Buying my first S4

[evista]

HI,

I am about to buy a used S4 - 98 S with 48k.

It is in the Cambridge area and I was thinking of paying an Audi dealer or independant specialist to give it a thorough going over rather than the RAC. Does anyone know of such a beast in this area?

Also, am I doing the right thing - buying one of the first batches of S4's - I have heard that they are not renowned for being trouble free motoring?

Cheers

[Riz_RS4]

Im not a S4 owner but a warranty package is a must on these cars........ why not takeout Audi extendad warranty, they also do a multi-inspection check over the car before they approve the warranty..... it costs around £750 but this is a small sum to pay for the S4. The turbo`s are very expensive to replace.

And welcome to RS246.com [img]images/graemlins/thumbs.gif[/img]

[Carps]

The Audi warranty is £765 for S4s less than 5 years old. For over 5 years I believe it is actually a bit less, and obviously offers less cover (ie, there is a single claim limit of £1000, IIRC).
When I took out my extended warranty Audi did not want to do an inspection. This saved approx. £100 !

Good luck, and make sure you find a nice one that has been well cared for - there are a lot of abused examples out there that really haven't been looked after.

[Dippy]

Also, am I doing the right thing - buying one of the first batches of S4's - I have heard that they are not renowned for being trouble free motoring?

I think all S4 owners would unfortunately agree with that statement.

The trouble is, if you want one which had all the problems fixed 'at the factory' then it has to be a 2001 model. However that's not to say that a 1998 model won't be a good buy. I suggest that you find out more about it's service history. It may well already have had the problem areas fixed: Exhaust manifolds, heatshields, turbos etc.

Certainly if it has not had such replacements, you MUST get an extended warranty as the cost will be £000s! However then you will need to keep the car standard.

[Golich]

I have one of the very first S4's 1997 but registered by Cosworth in 1999.

There were a number of Audi recalls over the first couple of years. Referred to as 'quality improvements' in the service book etc.

Prior to buying my car I discovered it never had the Audi exhaust manifold, heat shield, ECU, throttle body boot (TBB) and DV's carried out.

I discovered about these 'quality improvements' just as you are now from others in the know.

I took the registration of the car and asked my local Audi dealership to confirm the cars service history even though it was not a local car to them. They have access to the car’s history through the dealership network. (Handy if you loose your log book!)

You will find that the whole exhaust manifold/heat shield issue a grey one. However, I had no problem in getting Audi UK to honour the replacement of the ECU, TBB, DV's and a subsequent new dash on discovery that the latest revision of the ECU was not compatible with the original fixed code immobilser. (New immobiliser is a rolling random code) So don't be put off with an early one provided the price is right but certainly enquire about a decent Audi dealership inspection particularly concentrating on those turbos. If buying from a dealership etc. Be sneaky and try to establish the owners address and give him a call. Hopefully he/she should have no reservations about telling all about the car first hand.

I had 8 months of hassle with my S4, but that was purely down to a very poor dealership. The car is great now. Like any high performance / complicated machine the probability of something going wrong is higher.

I took out a private warranty with warranty direct which specifically states they cover the exhaust manifold. The cost of this cover was around £300. I’m fairly fortunate that I have the facilities to perform most major jobs myself so it’s not such a risk for me. As poor Jeff and others have seen some big bills for turbo repairs. I live with the whole turbo concern with the attitude that if the go. It’s a green light for me to have the KKK04 fitted and 400+bhp here I come at a fraction of the cost of an RS4!

Good luck. [img]images/graemlins/thumbs.gif[/img]

[evista]

Thanks for all the advice guys. I will definately take out the extended warranty whic h I now knoe requires an inspection by Audi in any case.

The seller of the one in Camridge has refused to answer my calls since I mentioned an inspection by Audi, so I guess he had something to hide!??!??!

Just got to find one now - where are they all hiding? - I do regular searches on Autotrader, E&M, Loot and buy each edition of Top Marques and Autotrader

[Golich]

You could try the national used buy option on the following official Audi web site.

http://www.audi.co.uk/

But be prepared to see daft money for some.