Buying a RS4 b8 2014, any tips for buying?

[V28]

Hey guys,

I've been thinking about buying a RS4, 2014 model upwards.

I have been looking around on autotrader and privately they are sitting around 26k with decent spec and full Audi history.

Do you have any tips on what to look for when buying these used?
I have already read up on Audi warranty and definitely will add this warranty on through Audi.


The spec I'm looking for are, sports pack, black styling pack, pan roof, B+O sound system, adaptive cruise control/braking guard.


thanks

[Tenz0]

Spend loads of time looking at them on Autotrader and Pistonheads.
Set yourself a clear budget and core spec
See one online that is far higher in price and a completely different colour to your core spec
Buy it

I joke, sort of! I would just want to know the oil services had been done and it was looked after.
Put a bit of money to the side in case of issues, unless you spend a bit more to get AUC and their warranty.

[spoonz]

II set out my spec requirements. Must haves and nice to haves. Then when found investigated history and maintenance. If that checked out mileage was pretty much disregarded.

[Pottskie]

II set out my spec requirements. Must haves and nice to haves. Then when found investigated history and maintenance. If that checked out mileage was pretty much disregarded.

As above for myself also. Kept an eye out until one met my desired spec and colour. Mine had done 79k miles at the time of purchase but had all the paperwork to show its been looked after and all the right oil services etc etc.
Mileage is irrelevant to me if you can tell the cars been well cared for....

Regards
Anthony

[V28]

II set out my spec requirements. Must haves and nice to haves. Then when found investigated history and maintenance. If that checked out mileage was pretty much disregarded.

As above for myself also. Kept an eye out until one met my desired spec and colour. Mine had done 79k miles at the time of purchase but had all the paperwork to show its been looked after and all the right oil services etc etc.
Mileage is irrelevant to me if you can tell the cars been well cared for....

Regards
Anthony

thanks! any must have options you reckon or highly recommended?

[spoonz]

II set out my spec requirements. Must haves and nice to haves. Then when found investigated history and maintenance. If that checked out mileage was pretty much disregarded.

As above for myself also. Kept an eye out until one met my desired spec and colour. Mine had done 79k miles at the time of purchase but had all the paperwork to show its been looked after and all the right oil services etc etc.
Mileage is irrelevant to me if you can tell the cars been well cared for....

Regards
Anthony

thanks! any must have options you reckon or highly recommended?

My list was similar to yours, but I added the Convenience Pack as a must have for memory seats. Me and the wife share cars and having to find my setting again got on my wick.

Mine has Dynamic Pack, Pano Roof, B&O, Black Styling, Heated Seats, Adaptive Cruise, Convenience (Folding Mirrors and Memory Seats), High Beam Assist, Hill Hold Assist (pointless). Think thats it.

I found the brochures, here viewtopic.php?t=124993, really useful to see what you could have picked and what you might be missing.

[V28]

As above for myself also. Kept an eye out until one met my desired spec and colour. Mine had done 79k miles at the time of purchase but had all the paperwork to show its been looked after and all the right oil services etc etc.
Mileage is irrelevant to me if you can tell the cars been well cared for....

Regards
Anthony

thanks! any must have options you reckon or highly recommended?

My list was similar to yours, but I added the Convenience Pack as a must have for memory seats. Me and the wife share cars and having to find my setting again got on my wick.

Mine has Dynamic Pack, Pano Roof, B&O, Black Styling, Heated Seats, Adaptive Cruise, Convenience (Folding Mirrors and Memory Seats), High Beam Assist, Hill Hold Assist (pointless). Think thats it.

I found the brochures, here viewtopic.php?t=124993, really useful to see what you could have picked and what you might be missing.

Nice one mate thanks! good set of spec you have

[Scammo1]

Shocking to think what you had to pay extra for after forking our £55k+ when the car was knew.
Even folding mirrors where an option!!

