S4 ownership - Warranty worthwhile?

[carpy]

Hi everyone. This is my first post on here and i've been reading these forums as a guest for a while now. My thirst for some S4 loving is getting stronger every visit to these forums and i'm close to buying now so would like help with a few questions that need asking.

Right, i've got a good friend who owns an S2 and he keeps telling me how expensive the S4 will be to run. I hear stories of X thousand for this, and X thousand for that, and nobody likes to hand out thousands willy nilly including me.

Now i'm aware of things like the Turbos potentially needing replacing at around 100,000 miles etc and ideally my car would have these replaced / upgraded and have the timing belt done etc.

Can someone please let me know if in general these things really are a money pit.

Don't get me wrong if i get one the first thing i'd do would be to cruise down to MRC and get it healthy. Even if it cost a lot to get sorted then fair enough, it's nice to know the car is spot on.

Mileage won't be much really so petrol costs aren't an issue. I'll probably only do about 5000 miles per year as it won't be my main transport.

These warranties I hear about, do any S4 owners take them out? Do you take a chance that the original turbos on your 85,000 miler are doing fine? Would a warranty cover a turbo anyway?

I'm not particularly fond of getting oil over my Matalan fashion jeans either so servicing would have to done by someone else. I hear from my friend that almost every Audi garage will balls up something on the car, causing lots more problems etc. Who do you take the S4s to for servicing?

I just have to buy a house at some point (in London where prices are bananas) and if the S4 is a major money eater then my house deposit won't get added to as planned. I'm just trying to work out the likely costs because i'm self employed so my income varies (wildly).

Any help would be much appreciated!

Cheers

[ZeroK66]

I would NOT get a 3rd party warranty on the car. If you get the car from Audi and get an Audi warranty - then yes worth it. Any 3rd party warranty they just say everything is wear and tear and are a right pain!! I had one on my 2.8 quattro. Took out top level of cover with a 2k per claim cover & 2 year covering everything. Every claim I made they kicked up about and I only got about £2-300 out of them ahving paid £1000 for the cover.

[maxxximus]

The S4 could potentially be a money pit but you could say that about most motors - some are just born BAD .

Iv been lucky with mine - had it a year and 12k miles and only had to replace rear brakes, rear tyres and have it serviced. I took out an after-market warranty although iv not had to test it yet so cant comment whether its worth it. Most would take a gamble and have a slush fund.

Id say stop worrying and go for it.

[whisky180]

i have had mine for 14 months and have only had to pay for servicing and cam- belt, which is very good for a 99. but then there are the mods. but thats another story. regards and good luck tony. oh if u ask me if it was worth buying Definatly more smiles per miles

[Jez]

I've taken out a thrid party warranty, whch covers 'wear and tear' items after the first three months of the policy

Will let you know if they honour their word or not...

[fil]

I've taken out a thrid party warranty, whch covers 'wear and tear' items after the first three months of the policy

Will let you know if they honour their word or not...

got any details of the company?

[maxxximus]

I've taken out a thrid party warranty, whch covers 'wear and tear' items after the first three months of the policy

Will let you know if they honour their word or not...

got any details of the company?

Sounds like the policy iv got - £5000 claim limit with Warranty Direct.

[kevinw]

Expect about 280 - 300 miles to a tank of full - I think it's about 60 litres in the tank. If you are only doing 5000 miles a year then it's not too much of an outlay. Servicing is not a prohibitive cost either, just find find a good independent and avoid Audi.

My only concern is the turbos, but I keep a slush fund in reserve just in case. Part of me wishes my turbos would blow then I can shell out for a full K04 upgrade. The problem is keeping the slush fund in tact when there are other mods still remaining, i.e H+R coilovers, DTS, shortshift + brakes. I'll just settle for the MRC magic touch at the moment with a milltek!

Expect an initial outlay on things like DV's, lambda probes and MAF, MRC remap, and other bits and bobs (in total ~£1k). Your car will then be sweet as a nut and cost no more to run than an ordinary car. I dont bother with a warranty, as I am a tight git and dont trust their policies.

