Is a second-hand Audi A4 a good buy?

Hi, I've been looking at upgrading my car and have been looking at Audi A4 around 2005/2006. They are all quite high mileage but is this something I need to be concerned about? I have been looking at this one, which seems a good deal and has 79,000 miles on the clock - what do you think? I do roughly 5-7,000 miles per year so not too worried about fuel costs. Is there anything else I should watch out for or take into account?

Ciaran Reid (Mulhuddart)

Feb 2011 Filed under: choosing used car

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Expert answer

Hi Ciaran,

There were a lot of used Audi A4s brought into Ireland over the last few years, mainly by personal import. I remember seeing a statistic at the time stating that there were more used Audis being imported into Ireland than there were new Audis being sold. The quality of these imported cars varied quite a lot. Two members of my own family bought cars from the years that you mention and while they have been fine, when something does go wrong (through wear and tear) the costs of parts can be pricey. 

The car you have shown us is petrol powered, which might make it tricky to sell on again, especially since you will probably reach 100,000 miles reasonably soon in it. It has had three owners too in quite a short space of time, so I would want a full history check done on the car and I'd want to know if there have been any problems. 

I think if everything checks out on that car then you could be on to a winner, although I would probably be inclined to look at a diesel with slightly higher miles because resale value might be better. 

Hope that's of help

Complete Car Adviser