What do we think about imports?

[neckarsulm]

Forget 'lemon' yellow and go for this one - nearer too.

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1305289.htm

[stumpyrs4]

Looks nice that one. Check they replaced the water pump, thermostat, and auxillary bits when they did the cambelt...

[MOR8A]

Phoned them the day after they put it on Ph's and its sold.

[Dippy]

I can offer some advice.

The concern about the 'UK spec' of a 'personal' import (as opposed to the import done by the official dealer) really comes from Asian cars (primarily Japan). Performance cars made by companies like Subaru have been very attractive as personal imports, being RHD at source. However the Japanese spec does not always stand up to the UK spec (e.g. underseal). As a consequence there has been a risk with such cars on the UK used market.

But Audi is TOTALLY different. Not only is the base German spec good enough for all of Europe, but we are talking about a serious manufacturer here who builds quality cars. When they build a car with RHD for the UK market it is built to the same standard whether it is a personal import or an import organised by Audi UK.

I personally imported my B5 S4. Without going into detail, I can assure you that it is SUPERIOR to any B5 S4 of the same age which was imported by Audi UK.

I know nothing about this Yellow RS4, but if it is a UK personal import (ideally check the instrument cluster coding as xx4xx, but otherwise an English language service book with the (German) dealer's stamp is a good indication), then the only things to consider are:

1) Cost: The car could have cost the first owner around 20% less than if it had been bought through a UK dealer. This often (and rightly so) sets a buyer's expectation that the sell-on price should be lower than a UK dealer car of the same age and condition.
2) Warranty: Obviously the VAG general warranty has expired, but the bodywork warranty has not. I have no experience of this, but it might be difficult to get a UK dealer to honour a bodywork warranty for a personal import. The tailgate trim is a known rust-spot so this is a risk (I sorted mine myself without bothering to try to claim).
3) Insurance: I have NEVER had any insurer raise my premium because the car is a personal import. There may be exceptions, but generally insurers know what I stated above - personal imported Japanese cars may be a risk, but German ones are certainly not.
4) Service: I have heard of case where snotty service people are impolite to owners of personal imports. I have not had this experience and have generally found Audi UK dealer service to be impartial in this regard.
5) VAT: For completeness (it does not affect this car), the VAT receipt must be maintained by the owner for 4 years after the payment date.

Final comment about longlife: As long as the correct spec oil has been used* and the service record shows an oil change at least every 10,000 miles (which is the most any AVS indicator should allow), then I wouldn't worry. Buying a used RS4 is a risk anyway because you don't know how well the previous owner(s) have treated (or mistreated) the car. Full-boost from cold starts will harm the longevity of the turbos far more than leaving the oil in too long.

*Which is a requirement for AVS and fixed alike.

[Contigo]

Generally the longlife oil used is a completely different grade and viscoity to the Short life/variable servicing Quantum Synta Gold/Platinum 5W40 and is therefore not up to the job.

[Dippy]

Last time I checked, Audi required (as per maintaining warranty) that the B5 RS4 must have engine oil to VAG 503.01 (e.g. Synta Gold, Mobil1) regardless of servicing regime. The whole point of AVS is that it uses the engine's oil viscosity sensor to drive the 'miles to service' algorithm. In other words use of so-called 'longlife' oil would have immediately invalidated the warranty and therefore Audi dealers would not use it.

Hence I stand by my earlier comment.

[Contigo]

OK that may be the case but there are defintely different types of Synta Oil which are labelled as "longlife" and Synta Gold/Platinum.

These cars on a longlife service plan is plain wrong.

[jc..]

I had an B6 S4 Avant, and this is in a different league.
The performance standard is great. The performance tuned is feckin' awesome. Tuned you'll be quicker than 911's, some fezzas, any BMW/AMG, Aston's, etc etc. There's only c400 in the UK so rare as rocking horse sh1t.

really? we talking about the V8 NA engine here or am I missing something?
what tuning can you do to get those results short of super/turbocharging it?

[MOR8A]

No we are talking about the 2.7 V6 Twin turbo B5 RS4 not the B6 or B7.

[prosty]

A cars condition is the only thing to judge, mileage and history not as important to me. Who cares if someone has scratched all four wheels and the paintwork if someone else has put on new wheels and resprayed the car

[Contigo]

Wow, Lulea Prosty! I've been there and to Umea.. both great places.. Love Sweden.

[prosty]

Great , let me know if you come here again and I'll show you some nice quattro iceroads heheh