Potential RS4 purchase need to be convinced!!

[paolotopaz]

My first post having lurked on this forum for the last month or so!!!

I have a 07 R32 fully loaded with the highback seats, when asked by the dealer I bought it from about how it was going I remarked that it's great but my next car would have to be the RS4 if only to maintain the same seats(there are thousands of reasons why I have always wanted one too).

http://www.carzone.ie/used-cars/Audi/RS ... e/1112518/

The above link shows the car that the dealer had coming in on a deal where the RS4 owner was upgrading to a 612 bhp 911 turbo.

The interior as done after delivery, can anyone confirm if red was a factory option?

It also has a Milltek exhaust(with valves)that cost around £4000

The performance was amazing as I test drove it for an evening. Having owned two Audi S3s I the interior build quality was as expected.

My dilemma at the moment is to get rid of the R32 at decent money and get into the RS4 asap as it will be sold by the time I'm back from Barcelona.

http://www.carzone.ie/used-cars/Volkswa ... 6/1012732/

Above is the link to the R32 which I think is well priced as with the new 36 % VRT tax for post July 2008 cars this spec is 67,000 euro new!

So my question to anyone who has come from a R32/S3/E46 M3 what can I expect over and aboe these cars eveyday and how much more would running cost be.

The R32 struggles to get 20 mpg would an RS4 be around the 16 mpg mark if you were to drive quite hard most of the time?


Thanks in advance

Paolo

[sonny]

Buy it, it looks great, Daytona Grey (Best colour hehe) and a nice red interior too, also looks fully loaded!

On my B7 i get just under 200 Mile per tank, and thats a mix bag of driving, think its averaging 18 mpg!

[booski]

Don't worry about running costs. Buy an RS4 because it's awesome

[tartan_rob]

The mpg gets better with age. I can get 400miles to a tank on the motorway, not driving slowly but not thrashing it either. I average 25-30mpg.

As for cost, it is on par with the M3, but the M3 edges it with better mpg.

I have a mate who has a 4motion VR6. He has been unable to get his mpg over 21. Normally it is around 18.

[rjkflyer]

Factory interior colour for RS4:

Standard was black in buckets (either valcona leather or race cloth/leather as NCO), or grey or black nappa leather in recaros.

The pic you have shows buckets in what appears to be Crimson Red, which was a factory colour on the S4. However, if done after delivery then no reason to assume it is an Audi colour.

There WAS a factory option (about 3k) to have seats, door inserts and armrests done in any Audi valcona leather colour from the Audi exclusive range, which happens to be what appears to have been 'changed' here, but again irrelevant if it WAS done after delivery.

So, why an RS4? I can only qualify versus an E46 which I replaced with my RS4.

1. More exclusive, understated, and well, er, classy
2. Performance usable 100% of the time - in other words you try flooring the E46 in the wet on a roundabout - good though the E46 is, the traction will cut in. I am amazed how much bosch i can give the RS4 in the wet under power and yet the ESP (stability) doesn't seem to flicker at all.
3. Sound! Sound! Qualitative admitedly, but it is a dream.
4. Performance? Pretty close actually (in the dry), edge and top end to RS4.
5. MPG - same as every car i seem to have - about 24 on a run and 17-18 generally. M3 was better on a run to be fair - less cc 3201 vs 4198...
6. Brakes - VASTLY superior. The E46 M3 brakes are its Achilles heel - they're rubbish, fade under hard use. The RS4 does not. Do expect to get through front pads in 10-12k if you push it.
7. Practicality - four doors.
8. Tyres - fronts last about 12-15k, rears about 20k. E46 was set in 12k. Your mileage may vary of course...

No doubt others will add more.

[rjkflyer]

OK and i will add:

BEST CAR I HAVE EVER HAD.

And i'm VERY fussy.

[ARSEY4]

I had a mk 4 r32 back in 2004 and loved it and I have driven a few mk5s too. The rs4 is like a full fat fully sorted r32. The r32 felt like a big car and you have that same feeling in the rs4 but you can chuck them around. Unless I have missed something that car is a 2006 car up for 68950 euros which is £55160 A 2006 car with 20k miles in the uk should be around £38000 which is 47500 euros. So unless there is a stash of cash in the boot it is well overpriced, the exhaust system over in the uk would probably devalue it further as most would be warry of such a moddified system. A Miltek cat back valved non resonated system costs around £1600 fully fitted. Personally I would seek a cheaper lower mileage non modded car There are a few around still.

