http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/mld/cto/4676206831.html
$4100 for an '02 S6 with 197k. Now, say I just wanted to get through the winter, before I get orders to another part of the US. Does this get me through until June, when I can gently push it off a cliff and forget I ever owned it?
Run like the berkeleying wind!!
If it doesn't eat you alive, you'll love it. It will probably eat you alive. I'm not sure I've ever seen a VAG product from that era being sold for a reason other than the owner was fed up with it. When they work they are fantastic and you keep them forever. When they don't you curse and cry and send them off to live with some other poor bastard.
A V8 Audi... with nearly 200K miles... holy sh1t that's a lot of gas ...those get MPG in the low-mid teens. The S4 version (pretty much the same engine, smaller car) had the dubious distinction of having the lowest MPG of any compact car sold at the time.
For the me, the automatic makes it an instant "no go" but otherwise I can't disagree with that's been posted. It's a gamble... maybe you'll win... maybe you won't. Do you feel lucky? 
The_Jed wrote: Run like the berkeleying wind!!
This can NOT BE STRESSED ENOUGH. I love audis. But until I am earning six figures and getting someone to do the work for me, berkeley that noise.
My s4 cost me an arm and a leg and I basically didnt drive it :(
The s6 avant is the holy grail of wagons in my book. That being said- your legs should be doing the cartoony roadrunner spinning Running thing to get away from it. Though I have to wonder what's left to go on one with that kind of mileage.
Wait, wait, wait- are you saying they might have the very most minor reliability issues?
That's like the batE36 M3 crazy supermodel of the station wagon world.
I would gamble that you can make it to June if you get a ppi and nothing major shows up.
Teh E36 M3 wrote: Wait, wait, wait- are you saying they might have the very most minor reliability issues?
Nope. They'd make an ls400 look like a biturbo in comparison.
In reply to Datsun1500: He may have spent a lot of money each year to keep it running.
My dad has an '88 Range Rover with well over 200k miles on it. Doesn't mean it was anywhere near reliable.
My GS430 has 250k miles on it and has swallowed about 1/30th of the repair costs in that time. Looks and runs great, too.
High mileage does not mean reliable. Just means someone was willing to keep it going.
Because everywhere else gets basic diesel models. We get a rolling computer...
The Audi may work out ok. That era was pretty good for the V8 and most of the eletrical gremlins should have been slain by now. Get a service hisory and PPI. Make sure the t-belt is up to date and the trans fluid isn't burned.
Datsun1500 wrote: How come Range Rovers are reliable everywhere except the USA?
Because they get the Defender which has had over 50 years of refining.
So it's a V8 Allroad without the extra complexity of a fancy air suspension system or turbos to fail. I say go for it, mileage will be less than stellar but you know that already. Buy it and have fun!
KyAllroad wrote: Buy it and have fun!
And start a "living with..." thread over in the Projects forum - so you can either prove us wrong or listen to us say "I told ya so!" 
Datsun1500 wrote: How come Range Rovers are reliable everywhere except the USA?
Says who? You might be confusing "Range Rover" with "Land Rover" which are two completely different things.
I promise my dad's maintenance was not suspect and his mechanic was top notch. The pricing - and the other vehicles in his shop - reflected that.
Teh E36 M3 wrote: ...when I can gently push it off a cliff and forget I ever owned it?
Well, that's about the only way you'd get it off that cliff, 'cause you sure as hell won't be able to drive it off...and I doubt you'll push it gently. In fact, you may even want to follow it off after owning it for several months.
Otherwise, it's an awesome looking car.
dculberson wrote:Datsun1500 wrote: How come Range Rovers are reliable everywhere except the USA?Says who? You might be confusing "Range Rover" with "Land Rover" which are two completely different things. I promise my dad's maintenance was not suspect and his mechanic was top notch. The pricing - and the other vehicles in his shop - reflected that.
For a start all Range Rovers are Land Rovers, but not all Land Rovers are Range Rovers. Back int he day Land Rover was the model. Now Land Rover is the brand which makes the Defender (the old Land Rover), the Freelander, the Discovery, the Range Rover Evoque, the Range Rover Sport and the straight Range Rover.
Now reliability. We've been through this before. Just about every European brand is seem as unreliable over here is seen as reliable over in Europe. I don't know why, maybe people expect to maintain a car over there better than they do over here. But over there American cars are seen as cheap and E36 M3ty quality known for falling apart and with unreliable mechanicals. I’ve been gone way too long to know.
BTW to the OP, I'm in the 'do it' camp, but it's not my money. I will say the people I know with VAG products from the late 90's through mid 00's love them and haven't had any wallet crippling issues, but they must be wrong because the internet is always right.
Thanks for the marquee / model lesson, I'm pretty sure I knew that since I've owned a few myself. But nobody calls a Defender "Range Rover," and vice versa.
Anyway, we've had this conversation before. The fact remains that - for whatever reason - these cars get a reputation. In my experience with several different models it's earned. And 200k miles on something is not evidence of reliability by itself. It's evidence of someone willing to put up with it long enough.
Teh E36 M3 wrote: http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/mld/cto/4676206831.html $4100 for an '02 S6 with 197k. Now, say I just wanted to get through the winter, before I get orders to another part of the US. Does this get me through until June, when I can gently push it off a cliff and forget I ever owned it?
I'd say Cameron owned the S6 and used Jack Stands to reach 200k.
I say have a PPI done and go for it. I am thinking worst case senario is that something breaks soon and then you are out 2k, which either goes to selling it off for 2k or having it fixed. I want one and would consider it if it were closer to me but I would have it as a 6th car so who am I to suggest.
Adrian_Thompson wrote: I don't know why, maybe people expect to maintain a car over there better than they do over here. But over there American cars are seen as cheap and E36 M3ty quality known for falling apart and with unreliable mechanicals. I’ve been gone way too long to know.
Off topic, but I had a British friend of mine bring a recently-acquired old 4Runner over for some simple maintenance, and he told me he didn't know much about cars and wasn't very handy. I was amazed when he still knew how to check the oil and told me (correctly) it was a tad low, but didn't need any added. Apparently it's part of a driving exam over there to know how to check your oil.
unevolved wrote: Apparently it's part of a driving exam over there to know how to check your oil.
E36 M3, is it? I'm getting old, I either didn't know or had forgotten that was the case.
Teh E36 M3 wrote: http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/mld/cto/4676206831.html $4100 for an '02 S6 with 197k. Now, say I just wanted to get through the winter, before I get orders to another part of the US. Does this get me through until June, when I can gently push it off a cliff and forget I ever owned it?
I hope you've not stopped running yet.
That said, those motors are awesome. The cars themselves are very nice when they aren't making you their bitch.
So I propose buying a wrecked one, stripped the engine and combining it with a Locust-style chassis for ultimate fun and frivolities.
You'll need to log in to post.
