I say jump on this. BB retail value on this car with that low of a mileage is close to 8 grand, what you save in not paying retail (especially with the little S4 extras) you can put towards the maintenance, such as getting the synchros fixed, a timing belt swap, new radio and some some Audi reps as suggested by witwer. The 2.8 is a way reliable car when properly taken care of; regular oil changes, keeping on top of things like the timing belt, and other routine maintenance just like any other car. The Quattro is a dream, especially in wet conditions, and its just all around a stylin' car in general.

As for the bad resale you noticed, you have to consider, 1998 wasn't yesterday. B5s are anywhere from 7-13 years old, and if most of your other Audis that you were comparing to were high mileage, thats a factor as well. Like I said before, BB value for a 98 with that low of mileage is closer to 8k so it's actually a pretty reasonable resale value for that old of a car, all the other ones that were around the same asking price of this one were probably higher mileage or had more major problems than a synchro issue and lack of radio.

Like alexroyal said, please buy it

 

That is nice man. Is it me or is that a low price to fix a syncro? I mean I must get ripped on quotes around here or something. Anyhow, if the timing belt was replaced and there are no typical oil leaks (cam) then I would jump on it as well. Really timing belt job can hit $500 to $1,400 all on where you go, or get a Bentley and tackle that sob yourself and save the money to get rid of those dubs.