I’m into cars from the 80s. That’s my thing. Maybe it’s just that’s when I was born, and those cars got burned into my forming mind in a way that modern cars simply cannot. Maybe it’s that 80s cars seem simpler, the greatest extrapolation of purely mechanical cars before computers and “safety” weight took over. Maybe it’s that, for the most part, awesome examples can be had for very reasonable prices. Or maybe I’m just weird and got hooked on them for no logical reason. Whatever it is, I think someday I’ll see the value in cars from the ’00s, if for nothing else than their extreme value due to shocking depreciation. This VW Phaeton is for sale for less than 20% of what it cost just 8 years ago. One-fifth. And the great thing about the Phaeton is that, while they bring hefty maintenance costs, they weren’t bad cars. In fact, VW did the luxury thing pretty darn right. Americans just weren’t ready to drop that kind of coin on a “Peoples’ car,” so it acquired the stink of failure. Well, let’s continue to buck what everyone else in this confusing country wants and get AWD, V8 power, and acres of leather and wood to recline in while we look way richer than we are.
2004 VW Phaeton for sale
No real insight to the car from the description other than it’s in good condition inside and out and doesn’t smell like smoke. Works for me. 90k miles and a Buy-it-Now of $14k makes this a deal any way you look at it. If I really wanted to get crazy, I’d hold out and find a W12, but that’s begging for trouble. Don’t get crazy, just get rational, and get a top-tier luxury car for Nissan Versa money.
-NR
All the problems and expense of an Audi A8 with none of the panache… wtf were the guys at VAG thinking?
cafax has a listing of service that was performed on this car http://www.carfax.com/VehicleHistory/p/Report.cfx?partner=ECL_0&vin=WVWAF63D948010733
I believe this car was used to pay for the development costs of Bentley.
I bought one of these when they first came out. I loved the car but shortly after purchase began having electrical problems. MANY of them. Went to my dealer a total of 22 times to resolve them and finally VW bought the car back and I purchased an Audi A8L. Aside from the electrical problems the car was great but when you loose all power, including brakes when going down hill with two kids in the car that is the end. Hope someone has better luck with this one.
As noted previously…nice car, but the initial purchase price is only the beginning.