[jbyrne]

We get caught for VRT ( vehicle registration tax ) on cars in Ireland. Basically, the revenue commisioners have an "on the market selling price" for all cars, and the Vrt is a % of this ( depending on emissions ). E.G. They value an '06 RS4 at approx € 80,000.00 ( last time i looked ) so Vrt would be 36% of this i.e. € 28 / 29 k. So € 47,500.00 + € 29,000.00 = € 76,500.00 !! A new RS4 was in the region of € 115,000.00 here ! Vrt supposed to be paid within 24 hrs of importing cars. Btw car tax for an '06 RS4 is € 1541.00 / yr, if reg'd from '08 it would be € 2,000.00 / yr, based on emission's.
Very nice car Paolo, haggle hard, wouldn't worry about car selling quick given current economic climate here.

Cheers,
John.

[PetrolDave]

OK and i will add:

BEST CAR I HAVE EVER HAD.

The RS4 will be the first car I've ever owned from new that I will have to get an MOT for....

Owned it over 2 years and still loving driving it every day.

[ARSEY4]

We get caught for VRT ( vehicle registration tax ) on cars in Ireland. Basically, the revenue commisioners have an "on the market selling price" for all cars, and the Vrt is a % of this ( depending on emissions ). E.G. They value an '06 RS4 at approx € 80,000.00 ( last time i looked ) so Vrt would be 36% of this i.e. € 28 / 29 k. So € 47,500.00 + € 29,000.00 = € 76,500.00 !! A new RS4 was in the region of € 115,000.00 here ! Vrt supposed to be paid within 24 hrs of importing cars. Btw car tax for an '06 RS4 is € 1541.00 / yr, if reg'd from '08 it would be € 2,000.00 / yr, based on emission's.
Very nice car Paolo, haggle hard, wouldn't worry about car selling quick given current economic climate here.

Cheers,
John.

Sweet baby Jesus
So if you but a uk secod hand car andtake it over to Ireland you pay 29k euro ontop straight away??? and 1541 euro a year road tax.
I hope your Income levels are higher over there.
So basically does the ca advertised at 68k euro include the 28k vrt? meaning the car is actually 40k euros? If thats the case then in comparison I am trying to compare it with a uk car costing £32000. Yes?

[jbyrne]

Yeah Arsey4, thats right, car advertised has irish reg so vrt paid.
( If irish car from new then Vrt included in new purchase price, if s/hand car imported then Vrt paid seperatley ). We're not called the Rip Off Republic for nothing. I imported a '03 RS6 in April & paid € 10,800.00 vrt, would have cost € 14,500 if i waited untill July as Vrt is now emission's based ( was based on engine capacity ). Btw, Irish resident caught driving foreign reg'd car will have car impounded and have to pay Vrt & 10% fine and it is monitored by police & custom's officials ( as are all Govt cash cows !! )

[hanbury]

I went from MK IV R32 to the RS4 just over a year ago. I loved the R32 and still miss it sometimes but it really doesn't compare to the RS4. Someone else (maybe on this forum) decsribed the RS4 as an R32 on steroids which I thought was very apt.

Although my R32 was four doors the size of the RS4 (mine's a saloon) means it is still considreably more practical whilst still having great handling. I don't think there is a lot in the fuel consumption and mine has certainly improved over time. Mine has now done 18,000 miles and as I haven't reset the computer I know that it has averaged about 19.5mpg from new with a good mix of driving (no track though). Tyres are still OK but will need replacement all round in another 1,000 - 1,500. Its in for a service now so can't comment on brakes etc but as far as I know, no other issues EXCEPT....

...the dreaded DRC. No doubt you have read all about this elsewhere so I won't bore you but make sure you are fully conversant with the issues before making a final decision. My car has already been repaired once (just 3,000 miles ago) and has been waiting for a second set of replacement shocks for nearly a month! The real issue here is that there is no evidence at this time of Audi doing anything to remedy the problem.

All in all, for me, it is a great car that has a suspension problem but I do love it.

[sonny]

Don't worry about running costs. Buy an RS4 because it's awesome

<beep> yea, I dont even look at the price of petrol any more haha

[paolotopaz]

How would the Milltek exhaust devalue the car?

Also is there a quick way of checking shocks?

Many thanks for your comments

Paolo

[pippyrips]

I guess ARSEY4 is referring to some people liking completely clean, non modded cars with no 'boy racer' stigma attached. That said the milltek is a common mod to the car with no associated dangers what so ever assuming it’s a cat back system – it’s a personal thing i guess.

After looking at the pics in the begging of the thread though I would go on hols then look for one when you get back. The interior is one of the best bits of the RS but I really don't like the red leather - it spoils in imho.