What would "ideal" mileage be?

[jfeb]

There have been a couple of posts about mileage recently and as I am in the market for an S4 it got me thinking:

If you were buying a facelift S4 now (lets say 2000), what would the ideal mileage be?

You want enough miles to show that it has had regular use but not so many as to make it too "old and tired". You also don't want to buy one just before the 80k service!

[clubsport]

my 2000 facelift car is just coming up to 49k miles....last used for a 250 mile round trip to Lotus & back....Ideal as far as I am concerned

[saf]

Id say the less the mileage the better, if you can get one with 70k or even 50 k on it then its worth doing the belts for £300 quid or so. At least you have a lower mileage car.

Saying that even If you get one with 100,000 miles on it at that age, it will still be just as good. These engines are extremely strong. The only thing you might be looking at are new turbos. But If cars done motorway miles then you have nothing to worry about. Best to get one with high mileage between 80 and 100K that you know has done motorway miles . Then belts been changed, and you know turbos havent been stressed as much at lower revs.

Mine is A v reg facelift 2000, an dits dont 115,000 so far, and theres absolutely nothing wrong with it. Turbos sound perfect, engine works like new.

Just make sure when you buy it has full service historypreferbly from audi garage or propper specialist. Also look out for motorway miles signs such as stone chips, and how many miles done inbetween services in log book etc. A motorway mileage car on an S4 is quite common as a lot of peeps buy these cars cause they are so good on the motorway. Look around, and youll find a good one.

[KayGee]

Depends what the care has been used for, high motorway miles don't mean a lot, low track day miles could mean a lot more wear. As long as car condition matches the mileage and checks all pass I wouldn't get too hung up on mileage one way or the other. If you are only going to do low mileage and keep the car for a few years buying a slightly higher mileage car could mean you get a good deal and by the time you sell it, mileage will be more reasonable.

10-12K is average usage. I bought mine at 4 1/2 yrs and 48K.

If car is around or above 80K make sure cambelt, idle rollers/tensioners, bearings and water pump has all been done, if not haggle cost of the price and get the work done yourself (at least you'll know it has then been done).

[jfeb]

This particularly interests me as I was contacted yesterday by a guy selling one with 150k miles on it, 100k of which were put on by the first (of 3) owners in the first 3 years. The guy was a director of Do-It-All apparently and must have visited every store in the land every week to put on 33k miles a year. Even though it has a FASH and I know first hand that motorway miles are "good miles", I still have a mental block about this sort of mileage.

(I am not sure this particular car interests me because it has cloth trim desribed by the owner as "like seatbelt material" (?) and he is looking for £8.5k which feels like at least £1.5k too much)

[saf]

To be honest mate, if youre going to splash out on an S4 then you may as well get one with full leather trim or recaro seats. Youll feel much better. Also Usually doesnt make much different to price.

Most interiors are leather on S4's so Id definitely suggest that you get an S4 with slightly lower mileage. Only for the reason it will be easier to sell if you come to selling it at some point.

Id say dont get anything with more than 120,000 on it. And definitely find one with leathers. You should be looking to pay about 10,000 for a full spec one with sat nav with high mileage.

IF they are offering you a 2000 one for 7000 then id go for it, whether it has cloth trim or not. For that kind of money it really is a bargain. You could always have your cloth trim leathered up. As I said, make sure it still has full adui history on it. If in doubt check stamps with Audi.

Also check it had cambelts changed twice along with all the bits. I wouldnt pay more than 7000 for that car though mate.

[ZeroK66]

Having spent my life buying high mileage cars I have become very weary. Its alright if you are buying a 1k banger... but I think as you climb up the chain you effectively continue to pay high part & labour costs for a car with very high mileage & not much re-sale value.

I bought my S4 with 36k on the clock a month or so ago... I am on about 38k already and I am feeling uncomfortable with the thought of cracking 40k...

[Jez]

I bought my Jan 2001 registered S4 last June with 49,500 miles on it, it's now getting close to 58,000. The majority of cars on the market at the time were around the 70/80k area, but I decided to hold out and spend that little bit more for fewer miles. Since then it appears the market has dropped somewhat and I think I may have lost a couple of grand of it's value already... that's life!

[shineydave]

mines on 120k and runs sweet as a nut. as a matter of interest a friend of mine asked me if i'd bought it new as the reg begins X154, he thought it was a 54 plate (XL54***) due to the condition being so good, they really do seem to handle the miles well.

[dazzer]

This is one of our favourite topics. I think also it depends what you want to do with the car. If you want to modify the hell out of it as seems to be the case with most of us, then a high miler if you can get it at a rock bottom price could make sense.

Afterall, unless it's already been tinkered with you are likely to change the whole suspension setup, brakes, wheels etc, etc, even if it's not on your mind initially when buying the car. Just reading the threads on this forum has a naughty way of making you MOD MOD MOD .

You could then rebuild the engine of you high miler whilst upgrading for big power. Just another option. It would then be like having a brand new beast.

Oh and it's great fun

[saf]

Does any one no what an engine rebuild usually cost parts and labour on an S4?

Cheers

[s4-99]

I bought my V reg 11/99 S4 two years ago next month with 72k on it. I paid 13.5k. It now has just over 87000 and is most probabaly worth 8-9k in the real world, but worth alot more to me with the extra's i've had done . I will be keeping it for a long time yet and just keep making it better than it already is.

[saf]

I bought mine in December just gone. V reg 11/99 too. Had 111K on it, now has got 115K on it. Was fully loaded with all the extras. Electric Heated Recaros. Rear dimming mirror, rear blind, Sat nav plus, tv tuner, 6 cd changer, Bose speakers, metalic paint, carbon trim, through load ski and whatever else it came with. I paid 10 K for it.

Was that a good price to pay? Only been 4 months.

Looking to upgrade to Stage2+ maybe even go for K04's after if not go for RS4 when they come down in price a little. Ill keep my S4 for a few years at least.

[shineydave]

i would say that was somewhere near the mark with the spec you've got, you're looking at a car that cost around 45k brand new so in my opinion they're a bargain.

[Pherral]

If its helps , i just bought an S4 with 138k and it drives beautifully. Clean under bonnet and all round.

Kev