive. I think I'm going to pass on it, reluctantly, but prudently.

Thanks for thoughts.

It could have made a nice Hoonicorn replica at low cost.

Plenty cars may need ball joint replacement at some point in their life. BMW with their fluid cushioned type for one. And engine sensors can fail too - resulting in poor emissions.

If you want a car which isn't going to cost anything in repairs, you'd do best to buy new with a good warranty.

A way I thought about it recently was to buy a car that won't depreciate a great deal. Put that 'saving' into a sinking fund for repairs, or a used warranty if it's new enough.

The saving obviously only applies if you'd ruled out a newish car in the first place.