[H2O]

Not particularly insightful tips here; but I've found that most advert descriptions are completely useless, especially Autotrader, which I assume has a generic list of options that the seller can tick off - resulting in a lot of adverts talking about having 19" 10-Spoke wheels, when the pictures clearly shows them on 20" Rotors. So I've been trying to spot what options the car has from the advert pictures:

Sport Pack: Look for black exhaust tips.
B&O Sound System: Look for tweeters in the corner of the A-Pillar.
Adaptive Cruise: Look for the dial on top of the CC stalk, or the sensor in the front bumper.
Privacy glass: Actual privacy glass doesn't show the heater element lines on the rear screen, whereas aftermarket tints will.
Advanced Park Assist: I may be wrong about this, but if the MMI shows an overhead view of the car with the proximity zones, then it's just normal park assist. Advanced would show the actual image from the cameras.
Convenience pack / memory seats: Look for the buttons on the driver's door card.
Heated seats: Look for the buttons on the dash on the outside of the heater controls.

Hopefully someone can correct me on any of the above if wrong.

Also, not everyone will be aware that you can do some basic checks online with a registration plate. MOT history is available, so you can see if there were any advisories in the past and ask whether they were rectified. You can also look at the dates of ownership change (amongst other things) here: https://ukvehicledata.co.uk/FreeVRMLookup

[MadMark]

Hi V28 - As a recent purchaser - I would give you my 2p!

Of course you should buy on condition and maintenance history rather than spec, miles or age, but I have just bought a 2015, ultra low mileage (21k), well maintained car with a few condition blemishes, in a mid range spec, but with full Audi history.
Budget went from £25k to £30k+ in a matter of months as I realised what I got for my money. However, even paying an upper end price, I've still had to spend quite a bit of money at the 6 year anniversary service when coolant, spark plugs, air filters and all 4 of the transmission oils need to be changed on top of the inspection service (with engine oil, brake fluid, aircon etc). I am also going to get a specialist look at the DRC system (although mine does feel particularly "tight" on the suspension front).

Tips are buy a car that either doesn't need (or has recently had), all of it's tyres, brake discs and pads changed. That's a huge bill otherwise. Same applies with the DRC system where if it's had shocks and pipes changed, you are probably safe for a while. I can't advise on a car that's had coilovers fitted, but others on here will be able to.

The spec is pretty good as standard, but everyone has their likes. Essential for purchase / resale seems to be: Sports exhaust, 20" wheels, heated seats and the B&O sound system. Nice to haves are the reversing camera, the seat & mirror memory, radar cruise, keyless entry, high beam assist, the styling packs and the pan roof.

The cars are also colour sensitive, with white and red being worth less than black, blue, grey and silver. The Nogaro Blue Edition cars command more money, but the spec is very basic and although I love the interior, I'm not sure they're worth the premium they once enjoyed.

The dealers (independent or manufacturer) add a lot of money to the price for very little (typically 15-25%), although Audi will throw in a good 12 month warranty and can be haggled into providing 24 months (rather than discounting the car).
Personally I think the best prices and most choice lies in the Private sale market and I bought my car off a forum member who had a lovely car and was a super honest and genuine guy. Although recently damaged in an incident with a twonk in a van - I can't wait to get her back.

[Rusty Racer]

A good list, well done! If you have a reversing camera you also get the image to assist distancing.
I like hill hold, especially useful in town as it means you don’t need to keep your foot on the break pedal to stop creeping.
I also wanted keyless entry as it’s a system that works for me.
Oh and obviously needs to be Daytona

[V28]

IMG_3571[1].JPG
Hi V28 - As a recent purchaser - I would give you my 2p!

Of course you should buy on condition and maintenance history rather than spec, miles or age, but I have just bought a 2015, ultra low mileage (21k), well maintained car with a few condition blemishes, in a mid range spec, but with full Audi history.
Budget went from £25k to £30k+ in a matter of months as I realised what I got for my money. However, even paying an upper end price, I've still had to spend quite a bit of money at the 6 year anniversary service when coolant, spark plugs, air filters and all 4 of the transmission oils need to be changed on top of the inspection service (with engine oil, brake fluid, aircon etc). I am also going to get a specialist look at the DRC system (although mine does feel particularly "tight" on the suspension front).

Tips are buy a car that either doesn't need (or has recently had), all of it's tyres, brake discs and pads changed. That's a huge bill otherwise. Same applies with the DRC system where if it's had shocks and pipes changed, you are probably safe for a while. I can't advise on a car that's had coilovers fitted, but others on here will be able to.

The spec is pretty good as standard, but everyone has their likes. Essential for purchase / resale seems to be: Sports exhaust, 20" wheels, heated seats and the B&O sound system. Nice to haves are the reversing camera, the seat & mirror memory, radar cruise, keyless entry, high beam assist, the styling packs and the pan roof.

