Crazy talk - RS4 purchase

[the_boy]

As I start to get older I'm hoping to make one final daft purchase before I get my sensible head on and buy a diesel.

The method I'm using may seem a bit strange to some but please hear me out. I've got a certain amount of money saved up and I want to buy the car with it. The amount of money I will lose in depreciation on the car I want to act as a loan over the course of 1 - 2 years.

For example there is a 60,000 mile Misano Red 2001 RS4 at Audi Crewe for approx £23, 850. That car I assume will come with a 12 month warranty which should cover me for any major problems.

I'm thinking that £300 a month or £3600 over 12 months should be enough depreciation. That would make it similar to a current 2000 model with 73, 500 miles on it for £20,000.

Does this sound do'able or am I talking crazy?
As it's over 60, 000 miles I wouldn't be expecting any major service bills at the next service and as it's covered by warranty there shouldn't be anything major.

I've seen similar cars out there for less than the asking price but I'm not sure if it's worth the risk. Would an aftermarket warranty be better than the Audi one? I'm guessing not....

Any advice appreciated!

[lengster1]

It sounds bang on to me,the car may not even loose that in 12 months,mines lost about 7-8k in a little over 2 and a half years.The audi warranty is top notch and well worth having it covers nearly everything.

[TopBear]

Check the log book of the car your buying to see at what mileage was the cambelt service done.
I got caught out when buying mine at 63K miles thinking it was due a minor service first then a cambelt at around 80K. it was only later after buying the car I checked the actual mileage when the cambelt was done, and understood that, it was done early at 32k miles, rather than 40, bringing my big service forward to 72k at the very latest. So I just bit the bullet and done the big service at 68k as indicated on the car, when it was actually only due a minor service.

[Rs4Fan]

Check out the brakes as well. New brakes and rotors can set you back a bundle if you need to replace them. In my mind, these are not sensible cars from an economic perspective and you should be concerned about about maintenance events.

[neckarsulm]

As RS4fan says brakes are very expensive and tyres aren't cheap either.

Parts only for OE brakes is £1200, including fitting must be £1500 or so from Audi.
You are looking at least £2k for new brakes and 4 new tyres and no warranty will cover those!

On the one hand the Audi warranty could be worth having but on the other your trade in value back to the Audi garage even after a few weeks of ownership will probably be sub £20k so buying from Audi isn't a good start if you are trying to slow down depreciation.
But if you aren't an expert then I'd recommend at least buying from a specialist dealer because buying a dog isn't good financial sense either!

I say go for it - all cars cost money to run but not many reward like the RS4, having spent a weekend with a TT 225, I like my RS4 even more!

[derdle]

Part of my signature says it all..."if you don't do it now, you never well" OK it's not the best financial advice you'll ever receive, but this one is from the heart!

[the_boy]

At that price I'd be hoping the cambelt and brakes have been done and recently!

What I'm trying to say is that in the first year I'm hoping that all maintenance costs and depreciation should not exceed roughly £3600.

The warranty will mean that I'm covered against any major problems ie. turbo or gearbox.

So say in a years time I could sell the car for roughly 20k or spend the next years £3600 allocation on service and repair items such as the cambelt, clutch and brakes with a much smaller loss in depreciation.

[quattrokid1]

we bought ours from Fontain in London last December for 20k, all its had since is its annual service oil change, I do it every 10k miles anyway. It hasnt missed a heartbeat. the brakes where replaced before we got the car as well as the big service, so we are sitting pretty for now. I have 2 Audi dealers a few hundred yards apart up here so I just play them off each other.. or will be.

Misano red eh? at least your on the right step already!!

I have heard that the brake discs will soon be available for conciderably les than what Audi charge, a pal in Ayrshire has one as well and he is in the trade so is in the "know" so to speak.

Tyres: I changed ours a few weeks ago with Avon ZZ3 at 100 odd quid each + vat, in fact it was 220 quid for 2 including fitting etc so tyres not as bad as all that unless you go for Michelin Pilot Sport.....

The RS4 was originally gonna be let loose with 450 bhp but Audi thought this was a big excessive so ws actually wound down to 380bhp so in laymans terms its not realy that much stressed, its one hell of an engine and if looked after you shouldnt have any problems with it.

I am sure as others have said go anhead and buy it, you only live twice!!

We have a warranty cover with "Olympic Warranties" on 01132711180 the turbos are not included on the basic policy which is pterry comprehensive so we added the turbos on for an additional fee. Worth a call.


good luck and hope you go ahead with the Misano red RS4

[the_boy]

I've emailed the dealership for full details on the car. Basically because I had a few questions that may take some time to get the answers.

If I don't hear anything in the next couple of days I'll give them a call.

With regards to the warranty have you ever had to make a claim on it? I'm hoping a car with full Audi SH and a warranty should be no quibble. However if it's cheaper and possibly better to buy privately then I'll have to consider it. I've done a search on this before and although a few have been mentioned I don't think I've seen any recommendations where someone has made a successful claim. Which is the whole point really..

[derdle]

IMHO the Audi/Mondial warranty is damn well near bullet proof! I've had a few claims in the past, many warraty providers would have kicked into touch.

Paul

[dace]

Had a quick look on their website and the car you are looking at has a milltek exhaust IMO

[the_boy]

That's not too bad a thing is it?

I'm assuming they'd pick up on anything else or do you reckon it's been played with?

[neckarsulm]

Mine was advertised by Audi with no mention of Milltek or remap but someone on this forum remembered it and qst confirmed it.
Love to know how quickly Audi respond to email, most main dealers don't see this as a high priority form of communication, maybe because they don't trust their spelling enough!

[dace]

That's not too bad a thing is it?

I'm assuming they'd pick up on anything else or do you reckon it's been played with?

I am sure they will tell you....

[quattrokid1]

if its at a dealer it would have a warranty so at least you have a bit of cover.

bulletproof car anyway but still have it checked out