i'll give him the $17 cents in my pocket and a handful of Craftsman screwdrivers that smell like vomit...

 

You'd better hang on to those screwdrivers.

Someone on this forum might want them.

 

Half tank of gas, numbers off kilter. Unless of course he just happened to bump the button as he took the picture.

I'll go PPI the car for you.

 

So offer him <$20,500!

 

Lol

 

Well, you called it right! I would have just assumed he zero'd out the trip odo for the pictures, as I would have done.

Thanks for offering to PPI it for me, Sean! I appreciate the offer, but I'm not sure I want to get involved with it...

It's a fairly basic S4 5-speed with the "standard options" (that's quickly becoming my favorite oxymoron), but it has the light gray interior upholstery & carpet, with black piping on the seats... very sharp! No dash cracks, no driver's seat bolster wear.

He's gets a t-belt warning when stomping on the go-pedal, although he it's been checked several times and they found nothing. Tensioner problem, ya think? That 22-year-old t-belt would have to be replaced immediately after purchase, but that's to be expected.

The car has seen only a more-or-less steady 500-600 miles a year since 1996. He said the odometer stopped working sometime in the last two years, but he's not sure exactly when, so that's why the mileage is stated as ">25k" (and I thought he just didn't know which symbol to use...).

Belts/hoses/seals, "A/C", tires & wheels, maybe other stuff replaced in 2007 (Holy Shark-****!! A $10k bill from the dealer!)
Fuel pump was replaced by local shop in 2009.

He sent me a couple of pictures, but he's going to send me some more. We'll see what there is to see...

An S4 5-speed in excellent condition with ~25k miles should be able to fetch the $21,500 he's asking, (it could have in 2007, anyway!) but the odometer/mileage uncertainty has to detract from that. You could try to convince him that the immediate need for a t-belt and tensioner rebuild should discount the price even more. He may even priced it ready to sell at an even $20k.

Having been through the ultra-low-mileage 928 experience already, I am not particularly inclined to go through it again for a "regular" S4, but I haven't fully decided yet. It could be a great opportunity for someone though...

 

If he's the dealer, like it sounds in his ad, he can have them write whatever they want on the service ticket, that's not what he paid. Likewise, it seems like he could have them replace the timing belt and broken odometer fairly cheap, too.

 

While I really do appreciate your cynicism, Rick you're way off base on this one (I think)...

Seller is not a dealer - he's the current owner of the car.
He bought the car from his in-law uncle at ~24k miles in 2006 (a "from-me-to-me" 40th b-day present).
The uncle bought it from a dealer at 18,195 miles in 1996 (which makes the seller the third owner, not the second as the ad states).

The uncle paid the $10k to the dealer, not this guy. There must have been a lot of other work put into it at that time, though, to get the bill that high!

 

Ah, I missed the word "by" all alone on its own line and read "New A/C Installed" then "Porsche Dealer in Plano". Now I understand the $10k repair bill.
Still, it sucks to be him, but just because he paid the Porsche mechanic to learn some new skills doesn't mean he can necessarily pass the savings on to the next owner. There are a lot of other S4's just as nice for a good $5-8k less. Especially because with a broken odometer, 500 or 600 miles a year goes by faster than you realize. Tanks of gas is your best indicator, and at 500-600 miles on perfectly working car, that means he's probably only filling up twice a year, and I would definitely be skeptical of that.