Buying advice

2.9 V6 24v TFSI - 444 bhp
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alFR
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Buying advice

Post by alFR » Sat Mar 16, 2019 2:12 pm

Long time lurker, first time poster. :)

I'm considering getting into RS ownership with an approved used B9 RS4 and had a couple of questions I hoped you knowledgeable folks on here could help me with. I'd be looking for "nearly new" (<7500 miles ideally, around a year old). I'm prepared for the vast running costs and for the DRC to die at some point. In view of that:
- Any red flags to look for (e.g. I know the ex-Audi press cars seem to be a safe buy from other reading on here, but would you say anything else like "for god's sake don't buy one that's been a dealer's demo car, it'll have been ragged and you're in for issues further down the line")?
- I'm assuming that at that age there won't have needed to be any routine maintenance done except for an oil change service. Anything else I should be looking for in the service record?
- Pricing: from reading on here I get the feeling that "disregard all the cost of the extras and take off a bit for depreciation" seems to be a good rule of thumb, but am I miles off on that? I know they're rare at the moment as you can't order new currently, so expect that might be pushing prices up.
- From what I read so far I'm not that concerned re: the facelift and would rather take advantage of avoiding the massive as-you-drive-off-the-forecourt depreciation of a brand new car if I can find an approved used of the right spec, but am I mad for looking at used with the facelift in the offing?
- I guess a tracker would be a wise investment - any recommendations?
- Any recommendations for insurers? I realise that's pretty personal based on where you live, risk profile etc.
Sorry that turned out to be quite a long list, thanks in advance for any advice! :thumbs:

cuttsy
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Re: Buying advice

Post by cuttsy » Sat Mar 16, 2019 2:52 pm

Welcome, I can answer a couple of questions and others I am sure will fill in the gaps.

On servicing mine has had its first which was an oil change at 10K miles.
Pricing seems to vary and hard to guage if you can take off extras and get some for depreciation I think you will be doing well.
Don't have a tracker if it's gone I hope never to see it again. However I do have a thinkaware dash cam.
Insured with LV best quote I could get last year just had the renewal and gone up about 5% which isn't bad considering the tax increase and inflation.

Good luck on your search.

Terminator_X
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Re: Buying advice

Post by Terminator_X » Sat Mar 16, 2019 3:10 pm

Imho you will struggle at discounted prices excl cost of options. It's a rare car and imho prices remain strong.

TX.

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Markp
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Re: Buying advice

Post by Markp » Sat Mar 16, 2019 6:56 pm

Great cars. DRC is great but can play up in a minority of cars (albeit both the ones I have had - 6 and 4). I would spec again.
I have found insurance cheap. No tracker. £380 fully comp with NFU. Bargain.

Jbdarknight
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Re: Buying advice

Post by Jbdarknight » Sat Mar 16, 2019 7:38 pm

Re: the facelift, I spoke with an Audi senior sales today and was told the facelift will only apply to the A4 (getting a new bumper) and the RS4 will not see any changes. I haven’t had a chance to verify/cross check this with other sources yet but wanted to share first, FYI.

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RS4John
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Re: Buying advice

Post by RS4John » Sat Mar 16, 2019 9:54 pm

As one with an ex-press car that probably didn't have an easy early life - truly don't worry about it as the simply staggering performance means that a licence threatening speed arrives frighteningly quickly so it's actually fairly challenging to drive one hard and remain on the road either legally or physically and the journos had the same issue.

Buying used - spec is important, the more toys the better so whilst I wouldn't spec a pano roof on a new car I wouldn't buy a used one without it. DRC is simply amazing - you can't see it or really even touch it but you can definitely feel it.

Prices have risen for the remaining used examples this year, 5 months ago it was relatively easy to pick one up for under £60k but now with circa just 14 on the Audi Approved list as of yesterday things have changed. The dealers can't be crazy though - the RS4 is a specialist vehicle with high running costs so there are a finite number of people who can seriously consider buying and running one.

Insurance - I insured with Saga, was about £465 inc business use - Aged 61/CV34 postcode. I haven't installed a tracker - I too wouldn't want it back but have had an Autowatch Ghost 2 installed (made no difference to the insurance) so a keyless theft is a whole lot more difficult now.
2020 F3 RSQ3 Std, 400PS, Daytona Grey/black Ara blue interior, Pano, C&S pack, Red calipers, HBA, TP monitoring, 5yr Warranty, Cete AVC, EBC Redstuffs
Gone, 2016 8U RSQ3 Performance
Gone, 2018 B9 RS4
Gone, 2015 8U RSQ3

alFR
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Re: Buying advice

Post by alFR » Sun Mar 17, 2019 2:32 pm

Thanks for the feedback / advice. Hadn't thought about that angle on the hard driving John! Agree that at the moment they seem pretty rare which will likely limit room for negotiation. re: the facelift, there's an article on Evo that has some photos of a test mule spotted recently - looks like similar changes to those rumoured for the vanilla A4:

https://www.evo.co.uk/news/22440/2019-a ... ed-testing

No major changes by the looks of it anyway.

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