Friend's dad, an uncertified dealer, has been working on cars for a very long time. Attends car auctions and sold a BMW 3-series to one of my friends, and some other Audi A4 to another. What they were able to find me was:

1998 Audi A4 1.8T Quattro 5 Speed
Sports Edition? - Silver Exterior, Black Leather Interior
Angel Eye Lights
99K Miles

Asking price: $5,900; w/ warranty $6,900**

**Warranty details still unspecified except for 1 year

So... Does that sound like a good deal?
[hr]Other Questions:
Should I be concerned there's that many miles on it already?
Would a car with this many miles likely have many problems such as the timing belt and control arms already fixed?
What is the likeliness the car won't reach 200K+ miles?
What questions should I ask next time I see them?

Thanks in advance.

 

if u really like the car get it with the waranty so if anythign does go wrong its not effecting your pocket

 

thats a really good deal. usually those cars fall in the $7-8K range. take the warranty, and gimme this guys number

find out how old and what condition the turbo is in. general condition of the car? anything over "very good condition" is a keeper in this case.find out all the service intervals up to 90K miles and ask what has been done with this one. get as many records as you can. the less records you can score, the less "warm & fuzzy" I would feel about buyingthis car.

 

i'll sell u this one for 4800 obo !! timing belt has already been done, water pump too.. 80 k on motor. check it out.

http://audizine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=149876

 

Thanks for the advice nuadi90.

For now, it's really just a matter of the warranty details and how much the maintanance may cost me over time. And I really just gotta get a car fax for it and I think I could get it.

And to loejsirrah, I would probably take that if you weren't across the country haha.

 

i'm sure we can work something out. real talk...

 

shoot man. i'd even drive it to you man. as long as it's a sure sale.

 

Haha well I'll see how this deal works out.
Cuz I'm sure my mom would be happy with the 20k less.

 

Few more questions...

I'm 17 years old but financially pretty stable (thanks to the rents)
Would it be wise for me to buy this kind of car at this age?
Am I likely to run into any major replacements that'll come outta my pocket? (Since we're still unsure about the warranty details)

And...

Yesterday we had to go to Motorworld (car dealership in our area) to get maintanance on the Sienna mini van (what I drive now = [ ) and some Toyota guy really talked my mom outta the Audi.
But yeah, my dad said when I graduated he'd buy me a new car. He was showing my mom the only car I was partly interested in, a Scion TC.
So the question is, should I wait a year to get a brand new TC or would this Audi A4 really be worth the time? I really like the uniqueness I'll get out of the Audi but the TC is likely to be more financially safer.

 

Okay here it is: If you have the physical tools (wrenches, etc), the patience and the general intuitive nature of someone who wants to truly know how your car works and are willing to dive in to learn how your car works and save money on repairs, get the Audi. However, if you just want a reliable ride that you will not have to mess with too much, wait for the Scion. In my opinion, the Audi is a "better" car, but like a high maintenance girlfriend, yeah she is hot in the sack, but it comes at a price. Also, Audi's are not the cheapest cars in terms of replacement parts. A Scion, on the other hand, would be much more affordable.
My opinion? I was 17 ten years ago, and I can honestly say if I had my older Audi then, I would have ruined it because I wasn't ready yet. I am not saying you are not ready, but just understand you are adding a nice heaping dose of responsibility on an already pretty full plate (17 is a busy age!)
So good luck, and remember what I tell myself, there will always be a nice Audi waiting for you when the time is right!