WANTED - B7 RS4 Sprint Blue Low Tax

[hopgop1]

Hi,

I'm seriously considering a B7 RS4, does anyone have a low tax (first registered before 23rd of March 2006), sprint blue B7 for sale, or know of one?
Ideally a saloon, but would consider an avant.

Must have good service history, not worried about mileage as long as it's been maintained well. OEM or OEM+ spec please, nothing greatly modified. Must have wingbacks.

This seems very picky I know, but looking for the right car. I'm based in the east midlands, but will happily travel.

Thanks,

[daytonamart]

Interesting request, what's your motivation for going for the low tax option?

[JRC1]

Agree with the post above, for the right car with all the right boxes ticked, tax bracket shouldn't even come into it. The savings over the course of the year are really negligible when you consider what these cars cost to run in general.
There's a stunning OEM+ Sprint Blue B7 for sale in the for sale section at the moment.

[hopgop1]

More concerned about the tax rate in future, this is a car I want to buy and be able to keep long term, but I get your point.
The one for sale at the moment looks a bit too modified for me, nothing that couldn't be undone to be fair, but the price also seems a bit steep and I'm not the type to make an insulting offer. I could also be completely out of touch on pricing, so if that seems like a steal let me know.

[JRC1]

More concerned about the tax rate in future, this is a car I want to buy and be able to keep long term, but I get your point.
The one for sale at the moment looks a bit too modified for me, nothing that couldn't be undone to be fair, but the price also seems a bit steep and I'm not the type to make an insulting offer. I could also be completely out of touch on pricing, so if that seems like a steal let me know.

Yeah fair enough. Unless it's your daily though they're easy enough to SORN for x months of the year for the tax hit to be less of an issue.
The B7 market prices are all over the place, depending on the specific example. You get some for sale at £12k and others for sale at £35k+
What I will say is avoid completely standard cars that are:
a) still running DRC
b) have never had a carbon clean
c) no evidence of aux rads / oil cooler being replaced
d) haven't had recent discs/pads

Unless you want to add £10k to your total 'buy' price. There's an awful lot of examples on the typical car selling sites that are in the £16-20k range that may look clean and have a good write up but almost all of them meet the 4 bullet points above. It's then a £26-30k car by the time you get it to where it needs to be.

Of course some of this is personal opinion - some people swear by continually repairing the DRC and others are quite content with running a standard B7 and not bothering to carbon clean it. But having driven both standard and carbon cleaned/mapped B7's, they aren't even comparable. Some that haven't had a carbon clean struggle to make even 360bhp which is not really the performance one would expect from a car of this nature.

[hopgop1]

More concerned about the tax rate in future, this is a car I want to buy and be able to keep long term, but I get your point.
The one for sale at the moment looks a bit too modified for me, nothing that couldn't be undone to be fair, but the price also seems a bit steep and I'm not the type to make an insulting offer. I could also be completely out of touch on pricing, so if that seems like a steal let me know.

Yeah fair enough. Unless it's your daily though they're easy enough to SORN for x months of the year for the tax hit to be less of an issue.
The B7 market prices are all over the place, depending on the specific example. You get some for sale at £12k and others for sale at £35k+
What I will say is avoid completely standard cars that are:
a) still running DRC
b) have never had a carbon clean
c) no evidence of aux rads / oil cooler being replaced
d) haven't had recent discs/pads

Unless you want to add £10k to your total 'buy' price. There's an awful lot of examples on the typical car selling sites that are in the £16-20k range that may look clean and have a good write up but almost all of them meet the 4 bullet points above. It's then a £26-30k car by the time you get it to where it needs to be.

Of course some of this is personal opinion - some people swear by continually repairing the DRC and others are quite content with running a standard B7 and not bothering to carbon clean it. But having driven both standard and carbon cleaned/mapped B7's, they aren't even comparable. Some that haven't had a carbon clean struggle to make even 360bhp which is not really the performance one would expect from a car of this nature.

That's great advice, thank you. A B7 for me would be a 2nd car, not sure which would end up getting more use though.
I was set on DRC when I first started considering a B7 a few years ago, but changed my mind after doing some more in-depth research. For a purely road going car, are there any particular coilover brands that are best suited? Or can you not really go too far wrong with a decent brand set at a sensible ride height? I've seen cars listed with KWs, Bilsteins etc.

[JRC1]

More concerned about the tax rate in future, this is a car I want to buy and be able to keep long term, but I get your point.
The one for sale at the moment looks a bit too modified for me, nothing that couldn't be undone to be fair, but the price also seems a bit steep and I'm not the type to make an insulting offer. I could also be completely out of touch on pricing, so if that seems like a steal let me know.

