Looking to buy - what about warranty, servicing, mpg

[ianot]

Hi,

I'm new to this board and new to the RS4, i test drove one today and all i can say is that its a serious car to drive, the power and handling is unreal. I already know about the carbon, suspension, manifold issues so i'm looking for other advice like warranty, servicing, mpg and anything else people have to offer.

I saw this car today: http://www.audi.co.uk/used-cars/used-ca ... =se_na_re_

What kind of money do people think its worth as the dealer is quoting £28,850 with a one year warranty. How much is a warranty after that, what should i expect in terms of servcing and cost.

Thanks,

Iano

[wolfgang]

Servicing - either condition-based servicing (probably every 15K to 17K miles) or fixed-interval servicing every 10K miles (the latter seems to be the recommended schedule for the RS4. Not sure about prices though but i'm sure someone will be along to advise.

Extended Warranty: between £800 to £1600 depending on who it's with.

Road tax: lots!

Insurance: lots!

Front discs and pads: around £1,100 from an Audi dealer.

Fuel: Shell V-Power at around £88 per tankful - lasts 180-250 miles (short town stoop-start journeys to a mixture of motorway and town driving).

All i'll say is that it's EVERY penny and then some!

[ianot]

Thanks for the update wolfgang. In relation to fuel type, what's the minimum RON level the RS4 takes and its is there any real difference betweem using 95, 98 and 99.

Cheers,

Ian

[P_G]

I can't comment on the price of the car, in terms of costs;

Warranty - Mondial (Audi) anything between £1500-2000 per annum dependent on mileage
Servicing - as Wolfgang said but most cars are on AVS (longlife) so 15-20k miles between services, non plugs service approx. £320 (less if you supply your own oil), plugs service £500 apporx.

Costs - Main bit is tyres, discs and pads. Dependent on tyres used the ones most owners used range between £700 and £1300 a set and last anywhere between 9k and 28k miles on normal road usage

Discs and pads are expensive from Audi, source them elsewhere and you can get discs front or rear at £500 per 2 and pads front and back for £200-250 plus fitting. Oil+filter change every 5k miles is not an Audi recommendation but a forum recommendation and will help engin longevity. Tax is around £430 unless you buy a pre April 2006 car and insurance, well that's anyone's guess.

Wolgang's estimation on mileage / mpg is a bit agressive, approx. £90 to fill from empty and can get anything betwen 180 and 340 per tank dependent on style and type of driving.

Then there is the cost of modifying it.....

[wolfgang]

Thanks for the update wolfgang. In relation to fuel type, what's the minimum RON level the RS4 takes and its is there any real difference betweem using 95, 98 and 99.

Cheers,

Ian

The car flies on Shell V-Power. The petrol flap states a minimum of 95-RON but 98-RON is recommended. I have never used anything below 98-RON in the RS4 so I don't know if it performs less well with 95-RON, but I imagine it would. My MRC remap was done for Shell V-Power.

[ShaneyB]

V Power or Tesco Momentum,
Nothing less.

[adsgreen]

The power will drop on 95. Won't do any harm just less aggressive timing.
If you are going to do a long motorway journey then can work out cheaper.
Worth pointing out that shell stress v power has the same cleaning additives as all their fuels.
That being said I always use v power

[ianot]

Thanks for all the pointers. In relation to the front discs and pads, how do i know whether they need replacing or not. Do i just look at the depth of the pads and discs or do i need to look for other things.

Cheers,

Ian

[P_G]

Front pads have wear sensor on them so will show on DIS, discs will start to form a lip when they get heavily used so look for that. Or take a digital Vernier.

[ianot]

thanks, at what depth should i start to ask for them to be replaced. I want to get a sense about when the discs and pads would need to be replaced when buying a second-hand RS4...

[P_G]

If it is from a dealer then they have the 'Approved' charter and it is compulsory to replace them and tyres and a specified depth but can't remember what it is off the top of my head. Tyres are 3mm.