Have you ever won an online auction because a car you have never seen or driven? Oh my gosh, this is so exciting. Last night, right before I went to bed, I bid on this. Audi Cars A3 E-tron which I thought was acceptable, but was hit with the dreaded “You are the highest bidder, but your bid has not reached the reserve.” I put the phone down and went to bed. Oh, I guess I won’t be taking this home. Or will I?
I have been looking for a suitable car to drive daily for the past few months. Selling our beloved Buick Regal TourX. My wife has a Porsche Cayenne Diesel.and love it, but all my cars are covered by collector car insurance and can’t really be used as daily drivers, and certainly can’t be parked on the street in our city apartment without a garage. I’m looking for a fun daily driver that I can park on the street in the city without feeling bad about, put the dog in, haul some stuff, and run to Home Depot.
I had decided on the A3 E-tron and searched for one, but could never find one with the specs I wanted. For a few months, I was almost convinced that all of these cars were sold in bloody silver. I didn’t want anything in gray, so I had to hunt down one of the rare examples in color, and that’s when this one came along. I’m not a fan of red cars, but it’s a cut above gray or silver, and the chocolate brown leather interior is enough to make me want it. I’m pretty excited to go buy this one and take it on a long road trip.
I fell in love with this chassis when I tested its S3 sibling. It’s the perfect blend of agility and compactness that I want in a fun-to-drive car, but also luxurious enough that I don’t feel like I’m being penalized. Plus, with its 16-mile electric range, compact 1.4-liter turbo engine, and hybrid driving efficiency, I won’t have to fill up as often.
If the S3 had a long hood, I might have bought one. But I’m also a bit gas-conscious and know that electric and hybrid are the way forward. I miss having an EV around the house, but Ohio’s charging infrastructure is terrible, so it’s probably not the right move for me right now.
I saw this car for sale somewhere a few weeks ago for around $14,000, which was a little more than I wanted to pay, but it met my needs. I sold it. I saw the exact same car on eBay a few days ago and started making some bids. My reserve was $12,000, but it wasn’t accepted, so I agreed to sell it again. This morning, the listing was updated with a Buy It Now price of $11,999. No one was bidding against me, so I decided to give it some time and see if I could bargain it down a few more dollars. Then, right after the auction ended, the seller lowered the reserve to $11,575 and my bid was accepted. I won!
With 68,000 miles on the odometer, it’s a little more used than I expected, but it looks clean enough in the low-res photos. We’ll see what I do when I fly to California in a few weeks to pick it up. Keep an eye on this space, it’s going to be interesting.