Yeah fair enough. Unless it's your daily though they're easy enough to SORN for x months of the year for the tax hit to be less of an issue.
The B7 market prices are all over the place, depending on the specific example. You get some for sale at £12k and others for sale at £35k+
What I will say is avoid completely standard cars that are:
a) still running DRC
b) have never had a carbon clean
c) no evidence of aux rads / oil cooler being replaced
d) haven't had recent discs/pads

Unless you want to add £10k to your total 'buy' price. There's an awful lot of examples on the typical car selling sites that are in the £16-20k range that may look clean and have a good write up but almost all of them meet the 4 bullet points above. It's then a £26-30k car by the time you get it to where it needs to be.

Of course some of this is personal opinion - some people swear by continually repairing the DRC and others are quite content with running a standard B7 and not bothering to carbon clean it. But having driven both standard and carbon cleaned/mapped B7's, they aren't even comparable. Some that haven't had a carbon clean struggle to make even 360bhp which is not really the performance one would expect from a car of this nature.

That's great advice, thank you. A B7 for me would be a 2nd car, not sure which would end up getting more use though.
I was set on DRC when I first started considering a B7 a few years ago, but changed my mind after doing some more in-depth research. For a purely road going car, are there any particular coilover brands that are best suited? Or can you not really go too far wrong with a decent brand set at a sensible ride height? I've seen cars listed with KWs, Bilsteins etc.

Yeah you've hit the nail on the head really. KW and Bilstein are the most popular choices. Worth going KW v3's or Bilstein B16's though as they are fully adjustable, unlike some of the cheaper alternatives. I run KW v3's, a little lower than standard but not stupid low, 1 degree of negative camber to avoid any rubbing when cornering and the handling is fantastic. Not crashy in the slightest. I have Bilstein's on my other car (R32) and I would say the KW's are better but not by much; can't go wrong with either. Feel free to drop me a PM if you have any more specific queries on the B7. Otherwise, best of luck with your search.

[Rjhenderson22]

More concerned about the tax rate in future, this is a car I want to buy and be able to keep long term, but I get your point.
The one for sale at the moment looks a bit too modified for me, nothing that couldn't be undone to be fair, but the price also seems a bit steep and I'm not the type to make an insulting offer. I could also be completely out of touch on pricing, so if that seems like a steal let me know.

Yeah fair enough. Unless it's your daily though they're easy enough to SORN for x months of the year for the tax hit to be less of an issue.
The B7 market prices are all over the place, depending on the specific example. You get some for sale at £12k and others for sale at £35k+
What I will say is avoid completely standard cars that are:
a) still running DRC
b) have never had a carbon clean
c) no evidence of aux rads / oil cooler being replaced
d) haven't had recent discs/pads

Unless you want to add £10k to your total 'buy' price. There's an awful lot of examples on the typical car selling sites that are in the £16-20k range that may look clean and have a good write up but almost all of them meet the 4 bullet points above. It's then a £26-30k car by the time you get it to where it needs to be.

Of course some of this is personal opinion - some people swear by continually repairing the DRC and others are quite content with running a standard B7 and not bothering to carbon clean it. But having driven both standard and carbon cleaned/mapped B7's, they aren't even comparable. Some that haven't had a carbon clean struggle to make even 360bhp which is not really the performance one would expect from a car of this nature.

This is spot on. There is a huge difference between those cars which have the usual issues sorted and those which havent, both in terms of overall cost and importantly the driving experience.

I’d add brake discs and new clutch/flywheel to the four points above and whilst obviously a nice to have, cars which have been treated to stage 2 MRC and had a Miltek which for me transforms theses cars.

You can tell a lot by driving them… is it loose and a bit uninspiring or tight and pull all the way through the rev range. Also the owners will give a lot away just by the knowledge they have on the car, the work thats been done, how its been looked after.

Good luck with your search. Mine is for sale and listed on here and very happy to show you round it even if just to be helpful. Its not a low tax example but I also suspect this is marginal in the grand scheme of the cost of owning one of these.

Rob


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[mikep99]

not being daft here but how long do you think a carbon clean is beneficial for?
agree it's worth doing but to keep on top of things, it *needs?* doing every year or 2 depending on mileage.
I wouldn't be put off a car if it's not been done, not doing any harm.
if anything it's good as they're only pushing 360 rather than 420 through the drivetrain

[hopgop1]

not being daft here but how long do you think a carbon clean is beneficial for?
agree it's worth doing but to keep on top of things, it *needs?* doing every year or 2 depending on mileage.
I wouldn't be put off a car if it's not been done, not doing any harm.
if anything it's good as they're only pushing 360 rather than 420 through the drivetrain

I'd imagine how long until they get coked up depends on how the car's driven, from what I've read anyway. But are they really so fragile that having 70 less bhp is beneficial? That's the opposite of the impression I was under.
Not meaning to derail my own wanted post here.

