High Mileage B7 RS4 (135k miles)

[dcon18]

hey guys,

I am new to posting here but have done plenty of reading and is nice to see how knowledgable everyone here is.

I am in the market for a B7 RS4 and have found a high mileage example with all the preventative maintenance done, aside from a very recent carbon clean.

It has the DRC deleted, recently new discs and pads, engine wiring harnesses replaced recently as well with full service history

It is well priced and i would like to pull the trigger but am a little hesitant about the miles. are there any other issues that i am not aware of that may crop up at this mileage?

Thanks!

[js47]

Mine just recently ticked over 135k and aside from random minor electrical issues it has been very reliable. I’d check to see what the DRC was replaced with and when. My coilovers only lasted about 20k miles and should be replaced (getting some annoying rattles). I’d personally advise against coilovers in general if you want a car with a usable ride height.

[chive90]

Firstly, welcome.

Mileage is a difficult one with these. I've seen better condition and well looked after 120k+ mileage cars compared with 25k mileage cars that have been off the road for a decade, missing service history, riddled with rust and corrosion.

So buying on condition is always key and these engines are bulletproof enough to go to double that mileage, BUT what I will say is it depends what your long term plans are for the car. If you plan on keeping forever then no issue, but if you want to enjoy for a couple of years and then move on, you have to remember that one with 160k miles on isn't really going to be hugely appealing to anyone.

Another point I'd make is are you going for this mileage because it's what your budget allows and you're looking to get in one for as little as possible? Because these can be very expensive cars to run. Sure, you can get quite lucky and not really have much in the way of maintenance costs, especially if a lot of preventative stuff has been done already... but you can also quite easily be hit with carbon clean, injectors, plugs, oil cooler, aux rads and some other bits and there goes £10k. Has it had clutch/flywheel replaced? Standard exhaust or upgraded? If standard I'd be amazed if the valves are working at that mileage. When was the last carbon clean? If it has been 3-4 years+ then it will be overdue and likely be 40-50bhp down on power.

Just some points to consider. It's also a buyers market more than ever for these at the moment so another thing I'd say is that you can probably knock a fair bit of money off some lower mileage examples that have been struggling to sell for months.

[dcon18]

Thanks for the response. I will likely have it for a couple of years and move on. I would happily pay more for a an example that had all preventative work done and was a higher price with lower miles, but the one I had my eye on sold before I could see it.

I don’t really want to buy a lower miles example for the mid high teens and then have to carry out all the preventative maintenance. My plan was to buy this example and take it to MRC and see what it needs.

The car I’m looking at is MRC stage 2 with a milltek exhaust. Last carbon clean was 2/3 years ago so I was going to get that done first and foremost. The clutch and flywheel are standard but I was factoring a pretty immediate replacement into my budget. The car I reckon I could get for potentially sub 13k which I feel is a good price!

What do you think?

[chive90]

Thanks for the response. I will likely have it for a couple of years and move on. I would happily pay more for a an example that had all preventative work done and was a higher price with lower miles, but the one I had my eye on sold before I could see it.

I don’t really want to buy a lower miles example for the mid high teens and then have to carry out all the preventative maintenance. My plan was to buy this example and take it to MRC and see what it needs.

The car I’m looking at is MRC stage 2 with a milltek exhaust. Last carbon clean was 2/3 years ago so I was going to get that done first and foremost. The clutch and flywheel are standard but I was factoring a pretty immediate replacement into my budget. The car I reckon I could get for potentially sub 13k which I feel is a good price!

What do you think?

Depends how quickly you'd like to buy one I would say. Because £13k really is bottom end of the market. I paid almost double that!
Agree it's better to buy one that's had a lot of preventative work done... but if it's on original clutch, needs a carbon clean + anything else MRC advise of then you're already going to be up to what £16k? Factor in putting 15-20k miles on it in your few years of ownership, plus some other bits and pieces, then you might be at £18k spent, then @ 150k miles you might get 11 or 12 grand back for the car if you're lucky. Would you be happy with that? There's a red one on Autotrader on 149k miles that cannot sell for 8 grand, it's been on there for months.

I'm probably the wrong person to ask as like others on here I will be keeping mine forever. So because of that, I chose to buy a lower mileage car to start off with that had every single job already done.

