Hi I’m 18 years old and work a lot as-well as having a love for Audi’s especially A7s I would love to buy a 2012 A7 off a auction site like Copart with just scratches and dents but was wondering if an A7 with around 130,000-150,000 miles will cost too much to maintain or repair when things go wrong? I absolutely love A7s but I’m wondering if it’s practical to buy one or if I should be looking into something else? Thank you for your time!
Ye$, it will co$t a LOT of money for $ervice.
Copart auction car$ that have been “totaled” by in$urance companie$. You will not get one with just $cratche$ and dent$ that i$n’t a flood car. Flood cars are a HUGE ri$k, e$pecially one$ with lots of electronic$ like an A7.
And buying a car from Copart will apply a salvage title to the car making it cheaper but a huge risk for you financially. You may have trouble in$uring (the $upercharged V6 won’t help either) it or even licen$ing the car.
Notice the many hints ($) I left you. Don’t, just don’t.
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I don’t want to assume too much about your job description, your income level, or your housing and food expenses, but I suspect that your income would not allow you to keep-up with the maintenance & repair costs on a 10 year old European-made car.
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I didn’t realize that Copart dealt in flood cars. 
Yikes!
Nobody in his/her right mind would knowingly buy a former flood car.
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You’d be surprised! Copart is great for race cars. If the airbags popped, so what? Race cars must have them removed anyway. Street cars…well… you really need to know what you are buying and have the financial ability to escape if it all goes upside down.
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So would something like an A4 be more practical from around the same year or should I just avoid Audi’s completely?
I don’t claim to be any kind of expert on Audis, but I would counsel anyone and everyone to avoid buying ANY 10 year old European vehicle unless he/she is sitting on a BIG nest egg of cash for maintenance and repairs.
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Your 18 , the insurance for any European sport type vehicle is going to be outrageous . The average person has no business buying from an auction site like Copart . Even good mechanics can get stung doing that.
Edit : What happened to the A4 in your other post ? It had problems and now you want to do that again ?
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The question about the A4 was for a friend that owned it thanks for the response really appreciate it!
Well, to be fair, Copart and other similar auctioneers do sell older low-value cars with minimal damage. For example, I have seen such models as the Ford Escort, Dodge Shadow, Chevrolet Cavalier, etc offered for sale on the local Copart site, and often times they appear to be unwanted dealer trade-ins. Some of these cars even say “runs and drives” in the description. They even come with a regular title.
But yes, you are correct that anything worth more than $3k, and/or any luxury cars such as the Audi A7 being contemplated have major problems, and would be a bad bet even if given to you for free.
Co-part does have a few A7’s with clean titles, one with about 154K on the clock, if the particular yard is close to you as long as you’re a registered member you can walk around the yard ad look at the car in the flesh and start it up.
Those are the cars I’m looking at I’ve been watching other auction sites but would a 130k mile clean title A7 be a terrible buy if I couldn’t see it? I understand that there is some risk when purchasing it but is it a terrible risk?
Yes , unless you have 5 or 6 thousand in your savings account for repairs .
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No worse probably than buying from a random used car lot, I’d ask the local german specialist what sort of problems await at that mileage, would be better if you had some idea of the service history. You do take a risk if you buy any used european brand without some sort of inspection.
What about the ‘can’t see it’ aspect? I’d have to have a close look before I put my money into a risky car like this.
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It’d want an inspection as well but if you’re buying sight unseen and shipping it to you it’s unknown how good the car really is until it arrives.
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Oh yes it is worse.
Copart buys used cars from auction. These are cars a dealer took in trade and decided they did not want to sell. Why not? The dealer decided they could not make money from them because they have issues. Cars with issues get auctioned. Cars that can make the dealer money are retained.
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For the average buyer, it will cost one third more to own an A7 instead of an Acura RDX for 5 years. It would be two thirds more than a Camry. The A4 vs an Acura ILX is about one third more and an A4 is about two thirds more than a Corolla. My source is the True Cost to Own feature at edmunds.com for 2016 cars. That is the oldest MY they estimate. I will quote one cost: they estimate $42,000 for maintenance, repairs, insurance and fuel for the A7. For a 20112 that cost would probably be higher because of added repairs on an older car. Because of your age, you could add several thousand more for insurance if you register the car in your name. If your parents register it, you can save a lot on insurance.
Cool car, lots of civilized extras for the driver to bask in. However, common repairs will generally cost more than compared to a widely sold econobox like a Honda Civic.
2012 Audi A7 water pump replacement
Parts: $290 (main pump), $572 (aux pump)
Labor: 2.2 hours (main pump), 1.2 hours (aux pump)
No idea what the aux water pump is for, but if it breaks, gonna be pretty expensive to fix.
2012 Honda Civic water pump replacement
Part: $136
Labor: 1.8 hours
& no aux water pump to worry about.
A neighbor of mine had an A8 (I think), ended up giving it away to his mechanic gratis b/c fixing the dashboard control panel was more than the car was worth. Ever hear that phrase “Choose your poison?” If you’re up to the expenses, and know what you’re looking at, go for it. You only live once. And you’re only 18 once.
Aux pump is for the Intercooler, according to the VW parts catalog I just checked.
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