Hey, I knew somebody would ask...
Well, my reasons are (and this is a very tough decision for me, as I love the RS4!) are:
To be honest, although the RS4 is a great car...
1. I'm just not using it enough! We have a 6-month old baby, my wife and I run a business together, and it's usually a hell of a lot easier to fit everything in my wife's car, especially since there's not much car-seat room in the rear of the RS4 with bucket seats. So, it's a lot to be paying for a car that just sits idle on my drive for 4 days a week!
2. I worry every time I have to drive it into and leave it parked in London, Birmingham etc.! The only 'attention' I get for the car in town centres/petrol stations, seems to be from young scrotes in hoodies.
3. It's not quite as much fun on a day-to-day basis as an all-out sports car. Plus, although it's a great drive, it doesn't feel quite as well-built, luxurious or 'special' as even the modded S4 Cabriolet I had before it. I may look for a cheap Elise or classic sports car, for those rare summer days when I can just 'go out for a blast!'.
4. I work in a small town, where you are very visible, and had two customers, on seeing me get out of the RS4, 'Cor! You must be doing well!'. In 'tough times', certainly for the sector that I work in, I'm not sure it's conveying the right image about me or my business...
5. Think I've reached that sad point in my life, probably brought on by the baby, where you question your priorities. I love fast cars, but I still have a classic race ccar which I race almost every weekend during the Summer. Sad to say, but after 5 Lotuses (including two Esprit V8s - fantastic car!), 2 Porsches, 2 Ferraris, two fast Audis, plus 12 other fast cars of varying description, at this point in my life, having the fastest car is nice but ultimately doesn't enrich my life, or make me any happier than my baby son and wife already do! Don't need to impress anyone at the moment...!
So...will be selling the RS4 (not to say I wouldn't consider something exotic in the future - RS5? Used R8?), and probably getting a Golf GTi. Yes, it's nowhere near as fast, but it is fun to drive, has the same amount of legroom, most of the same 'toys', and for now, doesn't attract too much attention, or say too much about its' owner. Plus, I save 25 grand, and get an extra 400 quid back per month. Not the same as an RS4 in any shape or form, and I'm not kidding myself about that, but for now 'it'll do'!
So....if anyone wants to buy an RS4 Avant (Daytona Grey, bucket seats, tech pack) with ALL the goodies (including coolbox and TV), privacy glass, 2500miles on the clock, and 3 mnoths old, let me know. I'm open to VERY sensible offers...
Sorry for the rambling.....
James