There's a lot of great enthusiast cars out there, you might just have to stick up a wanted thread and wait for a couple of months. But the market as it is you could get into a nice 60-70k mile example for £20-22k I would say (with all big jobs/mods done). Or a 90-100k example with all the big jobs done for £18-20k.

If it's the Black Saloon you are talking about, it looks ok but not great. Kerbed wheels, scratches over the glove box, paintwork covered in swirls, missing front badge, scratched wing mirror, etc. A lot of these are easy fixes, but it says more to me about the type of life the car has had. 8 previous owners too. Personally, I wouldn't touch it. But then I am a perfectionist and viewed loads before eventually pulling the pin on one. A car in that condition for me wouldn't even be worth viewing.

There's a couple of mid 60k mile ones on Autotrader currently and they are so cheap for what you're getting. A red one at 19,995 and a Mugello Blue for £20,995. They've been on there for a good few months so I'd say there's likely to be even more wiggle room in the price. Say you could get one for £18k... you're then jumping in a better condition RS4 on less than half the mileage for an extra 5 grand. To me that is a no brainer.

[dcon18]

All very good points. I would be fine with getting 12 grand back for it post having spent 18k, as long as I enjoy ownership and driving the car which by all accounts, I probably will.

Plan was to buy a cheaper, high mileage with all the jobs done, enjoy it, sell it for what I can and use that as a deposit to finance something serious in the next few years, although you are rightly giving me potential second thoughts…

[dcon18]

I have had a look at the red one. Looks to be in decent nick either with low miles. Garage seems reputable based on various reviews.

However, it only has part service history, which makes me wary, although I’m not really sure what to think about it having PSH. If it seems in good condition upon viewing and has most of the service history there, what’s the take?

Cheers

[chive90]

All very good points. I would be fine with getting 12 grand back for it post having spent 18k, as long as I enjoy ownership and driving the car which by all accounts, I probably will.

Plan was to buy a cheaper, high mileage with all the jobs done, enjoy it, sell it for what I can and use that as a deposit to finance something serious in the next few years, although you are rightly giving me potential second thoughts…

It's only my opinion though - equally nothing wrong with your approach above. Many people do get in the B7 and love it and either never want to sell or end up keeping for much longer than they think, so that's something to consider too...

I have had a look at the red one. Looks to be in decent nick either with low miles. Garage seems reputable based on various reviews.

However, it only has part service history, which makes me wary, although I’m not really sure what to think about it having PSH. If it seems in good condition upon viewing and has most of the service history there, what’s the take?

Cheers

Yeah again, I'd be wary of something with part history. Would probably depend on how much is missing. If it's missed one service, ok not the end of the world. If there's no history for a big chunk of its life i.e. the first x years or a big period in the middle, I'd be hesitant.

These 4.2 V8's don't like old oil, they also don't like to be sat for long periods. Service history, maintenance (main jobs) and condition are the most important. Lower miles, lower owners are nice to haves, but not always advantageous. If the 135k mile car was in better condition with a couple less owners I think it would be a better buy. But it looks like it's had a bit of a hard life so that's why I was inclined to suggest you maybe consider some others, not to say the red one is the one, was more to show some examples where a few extra grand can get you in cars on half the mileage and in better condition, with the market the way it is at the moment.

There are a lot of dogs out there, sadly - but there are also some really good, well cared for examples. It's always worth waiting for the right one and no harm in test driving a couple if any are local.

I'm rambling and repeating myself but brakes (although really good aftermarket options make these less scary price wise than people make them out to be), clutch/flywheel, Milltek or similar and DRC swapped out for KW/Bilstein coilovers. They are the ideal jobs to have been done before you buy, but not the end of the world to do some or all if it's the right car at the right price.
Nice to haves - aux rads replaced, oil cooler replaced, recent carbon clean, MRC stage 2. Again, if you have the luxury to drive a non-tuned car and a Stage 2 car I would recommend that because they drive very differently. Some people don't like how the Stage 2 cars drive (very sensitive throttle in S mode). Oil coolers will almost always need doing so if there's no history of this being done, budget £800 (cooler, lines, labour).

I would also avoid completely standard cars that have not got any of the above done, even if they look immaculate from the outside - unless you want to keep long term and gradually undertake the above jobs. £10k would need to be put aside for all of the above.

Just my advice/opinion! I was lurking on here for a long time before I bought and also viewed many before I bought, so I like to think that I know the cars pretty well now. Any other Q's ask away