If you’re going to go shopping for a cheap used car, you had better know what you’re looking at. Lots of cars seem like screaming deals, unless you know cars. If you’re looking for an all-wheel-drive wagon, today’s contestants might catch your eye – but either one is very much a case of “buyer beware.”
Yesterday’s cars had proven themselves over a whole lot of miles, and the sellers vouched for their ability to go a whole lot more. There wasn’t a strong consensus one way or the other on the vote, but the Corvette did come out a bit ahead. Had the BMW been a manual, it sounds like the vote might have gone the other way.
I think I’d give an edge to the Corvette as well. The BMW is from the right era, but it’s the wrong spec. Besides, I have been a fan of the C4 Corvette ever since I first saw one, especially these early ones before Chevy ruined it with a facelift. (Yeah, I said it.) And having driven one with a 4+3 manual and one with an automatic, I prefer the automatic. (Yeah, I said that too.)
Most of us who know about cars have had the cringe-inducing moment when a friend or relative shows up in a new or new-to-them car, and you know it’s a disaster waiting to happen. You try to be happy for them, but you know what’s coming, and you know you’re going to get asked to help when it happens. If only they had asked your opinion beforehand, but it’s too late now. Today’s cars aren’t the very worst things for someone you care about to show up in, but they’re definitely on the list. Let’s check them out and see which one is a less bad idea.
2002 Audi Allroad Quattro – $4,000
Engine/drivetrain: Twin-turbocharged 2.7-liter DOHC V6, six-speed manual, AWD
Location: Woodinville, WA
Odometer reading: 142,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives well
Audis are wonderful cars to drive, especially the models equipped with Quattro all-wheel-drive and manual transmissions. If you’ve never driven one, I highly recommend it. But they’re also complicated beasts, and got more complicated as time went on. While there’s not much to go wrong with an ’80s 4000S Quattro, this A6 Allroad Quattro is an entirely different proposition.
This car is powered by a 2.7-liter twin-turbo V6, driving all four wheels through a six-speed manual gearbox with a low range. It also has adjustable air suspension that can either raise the car up for extra ground clearance off road, or lower it down to tackle the curves. It’s an incredibly cool setup, but it is also a nightmare to take care of and repair, and not without its problems. Both the engine and the air suspension system have lots of known failure points. Even die-hard Audi enthusiasts shy away from these things. This one, however, has had a bunch of recent work, and the seller says it runs as it should, and the suspension works flawlessly. For now.
As you would expect, it’s absolutely loaded with features – at least by early 2000s standards. It has power everything, nice leather seats, a big sunroof, and more. And, according to the seller at least, all the power stuff works. That’s saying something for any car this age, but especially a VW/Audi product. The driver’s seat shows some heavy wear, but most of the rest of it looks nice.
The Allroad Quattro, along with the Subaru Outback, kicked off the whole “add fender flares to a wagon to make it look tough and off-roady” trend that still continues today. At least they aren’t flat black. This one has larger wheels from an Audi A8, and they look good on there. The seller polished the headlight lenses, too; no cloudiness here. It’s a car that might very well someday bite you in the ass, but as it sits, it actually seems like a decent deal.
2006 Jaguar X-Type Sportwagon – $2,500
Engine/drivetrain: 3.0-liter DOHC V6, five-speed automatic, AWD
Location: San Francisco, CA
Odometer reading: ad says 12,000(?)
Operational status: Runs and drives well
When the X-Type came out, hardcore Jaguar fans scoffed at it, calling it “not a real Jaguar” because of its Ford Mondeo mechanical roots. But since then, I imagine a lot of those fans have come to accept the X-Type, because as it turns out, its reliability and durability have been very Jaguar-like. Coolant leaks, transmission troubles, and that old British demon of electrical failures have all sidelined lots of X-Types.
The X-Type uses a Ford Duratec-derived V6, a five-speed automatic transmission, and a sophisticated all-wheel-drive system. You could also get a manual transmission, but they’re rare on this side of the Atlantic. I can’t tell you much about this one’s condition; the ad is maddeningly terse. And I doubt the mileage is listed correctly either; I can’t imagine this car only has 12,000 miles on it. The seller does say it “runs great,” but that’s all we get.
It’s definitely a Jaguar inside, with leather and wood everywhere, and an understated classiness that Jaguars have all had since time out of mind. It has the J-shaped gearshift gate that Jaguar introduced in the XJ6 years earlier; it’s meant to make manually-shifting the automatic easier. I’ve never tried it myself, so I can’t comment. There are some scuffs and bruises inside, and the headliner is falling down, but for a $2,500 car, it looks pretty good.
The X-Type’s body style looks good as a wagon, I will say that. I’m not fond of this one’s deeply tinted windows, but that’s removable if you want. It has a few bumps and bruises outside to match the ones inside, and the wheels have some curb rash, but it’s shiny, and it still has its all-important “leaper” hood ornament.
If you know how to fix stuff yourself, and you go into them with your eyes open, these are both pretty nice cars. But if you’re expecting Camry reliability, or don’t know which end of a torque wrench to hold, you’re probably in for some heartache. And if you do know about cars, and your non-car-person friend or sibling shows up with one of them, you know what you’re doing on the weekends for the foreseeable future. Which one do you reckon is more worth the potential hassle?
