For Sale: 2004 Audi A4 Quattro

It’s time for our 2004 Audi to go live with a new family. I say this with some ambivalence because this car is an absolute blast to drive. I don’t know how fast it goes, but if you shift right, you will almost always feel like you're going fast. Over time, you’ll get to know the car—its sounds, the slight pull of the acceleration—and you’ll start to shift at the exact right time. That’s when the magic happens. You are one with the car. You’ll imagine it might have a name, like KITT or Herbie. The wind will blow your hair back from your face as you drive over mountain passes, expertly navigating twisty roads and flying up and down hills. You are king of the world.

Provenance

This car was made the year I got married, though I didn't meet it until much later.

In 2021, the catalytic convertor was stolen off our Prius in the middle of both a school bus driver shortage and a catalytic converter shortage. My husband drove our remaining car to work, and I looked up cars on Facebook marketplace. Nothing fancy—just something to get the kids to school until the Prius could be repaired.

I saw one being sold by a nice lady. I messaged her, yes, the car was still available, and I could come take a look. I convinced my husband to go with me. He pointed out that this lady had a very sketchy Facebook profile and was selling an awful lot of cars and might be a scam. We went anyway. The location was not a nice lady’s house, but a crummy little car dealership in a corner lot. The car we came to look at was a disaster, but I saw this Audi, and it took my breath away.

Here's what you need to know. The very first time I bought a car, when I walked into the dealership, I said to the first person who asked me if I had been helped: “I would like to buy a small, blue, stick shift car.” He pointed to a small, blue, stick shift Geo Metro, and said, what about that car? I said, "I'll take it." He said, "Did you want to test drive it?" I said, "I mean, I'll take it...for a test drive." But I knew I was buying that car. I was in love.

I felt so badass. I had boyfriends who didn’t know how to drive my car. I could go anywhere I wanted, and I did. I drove that car for years. I drove it from Atlanta to Washington State. I road tripped with my friends. I drove it when I got married. I drove my first baby around in it. Then, when we had a second baby, I couldn't fit the second car seat in the back of the Metro, and I had to get rid of it. Heart breaking. We were gifted a big, red, automatic van by my in-laws. It was exactly what we needed. Car seats fit great, with room for the dog and all the baby stuff. And then all the kid stuff. I drove responsibly and nowhere cool. But, I'm glad we had the kids anyway.

What I’m saying is, this Audi is a small, blue, stick shift car. It's literally the car of my dreams! And not the horrifying dreams I have now. The dreams of my youth. Dreams of adventure and independence and joy.

Key Features

• Engine: 1.8L 4Cyl Turbo A4 Quattro, which is more or less all-wheel drive
• Miles: 201,902
• Transmission: 6-speed manual. Buy it for joy. Buy it for nostalgia. Buy it to ruin both of those things by trying to teach your kids to drive stick.
• Fuel Economy: Every time you get gas, reset the trip odometer to zero. Then get gas again when the trip odometer says you have been about 300 miles. This method is more reliable than the gas gauge and the gas light, and WAY more reliable than the thing that counts down how many miles you have left before you run out of gas, which is a total crock.
• Interior: Now that we have installed seat covers, taped up the rear passenger side window, and scrubbed the mold off the back seat, it’s much better. If I were you, I'd keep an eye on that mold spot though.
• Technology: The sound system is completely non-existent. We have bought a Bluetooth speaker that hooks onto the visor. We named it Sharon, because when she says “Power on” and “Connected,” she kind of sounds like a Sharon. Sharon is included in the asking price.
• Glove Box: When my daughter was 12, she said, “The best thing about this car is the glove box full of mints!” My husband agreed, “Yes. That is the best thing about that car.” If there are any mints left, you can have them.
• Car guys LOVE this car: That makes it really fun to get an oil change. They open the hood and say, “WOW--it’s got a blah blah blah. Awesome!” That never happens with the Prius.
• Warning lights: The check engine light is always on. Only worry when it goes out. It might need its tiny bulb replaced.
• Large trunk capacity: Once, on a road trip, my daughter and I put the back seats down and camped in the back/trunk of the Audi. We had snacks and sleeping bags and pillows, and we propped my Surface up by the rear windshield to watch downloaded episodes of Dr. Who till we got too scared. It was awesome. But not so awesome that we did it again.

Condition

• Accidents: OK, this is weird, but people keep backing into the Audi. Once, at an intersection, a truck decided he was too far forward and put his car in reverse. I honked, but he backed into us anyway. Another time, in the high school parking lot, the car in front of me saw that there were no parking spaces available and instead of turning around, backed into us. I don’t know what this is about.
• Regularly Serviced: When I bought the Audi, I took it to the dealer for a once over. They told me it needed about $10,000 of repairs. I thanked them and took the car home. I found a good repair place, and over the next year, got about $1,000 worth of repairs done a month. We fixed the timing belt, muffler, tires, rotors, heater, everything. There are currently no leaks and nothing that needs to be repaired. Except the rear, passenger side window, which, like I said, is taped up.
• Will run forever: The Audi dealership guy told me that you can fill the engine with sand, and as long as the owner replaces the sand every 10,000 miles, this car will run forever.

Asking Price

$3000 or I will consider offers to trade for any non-car item that elicits in me the feelings of joy, nostalgia, or adventure I currently get from the Audi.