hey there, im truly serious about a Blue S4 that is located in Palm Beach Florida but I have no way to check it out. My gramps is too old to drive the 100+ miles (plus that's just morally worng to have him do that) and I live over on the west coast. Is there anyone that is willing to check out a sweet S4 in that area. please let me know. what's in it for them... besides driving a sweet ride with mods... um... I might give you 50 bucks, if im confident in your analysis and description of the ride. another 50 dollar bonus for extra pics and video footage perfered if the seller is ok with it of course.

who's willing to help in the 33480 area.... check the S4's out on Autotrader.com. listed at 27k$

thanks,

-Zach (San Diego)

 

hey man i lve in west palm beach and might be able to check it out bro but 27k ? is it a b5 ? and gimme the specs on the car i have a stage 3 minus b5 s4 btw

 

what the stage 3 MINUS? here is the autotrader link

http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.js...p;cardist=1461

or go to autotrader.com. search 2005 S4 blue in the 33480 Palm beach area.
All the specs will be on that link. let me know what you think and if you are interested in checking it out. thanks for the thought bud,

-Zach

 

Having someone else "go and drive" your car is not the best way to go about purchasing a "sight unseen" vehicle. You need to find the town that the car is being sold in. Look up on yp.yahoo.com (yellow pages) "Audi Dealerships" within that / or near the zip code. Once you find one contact the owner and as if he/she can drive the car to get a Third Party Inspection done on the car. If they refuse, don't buy the car, normally something is wrong. Call the Audi Dealership, tell them your dilemma, that you can't be there. Set an appointment. A full inspection will run you $199.95. Have the Audi dealership fax you the information. This is the safest way to purchase ANY vehicle. Dealerships go about buying cars this way. Got any questions, just ask.

 

WEll...with that said... he still could have someone look at it and if its even worth his time to consider it..id do the third party inspection after he decides if its something he actually wants...

 

obviously i know it's not the most IDEAL method of buying a vehicle, but thanks for letting me know just in case you thought I was stupid. Im just trying to save 4k$ dollars buy buying out of state. guess i should go with a dealership and not a private seller if i take the out of state buying approach. thanks for suggesting that I have an Audi dealership inspect the vehicle, that was new to me.

-future DOCTOR!

 

woohoo, i just hit first gear membership status.

 

I am not saying that you HAVE to buy through a dealership. Private Party is just fine. I have been told if it is private/dealership, close to you / or across the country, the safest way of knowing everything is to get the inspection. I just had an inspection on my 2001.5 Brilliant Black S4, it was a 130-point inspection (It was a local car). Also if have you factored in the "extra" costs of ordering a car out of state? I went after a S4 a couple of months ago and ended turning down the offer when I factored in the other costs. Two options: fly there (airline cost) and drive back (gas $$$ $4.00 a gallon, hotel / motel, and time, food), not to mention the wear and tear of 2500-3000 miles. Or option two: Have it shipped to you (Open trailer / exposed to the elements $1500 - 2000 country wide. Enclosed trailer $2000 - 2500. Plus shipping insurance on the vehicle. Those shipping quotes were from when I was going to get a S4 in Chicago, Illinois and ship it to Portland, Oregon. I would recommend sticking to a local car, I KNOW California HAS A LOT of S4's. : ) But I know you are up to making your own decisions.

 

thanks man, ya i see your point. I thought shipping might be 1,500$ tops. that's the only way id go but then again, the country ride would be nice too. ya, that would add 2,000+ miles lol. not COOL! Ive found a bunch in california and in the san deigo or bay area but they seem to be priced about 5-8 grand more then the S4's out of state. any who, have a great weekend bud,

-Zach

 

Zac,

Let me give you my .02. First, I am flying to the bay area to pick up my S4 next weekend -- this will be the second time I have flown to California to buy a car and it worked out well the first time, hopefully it will go the same way the second time around (knock on wood .

Call the dealer and give them the VIN, have them print off all of the vehicle records they have and send them to you. California seems to be lame about giving you information regarding someone else's vehicle without their consent so you may have to have the current owner release the records to you. I just contacted my local Audi dealership -- they just gave me the records. Request lots of pictures. The last thing you should do is run a carfax since it is going to run you a few $$.

With regard to the inspection, I think it's a god idea, but if you know where the faulty points on these cars are, you can be your own inspector. I usually tell the seller that I am flying out with the intent to buy the car, but I make no commitments. I leave the deal open and tell them if I find anything on the car was misrepresented or damaged, then I will hop on the next flight back home and not buy the car. Honestly, if you ask lots of questions and have a few conversations with the person, you can get a pretty good feel if the car is being represented accurately. When you fly out, spend plenty of time test driving the car, look under the hood, look at the typical problem areas (ie. 1st-2nd gear shifts, if B5 listen to the turbos, check the LCD on the instrument cluster, etc...)

Lastly, flying out and driving back is kind of fun. I live in Denver, so granted, the drive across Nevada is kind of boring, but the trip itself is a good time. I disagree with only buying locally, you open up your options a ton by looking online and you have to potential to get some great deals. For me, the cost is about $140 for 1-way ticket to the bay area, $150-$200 for gas and throw in $50 for some food and crap on the way. Less than $500 bucks easy and it's a 1200 mile drive. Yes, wear and tear on the car, but it's all highway and it gives you a chance to drive your car for a couple of days.

Hope this helps.