What do I do?

[kcsun]

I am getting all worked up now about changing my RS4 (which I had new in Nov 2000) to the new RS6. What is the sort of deal Audi would offer for a "no trade in", is there any finance deals on the table to make the jump etc
Would it be worth a balloon payment at the end of a two/three year term

The wife say's I am mad changing because

a, whats wrong with the RS4? nothing

b, Horrendous car tax each year - (mine is a cheapy produced before mar'01)

c, will she be able to park it in Waitrose without battle (trolley) damage

d, already done the depreciation thing with mine - no where further to drop

e, I'm self employed - so what's happening next year (existing car all paid for 8 years ago!)

f,My existing car just cost me £3k in mot, service, cam belts, springs (snapped), lambda and temp overheat sensors and new tyres - not bad for a car done 80k at stealer price - we was given an "old codger, old Audi" discount to make me feel better (was £3.6k)

g, Hopefully the insurance is cheaper than a stage III RS4

h, probably drinks petrol like the Exxon Valdis (we get an average of 25 out of the RS4)

i, people still come up to us and say "wow" what a car - power and practicality

j, anybody asked what the servicing costs are - i know our local dealer hah to have loads of new servicing gadgets as it is "dry sump" etc

Any comments

kc

[Condor24]

I think you'd be better getting a mint C5 RS6 from a dealer at a knock down price.

I had a manual RS4 V6 (which I think is same as yours) and the C5 RS6 is so much more of an executive express with fantastic torque for overtaking. It also drives very calmly and low speeds with its auto box.

If you want a fantastic manual change then go for the V8 RS4 .. the B7.

[liwi]

I am getting all worked up now about changing my RS4 (which I had new in Nov 2000) to the new RS6. What is the sort of deal Audi would offer for a "no trade in", is there any finance deals on the table to make the jump etc
Would it be worth a balloon payment at the end of a two/three year term

The wife say's I am mad changing because

a, whats wrong with the RS4? nothing

b, Horrendous car tax each year - (mine is a cheapy produced before mar'01)

c, will she be able to park it in Waitrose without battle (trolley) damage -

d, already done the depreciation thing with mine - no where further to drop

e, I'm self employed - so what's happening next year (existing car all paid for 8 years ago!)

f,My existing car just cost me £3k in mot, service, cam belts, springs (snapped), lambda and temp overheat sensors and new tyres - not bad for a car done 80k at stealer price - we was given an "old codger, old Audi" discount to make me feel better (was £3.6k)

g, Hopefully the insurance is cheaper than a stage III RS4

h, probably drinks petrol like the Exxon Valdis (we get an average of 25 out of the RS4)

i, people still come up to us and say "wow" what a car - power and practicality

j, anybody asked what the servicing costs are - i know our local dealer hah to have loads of new servicing gadgets as it is "dry sump" etc

Any comments

kc

a) fancy a change?
b)car tax still horrendous and probably worse next year
c)not a problem...I have no problems at all..
d)will a new rs6 ever come out? depreciation..all cars will depreciate no matter how we feel.
e)self employed - not a problem as long as you still are busy, make sure you are!
f) disount already in place?? c5 do have a common prolem with the drc, but as the c6 has a different variation this might have solved some problems perhaps....time will tell.
g) insurance problems? self employed..got more than 3 cars???fleet insurance best deal mate.
h) petrol issues? prices are going down, try to drive economical..hard with this car...hehe
i) always get looks...in the c6
j...good

I absolutely love this car..let us know how you get on.
L

[ChrisB]

I absolutely love this car..let us know how you get on.
L

That's it in a nutshell - head can say it's a crazy move to buy a heavily-depreciating rocket-barge with a drinking problem, but heart says it was the right thing to do: 11111 miles in (passed it this morning) and still a thrill to slap the pedal down and feel it lunge forward.

Having said that, I was too lazy to fill up last night and didn't want to go out of my way to a filling station, so I nursed it at 56 mph for 45 miles when DIS said 35 mile range when I fired it up this morning! I think I averaged 21.1mpg which isn't bad for a cold start and straight up into the hills.

[kcsun]

Have you read your service manual?
Reason I ask is that to my knowledge it has cam "chains" not belts
therefore
is it only oil change services for the first 150k miles
Or am I being stupid?

kc

[ChrisB]

Have you read your service manual?

Nope, I haven't read any of the manuals to be honest.

I think all the new "short" V engines use cam chains, but I can tell you the RS 6 is on AVS by default. Mine is currently indicating it's going to need its first service at about 13500 miles or thereabouts. It's used about 3/4 litre oil for topping up so far in 11500 miles.

If I remember, I'll dig the book out some time and look.

[paulm846]

if you are used to a stage 111 b5 rs4 then you will be disappointed with performance of the b7 rs4, and there's not a lot you can do with the engine. go for a c5 rs6, awesome!!! at least till c6 prices come down more

[MoRS6+]

I am getting all worked up now about changing my RS4 (which I had new in Nov 2000) to the new RS6.

Have you test driven the new RS6 yet? If not, then maybe that could decide for you. You may not even like it so any further debate on the matter would be irrelevant.

My own personal motto has always been 'You only live once' and has cost me a helluva lot of money adhering to that philosophy, but then I've had alot of fun along the way (no regrets and all that).

I may be over-simplifying things here, but many of ones points for consideration get swepped aside if one truly likes or even loves something!

Test drive it and as Jock from 'The Garage' on Discovery would say: "Maaaake the decision!"

Maybe I'm the wrong person to ask because I'm far too impulsive!