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Thoughts and advice

Posted: Wed Feb 03, 2016 10:40 am
by 114uyc
I am going to look at these two http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/ ... 185265?v=b http://www.0260cars.com/used-cars/detai ... vant-U173/ any thoughts ? spec ok anything missing ??

Re: Thoughts and advice

Posted: Wed Feb 03, 2016 11:32 am
by daytonamart
FWIW I think the Pistonheads car could be a good buy, it seems good value for the spec and miles although the owner doesn't call it Daytona Grey and says it has a panoramic sunroof.

This could be a sign of naivety on the sellers behalf but could point to towards a lack of maintenance/good practice whilst in their ownership.

The dealer car has low miles so the cost is probably justified if the brakes, tyre depths and recalls and have been looked into.

If the private car has been loved then 5k saving could go along way to pay for anything that might crop up.

HTH.

Mart.

Re: Thoughts and advice

Posted: Wed Feb 03, 2016 12:06 pm
by Surrey Sam
Welcome, you'd probably get a lot more replies by posting this again in the B7 RS4 forum section.

Have you read up on the problem areas with the B7 RS4? If not, then get yourself up to speed on things like clutch, DRC failure, auxiliary radiator leaks, oil cooler line failure, carbon build-up, TPMS warnings and brake replacement cost. A good RS4 is a great car.

Car 1 (private)

Looks to be a wife/weekend car, so all the wheels need refurbishing but it's refreshing to see a full Audi history still on the car, also it needs an OS fog light. Give the interior condition a thorough check over, as that's where the wear will be. Spec wise, it looks to have a good one with sunroof, FBSW, bucket seats, black optics, auto lights, auto wipers, dimming rear view mirror, centre armrest, black headlining(?), it also has Piano Black inlays instead of the more preferred Carbon version. From looking at the pictures it may have the SS+ suspension option, so check the Sticker located in the front of the service history booklet for the build code 2ME (standard suspension is 2MC).

Other observation is that it has a 2010+ RNSe (£1200 retrofit) and a parrot phone kit - I'd personally rip out the parrot kit and get an OEM Bluetooth module fitted instead. The good thing with a 2010+RNSe is the unit can have Audi's AMI module retrofitted and coded to replace the CD changer - this then gives you full USB/Apple integration through the head unit. Only strange thing is that it doesn't look to have a perforated leather gearshift knob to match the steering wheel, instead it looks like a suede one that's worn smooth and the matching steering wheel replaced with a second hand perforated one.

Car 2 (dealer)

Great mileage and getting rare now, hence the premium price.

Spec is near identical to the private car except for Sunroof and suspension - looks like this one has the standard 2MC option. It has the Carbon inlays and the light headlining which I personally don't like as much - others do however. Interestingly this also has benefited from a 2010 RNSe retrofit; this time the client/installer decided to have the newer gloss black screen surround and chrome control dials, rather than retain the original items like done in the private car.

Hope that helps a bit, nothing beats going and getting a feel for them though.