[hopgop1]

More concerned about the tax rate in future, this is a car I want to buy and be able to keep long term, but I get your point.
The one for sale at the moment looks a bit too modified for me, nothing that couldn't be undone to be fair, but the price also seems a bit steep and I'm not the type to make an insulting offer. I could also be completely out of touch on pricing, so if that seems like a steal let me know.

Yeah fair enough. Unless it's your daily though they're easy enough to SORN for x months of the year for the tax hit to be less of an issue.
The B7 market prices are all over the place, depending on the specific example. You get some for sale at £12k and others for sale at £35k+
What I will say is avoid completely standard cars that are:
a) still running DRC
b) have never had a carbon clean
c) no evidence of aux rads / oil cooler being replaced
d) haven't had recent discs/pads

Unless you want to add £10k to your total 'buy' price. There's an awful lot of examples on the typical car selling sites that are in the £16-20k range that may look clean and have a good write up but almost all of them meet the 4 bullet points above. It's then a £26-30k car by the time you get it to where it needs to be.

Of course some of this is personal opinion - some people swear by continually repairing the DRC and others are quite content with running a standard B7 and not bothering to carbon clean it. But having driven both standard and carbon cleaned/mapped B7's, they aren't even comparable. Some that haven't had a carbon clean struggle to make even 360bhp which is not really the performance one would expect from a car of this nature.

This is spot on. There is a huge difference between those cars which have the usual issues sorted and those which havent, both in terms of overall cost and importantly the driving experience.

I’d add brake discs and new clutch/flywheel to the four points above and whilst obviously a nice to have, cars which have been treated to stage 2 MRC and had a Miltek which for me transforms theses cars.

You can tell a lot by driving them… is it loose and a bit uninspiring or tight and pull all the way through the rev range. Also the owners will give a lot away just by the knowledge they have on the car, the work thats been done, how its been looked after.

Good luck with your search. Mine is for sale and listed on here and very happy to show you round it even if just to be helpful. Its not a low tax example but I also suspect this is marginal in the grand scheme of the cost of owning one of these.

Rob


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks Rob, if you were closer I'd take you up on the offer of a walk around. Looks a great example at great price, paint it sprint blue and I'll send you a deposit haha.

[JRC1]

not being daft here but how long do you think a carbon clean is beneficial for?
agree it's worth doing but to keep on top of things, it *needs?* doing every year or 2 depending on mileage.
I wouldn't be put off a car if it's not been done, not doing any harm.
if anything it's good as they're only pushing 360 rather than 420 through the drivetrain

Varying opinions on this, also depends whether the car is used on short journeys and not getting up to temp or used more on long distance runs where it gets driven properly, but every 20k miles seems to be the general consensus.

Yeah I wasn't saying categorically don't go for a car that hasn't had a carbon clean, I was more saying be prepared to stick £1k aside for a proper clean, hence adding to the overall budget.
Sorry but your last comment is crazy! Who wants a 360bhp clogged up RS4 when they are meant to be 414bhp from factory? The engines are bulletproof, lots of people end up supercharging and running over 600bhp, so running anywhere between 420-450 after a clean and a Stage 2 tune is absolutely fine. An RS4 running 360bhp isn't a proper RS, but that's just my opinion.

Sorry OP I'll stop clogging up your wanted ad now but hopefully some of this has been useful!

[mikep99]

no one wants a "clogged up" rs4, I agree,.it's the nature of the beast. if you want 414 all the time, it'll néed a clean at every service...

[Jimbo46]

I’ve got a sprint blue RS4 just fitted last week bilstein b16 coil overs 59,400 miles tons of receipts service history fully refurbished alloys new tyres all round with disks and pads milltek wingback seats excellent condition all around. I’ve just spent £3500 on it with bits looking for £25,000

[chive90]

I’ve got a sprint blue RS4 just fitted last week bilstein b16 coil overs 59,400 miles tons of receipts service history fully refurbished alloys new tyres all round with disks and pads milltek wingback seats excellent condition all around. I’ve just spent £3500 on it with bits looking for £25,000

Wasn't it only 2 months ago that you were looking to buy one? What happened?