First Used car: Audi A3

[rajatQ2]

Hey All,
I'm about to trade in my 04 RSX-S for a 2006 A3 Sport. I always get valuable input from the guys on this forum!

So, here is the deal. I bought my RSX type S for 21k in July 04. It now has 37k miles on it, three door dings (no rust) and a scratch on the bumper. It has been meticulously maintained and I have 85% of the maintenance receipts. If I find time, i'll get the body work done.

The A3 I want is from a dealer in Boston, and is going for 27,900 with 6k miles on it. I'm pretty pleased with the features on the car, though if I could find a "Premium" package rather than the sport package, i'd pay more for that.

The dealer offered me 13.5-14k for my trade in (without even looking at it, just off galves.com). I'm pretty disappointed with that price and I want to close the price difference more.

What are my options? How good is his pricing? SPANKS

[ski]

I have been told by several people that the RSX fetches high resale prices now that Acura stopped making them. When I was shopping for them last year, I saw '05 RSX-S models with 25k-ish miles going for $18k. I think you can get at least $15k for it. You might want to explore private selling too just to see if there would be a bigger yield, but I think if you scout around, you might be able to come back with some figures that other people are willing to pay for it that might sway the dealer to give you a better offer.

One guy even told me that his brother had an '06 with 10k miles on it, and wanted to trade it in for a new 350z. The guy gave him the full amount the brother had paid for the RSX new as the trade-in because the dealer wanted to get his hands on one while he could. So this guy kinda drove it for 10k miles for free. I ended up buying an '06 RSX (base) and whether or not that was an extreme case, it makes me take care of it better, which I should be doing anyway :)

[JaQnAbOx]

you can probably get more $ for it from a private buyer. a private buyer will usually pay more than a dealer would buy your car for and pay less than what they could get from a dealer.

[JaQnAbOx]

they dealer probably doesnt really care about the scratches or dings, most dealers have a repair shop that can make it "look new/fixed" for a pretty cheap price. As for keeping records/logs, i think you have a better chance of using that as a selling point to a private party. It shows that you were responsible with your car and that it was well taken care of.

[Prngr44]

The only downside of selling to a private seller is the hassle. People don't show up... people say they're going to buy it then never show up with the $$.

You'll almost always get more from a private individual but it can be a pain in the ass to deal with.

[Cubsfan]

The only downside of selling to a private seller is the hassle. People don't show up... people say they're going to buy it then never show up with the $$.

You'll almost always get more from a private individual but it can be a pain in the ass to deal with.

Plus the fact that you are almost guaranteed to end up with 2 loans or no car for some period of time.

[JaQnAbOx]

as always... time=money your call...

[rajatQ2]

SH!!!

I left a $500 deposit on this 06 Audi A3 premium. I got a pretty good deal but i keep feeling like i'm getting screwed.

link:
http://www.westwoodautomall.com/used_vehicle_details.htm?vehicleId=a0fa833c4046381e00f0bca11afe32fb

I finally paid 23.5k for it, which is a pretty solid deal, but the shady manager of the store kept insisting he was marking the car down from 24.9, not 23.9 as is shown on their web page. So I got $400 off of list, which sucks.

But its still an awesome price for the car. I had it inspected by Audi for $120 and they said everything checks out.

The car has three owners since 2005 when it was purchased. That worries me and I don't quite understand. Anyhow, i'm far enough along, and this car is better than anything else i've been able to find. I'm just gonna go for it, and hope that the warranty will cover any problems i may have.

[LPMiller]

3 owners in 12 thousand miles? I smell lemons in the air. Can you look up it's service records on the VIN?

[rajatQ2]

wierd, no?
check the carfax:
http://www.hindoogle.com/img/carfax.jpg
See two "New owner reported"
but see only one "Purchase reported"

The dealer says that that indicates, per massachusetts law, that the owner moved or transferred the title to a family member. I dunno....

[InfiniteNothing]

Why does no one want this car?

[LPMiller]

it was built on an ancient indian parkinglot.

[Jeffbx]

Maybe it was once parked by a valet with really bad B.O.

[rajatQ2]

Hotness has arrived!
http://www.hindoogle.com/img/audi2.jpg