Wagon – Check
Brown – Check
Manual – Check
Hat trick for the Audi today.
I’ll take the Jaag every time. I just love the way it looks. The tint is dark enough to hide my stolen artwork (with thanks to Clarkson) from nosy onlookers and, hey, Ford reliability (really, is that a thing?).
I like both of these with the idea you have it towed directly to the nearest junkyard the first time you get stranded, saving you all the future headaches…
Even with the “interesting” shift boot, I’ll take the Allroad brown manual wagon. It looks decent and should be fun until it breaks in a month or so. The Jag ain’t bad, and I had a Mazda6 with the Duratec30 and it wasn’t terrible, but it has an autotragic, so the Audi wins,
I must be feeling particularly masochistic today, because that Audi is calling to me. Its siren song isn’t strong enough to make me travel across the country, but I’m thinking about it.
Owned a loaded ’96 Mercury Mystique with the Ford V6. A joy to drive. Only issue I had in the three years I had it was the moonroof motor gave out and that was fixed under warranty. Easy choice to pick the Jag today.
I went with the Audi, if only for nostalgia as my father had a 2.7T A6 that he dailied and did occasional track days. Until things started failing.
And then we learned that local VW customizer shops had figured out how to work VAG-COM, and sudden a bunch of lower priced VW parts became options for repairs. No more expensive Audi mechanics, we were hanging with the Vdubbers now.
I owned a Fusion with a Duratec. Great engine even if it had no power. My Brother-in-law had multiple early 2000s Audis and I want nothing to do with them. I’ll take the Jag.
As much as I liked the lower price of the Jag, that automatic transmission scares me too much to recommend it.
The Audi is a brown(ish) manual wagon, so Audi it is today!
Jaguar. I dislike automatics, but have driven a couple of X-Types and found them to be decent transportation. The design is pretty nice, too. If the mileage quoted is even close to accurate, this should give the new owner a lot of wheel time before anything major fails.
The Audi is also nifty, and I would have chosen it if not for the air suspension. A “plain” A6 Avant — or A4 — would get my vote every time. Less to go wrong.
Jag wag today. Maybe it’s laughable that it’s a FWD Ford with Jaguar-themed interior and exterior styling. But it wears it well.
This gen Audi Allroad never appealed to me. I find it kind of bland and cheap-looking, particularly the grey cladding. It wouldn’t be nice to walk out to, and it wouldn’t be worth putting a lot of money into when it breaks. A stick shift isn’t quite enough to sway me.
I just don’t have the energy for an Audi Allroad, so I’m going with the Jag. It’s also the devil that I kinda know. Owned more than a few Fords, including an AWD Fusion Sport – I imagine that this one probably has a very similar (if not identical) AWD system. As long as you change the fluid in the PTU with some regularity, you’ll be fine. The worst thing I ever encountered with that system was a propensity for uneven tire wear, othewise it was rock solid and got me through some unreasonably bad winter weather.
I’ve known a couple of owners of A6 Allroads and they were nothing but trouble although the owners also seemed to love them despite the expensive bills. I also know a couple of X Type owners and they also loved them and said they were cheap to run, so Jag it is.
If one could jam the suspension in fully raised position and get a year or two of use out of it the AUDI is the way to go.
I let the comments so far steer my vote. You’d better not steer me wrong, comments! I just picked a Jag because I don’t know any better!
The Jag Wagon is unusual and cheap. I’ll look kinda baller, then throw it away as soon as something breaks.
I’d normally be full-contrarian and go for the X-Type, but no.
It’s a decent transmogrification, it looks like a Jag and is equipped like one. But it’s also got that breaktacular reputation.
The Audi has that, as well, but it’s legitimately wonderful to drive, even as a celebration of engineering over prudence.
And if you want a Mondeo wagon, there’s the P3 based Volvos.
The Jag’s interior looks like it would smell less bad.
I love both of these, but I’m choosing to ignore the reality of the 2000s era Audi reliability and focus on the 3rd pedal option.
I’m going Audi. It’s a manual and I can try to live out my 80s Group B rally fantasies, in my head at least. Rallycross is starting up soon.
The everything-works-for-now Audi with a stick shift, but I like the Jag too.
Either of these are at the price point where you don’t lose much. If they brick in two months and you pay to haul them off to the scrapyard, you’re still out less than the depreciation for a new car the moment you drive off the lot.
Is a Ford Jag, a Faguar? I’ll take that, as I can fix those known issues…eventually.
Eh, that’s edging towards inappropriate. I’d go with Jord.
It is British, though, so that term would explain the smoke pouring out of it.
Xondeo.
Don’t blame us gays – We had nothing to do with this, much less the ill-fitting suits the Ford execs wore to the press intro….
Jaaaaaaaaaaaag all day long!
A Ford-era Jaguar is about as good as it gets.
And for SF – 12,000 miles in 20 years is entirely plausible.
I’ll take my chances on the little Jag.
At the very least, I figure parts should be easier to acquire.
This is a tough choice being a Jag fan. Initially I said Audi, but an X-Type Wagon in decent enough shape. That’s rare as…… I’d take it.