I need to Make sure the RS4 I am buying is in good order

[Doc]

As others have said if you are in any way uncertain, simply walk away.

There are a multitude of things you can do to continue investigating the car but the previous comment still applies and you may expend more cash to arrive at the same outcome

For that reason get the car along to one of the specialist garages (eg: AMD, QST etc etc) or Audi for a complete check as it will be £200-300 well spent if you still remain committed to buying this car AND one final item might be to get the garage to contribute to the price of a quality warranty (eg: Warrany Direct or Audi etc etc) rather than their purchased warranty.

Having said all that "if you are in any way uncertain, simply walk away"...sorry to bore you

Hope that helps. Good luck

[Doc]

[quote="bakerdcb"]LMAO Nice one Bob
[quote]

Ditto

[lengster1]

Wait until all the work is complete, then drive it and see what you make of it,at least you will have something to compare against in the future.

[kcsun]

If you have 29k and do not want to argue you can have mine, known history etc

[WellsyRS4]

Thanks firstly for all your replies

Now Im going to tell you all something that will make you all cringe !

Normally imp level headed, calm and I believe fairly bright but....
When I went to see the car initially I put a £500 deposit on the car to hold it on the basis certain grey areas as previously posted were rectified. During this initial visit I also arranged finance through Blackhorse which unbelievably I thought would not start until I took ownership of the vehicle. I was wrong the paperwork went through that day and the agreement started that day... oh ****!

I have sent the dealer a fax containing details of the 'Buyers Guide' posted on this site and have asked that this be studied and any problems be rectified prior to collection or I will not accept the car, which they agreed to do.

I followed this up with a call and spoke to the sales chap and he assured me that there mechanics would carry out all checks and sort out any arising faults.

Late this afternoon they called to say that a leaking collapsible gaiter on the diff was leaking slightly and that they will replace it but the Audi dealership cannot get the parts till Tuesday. Does this sound right ?

If they are true to their word and can prove all these works have been carried out by way of producing genuine invoices then I must agree with the comments that they must have a huge margin in the sale.

Luckily, as I owned an RS2 a few years back, I should be able to gauge the RS4's performance.

I suppose all I can do is check the car with a fine tooth comb, using the 'buyers guide' and my self taught knowledge of cars and there workings, prior to accepting it and take it from there.

For the next thrilling episode please tune into RS246 coming soon to a monitor near you.

[>RS4<]

If i were you wellsy i'd take the car to a VAG dealer before i signed the dotted line........

[simple1]

Sounds like he may be too late for that, but under the sale of goods act, he can always ask Blackhorse to bat his corner if the thing is a wrongen..........

[DuncS3]

Regarding the sticker about the mileage - Even Audi dealers have these on used cars - its a requirement by law

Dunc

[cpufreak]

Good luck, Fontain may tend to know a bit about them, they sell a few.

I got my S4 from fontain back in june and have been very happy with it.

[Golich]

Have you test drove a couple of RS4's? If not, get yourself along to some dealers and test drive them while you're waiting so you'll have a reasonable idea of them.

On a positive note it sounds like they are trying to get the car right. All the things you've mentioned are nothing unusual and can go wrong on any car with less miles than this one. Given the money you're spending its worth paying for a professional check. The AA/RAC are pretty good at this and offer compensation should you subsequently find something nasty. I'd seriously consider a warranty from the likes of warranty direct etc @ approx £750 its money well spent and the car is pretty cheap.

Good luck

[clived]

The AA/RAC are pretty good at this and offer compensation should you subsequently find something nasty.

The AA aren't as they no longer do their own inspections. And reading the small print on the company they point you at, they don't offer any compensation as the inspection is very much an "at this point in time" jobby, so anything that you find later, doesn't seem to be their problem.

I had an Audi pre-warranty inspection done instead...

[Golich]

It's a shame they changed it. Mind you it was over 3 years ago when I had one carried out.

[WellsyRS4]

The cars seems to be mechanically sound and all seems to be, generally, in good order.

However the neither of the side lights work and on dipped beam only the the xenons are on and the dash board lights work fine.

I imaginge that this is fairly straight forward but as I have no hand book I am struggling to find the fuse box. Can anyone of you kind souls advise?

The second problem may be more complicated.

Initially the car goes like a rocket but soon after it seems to become sluggish. After turning the car off and restarting it goes back to being a monster for a short period. I beleive its a fault with one of the many sensors.

I had a similar problem with my RS2 but QST sorted that out.

Is there any obvious items to check before I start investing lots of time and money?

At the moment I feel like a kid with a new toy at Christmas that has no batteries.

Please HELP.

[>RS4<]

My idea is that a soft limp mode comes up but you're not giving a lot of info on what's happening with hte car...

[bakerdcb]

I'm sorry but if I'd just picked a car up in the state you've just described I don't care how much I'd paid for it it would be going straight back for sorting. Bulbs not working etc. is illegal for starters and the limp mode could be all sorts of things many of which could be serious and costly. I believe it came from a garage in Harlow . . . . .go back and kick some a***