Johnny11,
I bought my saloon on a 52 plate this time last year so hopefully prices are roughly consistent with what your are looking at now. My personal opinion is the price is reasonable although I do think there is a degree of room to manouvre. I bought my saloon with a few more miles on for £3k less than that although it was in desperate need of new tyres on the front plus the front disks were warped which I agreed to pay for.
Again this was all done in the 11th hour when I was ready to do the deal rather than my general enquiries before hand. From personal experience once you start negotiations to sign on the dotted line then you are likely to get more movement out of them.
I've also found that high volume retailers (the likes of Ford, Nissan, etc) are always happier to knock money off cars where as the high end manufacturers (BMW, Audi, etc) don't like to discount too much as I guess they want to support the 2nd hand values.
Is the car local to you? then if so it might be easier to pay 'near' the asking price but get extra's out of them rather than straight cash. For example it might be more conveniant to get a second years warranty out of them plus a free service and things like a boot mat, etc as these all appear on different budgets and are cheaper to Audi because they obviously only pay cost on labour etc. Either way ask to see the delivery report which Audi fill in when they receive p/x or stock cars to verify if there are any problems (DRC, tyre depth, etc).
This all might sound obvious but maybe a few points worth bearing in mind. Sometimes a good deal can be too good to be true where as other times it's just a case of being in the right place at the right time - I've experienced both and without the benefit of hindsight it's difficult to know which is which at the time.
Finally if you're thinking of modifying your car at anytime you might also want to contemplate buying one that has already been done. Tuning is an expensive hobby and most of the time owners don't see any return on all the hard earned £'s they've put in upgrading the cars performance. In some cases it can even put potential purchasers off so a deal can be had. Either way you can have fun at somebodies elses expense.
As bogie says, if you're interested then pay the deposit and agree the timescales of the purchase. If you've not seen the car then agree to pay a deposit that is refundable if you're not happy with what you see. No salesman worth his salt is going to turn down dosh especially this time of year when Xmas bonus are to be had. Even if you completed the deal in January they would most likely back date it into Decembers figures.
Rich.
SteveH wrote:
Personally I would not be put off in any way by mileage on the RS6, they are more than capable of swallowing the mileage without issue; and as for "showing" its mileage, I have put my "High Miler" side by side with a considerably lower mileage car to be told by the owner in his opinion how much fresher my car appeared both inside and out (Hello Rich

).
Yes I can vouch for that ... after Dave (aka JITB) had waved his magic wand over your car it was in exemplary condition ... and by no means do I mean that as a derogatory remark against my own as can by testified by other members of the board who have seen it in the flesh. To a certain degree this has prompted my purchase of a PorterCable and similar polish products to what Dave used on your (Steve's) car so with a thick slice of Dave's advice and admittedly with only a sprinkling of experience I hope to get a similar result doing it myself.
In general the pearlescant paintwork on the RS6 is a very good finish and keeps it's lustre well. If you see one that is looking tired inside or out then I'd be tempted to walk away. Most RS6's have been bought by enthusiasts and treated with reflective amounts of attention in their maintenance. When you see a good one they really do gleam and look mint. Similarly the interior remains fresh looking with minimal attention.
In many ways this is what prompted me to put the private plate on not for any vanity reasons but purely to hide the age ... Joe Public would never guess it was 4 years old to see it in the flesh.
SteveH wrote:
Personally I would expect more of a "road rash" on the paintwork of higher mileage cars, but when a group of us met down south earlier in the year it was intreresting that the same parts of the car had nearly identical road rash such as the rear wings above the factory fitted protection, regardless of it being a 15,000 mile car or 40,000 mile car.
Road rash on the front and rear wheel arches is common. I've also got a few scuff marks on the door sills from shoes being dragged across them. Heard an interesting theory about the cause of this road rash over the weekend.
SteveH wrote:
My rule is, if you get it, drive it as often as you can and forget about the mileage! No point in buying an RS6 just to have it looking pretty in the garage or on the drive or pottering about on short trips to town, if you want to do that, then buy an Aston Martin!
As long as you budget for the running costs, I dont think that anyone has bought an RS6 and regretted it.
Again agree with your sentiments Steve ... use the car for what it was designed and enjoy the experience. Regardless of mileage of I always felt as if I've been right royally shafted each and every time I've come to part exchange or sell a car. I see mileage as a tool for making the car more saleable. In fact when I bought my car I deliberately looked for a car over the 40k miles mark to ensure someone else had picked up the bill for the cam belt change.
Anyway, enough rambling for the time being.
Rich.