[Dr-Al]

Mileage won't be much really so petrol costs aren't an issue. I'll probably only do about 5000 miles per year as it won't be my main transport.
Cheers

Get one of these and you will find any excuse to take it out for a drive

=

[droberts]

Welcome to the forum Carpy!

Short answer to your question... no, S4's are not money pits. Good mpg (compared to scooby's/evo's), and some knowledgable (and relatively cheap) specialists mean ongoing maintenance is comparable with most other cars.

Long answer... the complex blend of reliability, warranty and cost of ownership... I'd like to illustrate with my last two cars:
1. Beautiful Italian car, good 2nd hand initial price, owned for 2.5 years including full warranty. Reliability awful - engine out 3 times, gearbox out twice. Manufacturer warranty fantastic - no quibbling everything covered, no cost, no excess, nothing! Overall, Italian engineering - fantastic character, but without the warranty you'd have to sell the house, wife, or both

2. Audi S4, good 2nd hand price, owned for 1.5 years, no warranty. Reliability fantastic - already covered 36K miles without problem. Warranty - not required, spend £1K on preventative maintenance instead (i.e. replace items before they break). Overall, German engineering - lacking in character but with MRC remap and H&R roll bars the Audi is quicker and handles better

[Footnote: Turbo reliability is more about ownership than mileage, plenty of low milers have been bitten, but equally some high (motorway) mileage ones are still going strong]

Dave

[ZeroK66]

Absolutely. There is no hard and fast rule when it comes to turbo replacement. If the car has been on long life servicing - that could be a bad thing. If the oil has been replaced every 5-10k miles, then it should be in good knick assuming the guy warmed & cooled her down every time it was driven hard.

Some guys on here into mid 100k miles and still on original turbos. Some had them replaced at 30k! Check out the service history & if possible see what the owner is like (a spotted 18 y/o or a 40 y/o - give you a good idea on how she was treated).

What dave said above is spot on. If the car is proactively maintained then it is likely to give you LOADS of trouble free motoring. If it ever does go wrong, a set of RS4 turbos and 400BHP - you wont complain once the bank balance settles again

[derdle]

I had an S4 and now an RS4 and on both I've had the Audi/Mondial warranty. never had a quibble over claims. On the S4 I had a monitor/DIS part of the brake system replaced and since that didn't prevent the ABS light coming on, they replaced the ABS pump. With the RS4 I've had both turbos replaced, an oil cooler replaced (I think it got damaged by the dealer when they stripped the front of the car down for the turbo replacement) and recently I've had the windscreen wiper linkages replaced. All under warranty and without any quibbles at all. My advice is IF you are going to get a warranty get the Audi one - IMHO is bulletproof.

I should add that both the S4 and my RS4 are my daily rides so I do about 18 - 20,000 miles pa in them.

General servicing costs are quite low, but you should remember that these are high performance cars so you should expect the odd big bill. If you get a low miler and have it checked over and given the low mileage you plan you should be ok.

I bet you do more than 5000 miles a year in it though! There should be a new drugs classification cos they are addictive.

Paul

[KayGee]

I bought mine to mod so didn't warranty it as Audi warranty doesn't cover modified vehicles. There are some exceptions and it appears to depend on the local Audi dealership. Never had a good experience with any aftermarket warranties.

My repair bills have been really low, the odd MAF and 02 sensor, running costs are good, I use independant specialist and tyres last suprisingly well.

Mod bills are killing me though....3K a year! This is however totally self inflicted so should be dis regarded unless you have low will power or are a serial car modifier like me.



Hell of an addictive car.

[derdle]

low will power

...or none at all!

[carpy]

Excellent. Thanks for all the replies and information. I'm pretty much good to go now, I just need to work out which is the best way to pay for the car - outright or using finance. I'm assuming the Audi extended warranty can only be taken out if you purchase from Audi directly, and not if it's a private sale. Would an RAC check be any use to prevent getting a lemon? Ideally i'd like the car to get checked out at MRC for any major problems before I buy it, but I guess this isn't always possible and sometimes you gotta just make a decision to buy based on the service history & condition of the car etc.

So then, final point.....who wants to sell me a facelift S4? Most colours considered! I'll take good care of it I promise.