RS4 Affordability?

[RB9Vl]

Bit of a personal question for some people but I'm just wondering what sort of jobs and how much people are making to afford they're rs4. I'm 20 years old and always loved the RS audis and always loved estate cars (hence why I have a Passat b8 estate as my second car). I'm starting an apprenticeship in the oil and gas industry and upon completion starting salary will be in the 40-50k range and I'm just curious if that's going to be enough to afford an rs4 b8. I'll have the money saved to buy the car (around 20-25k by the time I purchase for a lowish mileage one) just not so sure about how expensive the running costs will be as a daily driver doing 15-20k miles a year.

thanks to anyone that replies

[Iain]

I've been contracting in IT for 20years.
Theres 2 costs - buying the car and running the car.
Buying the car is the easy bit, whether you've saved the cash or finance it.
These are all just my opinion and figures are ballpark. I've had 3 RS4's - on 15-20k miles pa, for someone under 30, your biggest expense will be fuel and insurance.
At that price point too, it will be older than 3 yrs so a warranty (IMO) is paramount. If they go wrong then they can cost lots to fix!!
Will be around £70-£85 to fill the car and you'll get around 300miles to a tank.
Drive it like you stole it, and you'll get a lot less.
My 6 averages less than 10mpg when playing with it.
Tyres will last you around 15kmiles and will be around £800 a set
Discs and pads will be £1k plus (£1200 for front discs and pads on my 6)

Shout if you have anymore questions.

Good luck in the apprenticeship - I spent some time at the Weir Group based between their Dallas office and Glasgow HQ.

[LeoPolo]

Hi,
I am working in aeronautic industry for +15 years... I started as simple engineer and now as operations vp ... let’s say that the industry is not the best way to make money... oil & gas is maybe more generous than others!
However I am now having a BMW M4 and a RS4 B8 and I agree with Iain about the 2 different costs.... Getting the money to buy it, is one thing but earning enough money to use it is another story. For example, over the last year I have changed 4 discs and pads for the RS4 (2k€) and the M4 (2k€), a set of 4 tyres for the M4 (1,2k€) and 4 tyres soon for the RS4 (900€).... Service for the M4 in march 20 (1k€ Oil, spark plugs,...) and service for the rs4 will be cheap for 300€ (oil for engine and front final drive )... I will also do a carbon clean on the RS4 for 800€ and some refurbishing with painting for the hood and front bumpers (500€)... well as you can see, even without considering fuel consumption, it costs...
finally, I would say that is can be good to do step by step and start with a ~200hp car and once you really control it, go for a bigger one.... Starting with 450hp is probably not the best thing to do! Fyi, my first car had 70hp, then 90hp,140hp, 231hp, 343hp, 430hp and 450hp... I am also doing trackdays for 7 years and each trackdays is a new lesson.... humility should be first quality with power.
Be patient and make your dreams come true!

[G30001]

As above buying and running are very very different things which is why cars like this can have multiple short term owners as they suddenly realise it can consume hug amounts of cash just to run it day to day.

2 things I agree with LeoPolo work your way up on power and cost. I worked from a 205 Gti 1.6 (quick for 1st car) the through various metal stepping up through the power until I got to the RS4, please hone your reactions and road/traffic reading before you get one these cars get you into trouble very quickly. Plus you need to learn limits slower, I still to this day say my 205 and 220bhp Cooper 2 were my best cars as could have lots of fun at less than ridiculous speeds...I now have an RS4 B8 and 500bhp A90 Supra and wouldn't be able to enjoy them fully without my previous experiences!
2nd consumerbles are very expensive and you go through them pretty quick, RS tax means a bill is rarely below £1k and more often than not £2.5K!

Good luck though

[Covkiller]

Any RS4 is one of the biggest money reducing agent know to man. These cars cost as much as running some Lambogini's I kid you not. Clutches (B7), Oil Coolers, throttle bodies, brakes, calipers, disks, pads. etc. Do not buy an RS4 unless you have deep deep pockets. Many people buy these cars cheap and moan and cut corners on maintenance as they think they bought it cheap so it's cheap to run, NO. Don't get me wrong, these are real super cars, 450bhp + is power and my 2 B7's were the best cars I've ever had. So go for it if you can afford it. Good luck man

[jamiej]

I've had mine (B7) two years now and I put £250 per month away as a self warranty and costs fund. It's done me well so far and means no nasty surprises. Any one big job would empty that, so it's not a catch all but it gives some piece of mind.

Go in with your eyes open and you'll be fine. Buy a dog and you'll have your wallet emptied.

They are fantastic cars but just because they are affordable from a purely buying standpoint, don't forget they are the same cars to run as when they cost 3 or 4 times as much, if not more expensive.

If your going to have to stretch yourself just to buy one in the first place, I'd say its not the right time to buy one.

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