The cars are also colour sensitive, with white and red being worth less than black, blue, grey and silver. The Nogaro Blue Edition cars command more money, but the spec is very basic and although I love the interior, I'm not sure they're worth the premium they once enjoyed.

The dealers (independent or manufacturer) add a lot of money to the price for very little (typically 15-25%), although Audi will throw in a good 12 month warranty and can be haggled into providing 24 months (rather than discounting the car).
Personally I think the best prices and most choice lies in the Private sale market and I bought my car off a forum member who had a lovely car and was a super honest and genuine guy. Although recently damaged in an incident with a twonk in a van - I can't wait to get her back.

thanks mate! good tips there and will definitely look out for potential work thats due

[V28]

just seen this one pop up on auto trader

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-detail ... sed&page=1

decent price with lowish miles but as H20 mentioned earlier not sure if it comes with all options ticked on auto trader! like the pan roof

[G30001]

Not particularly insightful tips here; but I've found that most advert descriptions are completely useless, especially Autotrader, which I assume has a generic list of options that the seller can tick off - resulting in a lot of adverts talking about having 19" 10-Spoke wheels, when the pictures clearly shows them on 20" Rotors. So I've been trying to spot what options the car has from the advert pictures:

Sport Pack: Look for black exhaust tips.
B&O Sound System: Look for tweeters in the corner of the A-Pillar.
Adaptive Cruise: Look for the dial on top of the CC stalk, or the sensor in the front bumper.
Privacy glass: Actual privacy glass doesn't show the heater element lines on the rear screen, whereas aftermarket tints will.
Advanced Park Assist: I may be wrong about this, but if the MMI shows an overhead view of the car with the proximity zones, then it's just normal park assist. Advanced would show the actual image from the cameras.
Convenience pack / memory seats: Look for the buttons on the driver's door card.
Heated seats: Look for the buttons on the dash on the outside of the heater controls.

Hopefully someone can correct me on any of the above if wrong.

Also, not everyone will be aware that you can do some basic checks online with a registration plate. MOT history is available, so you can see if there were any advisories in the past and ask whether they were rectified. You can also look at the dates of ownership change (amongst other things) here: https://ukvehicledata.co.uk/FreeVRMLookup

Absolutely spot on, not only are they generic lists dealers have no clue I had almost a stand up argument with the dealer I bought mine from about it having the sport pack. He insisted it did as you could switch the exhaust and steering but it had silver tailpipes, no DRC and the Steering despite being switchable is not labelled "Dynamic". Saw sense when I pulled up a brochure and proved it. Wasn't happy as I bet him £750 off if I was right

If only I had known he was a total and there were bigger issues I was going to face.

[spoonz]

Not particularly insightful tips here; but I've found that most advert descriptions are completely useless, especially Autotrader, which I assume has a generic list of options that the seller can tick off - resulting in a lot of adverts talking about having 19" 10-Spoke wheels, when the pictures clearly shows them on 20" Rotors. So I've been trying to spot what options the car has from the advert pictures:

Sport Pack: Look for black exhaust tips.
B&O Sound System: Look for tweeters in the corner of the A-Pillar.
Adaptive Cruise: Look for the dial on top of the CC stalk, or the sensor in the front bumper.
Privacy glass: Actual privacy glass doesn't show the heater element lines on the rear screen, whereas aftermarket tints will.
Advanced Park Assist: I may be wrong about this, but if the MMI shows an overhead view of the car with the proximity zones, then it's just normal park assist. Advanced would show the actual image from the cameras.
Convenience pack / memory seats: Look for the buttons on the driver's door card.
Heated seats: Look for the buttons on the dash on the outside of the heater controls.

Hopefully someone can correct me on any of the above if wrong.

Also, not everyone will be aware that you can do some basic checks online with a registration plate. MOT history is available, so you can see if there were any advisories in the past and ask whether they were rectified. You can also look at the dates of ownership change (amongst other things) here: https://ukvehicledata.co.uk/FreeVRMLookup

Great list, and all things I worked out and followed.

Quick Q. How do I know if I have lane assist? I have all the things as part of that "pack", it would be odd if they specced them independently without Lane Assist!