Buying an RS4

[KernowPete]

Hi all
I am new to this forum and this is my first post! I currently drive a Mondeo ST220 but am looking to change it for an RS4 very soon. I'm basically after any advice I can get on buying one. For example, is it best to go Audi Used Approved? Clearly you get a degree of peace of mind with this but is it worth the £4-5k premium it seems to cost over non-used approved? Can anybody recommend any indepedent dealers, especially in the south west of England? There seem to be plenty for sale on Auto Trader but I'm wary of some of the dealers on there as I've read some horror stories on other forums. Any advice anyone can give me greatly appreciated - the RS4 is my affordable dream car but I'm not made of money and need to get it right. Cheers!

[HYFR]

best advice possible is wait for a forum owned enthusiast car to come up for sale here ... thats not biased, its fact ... the best way to buy a car is in as much knowledge of its history as possible and for it to have been loved and well cared for ... you get that all here

[Brisel]

Welcome

I'd second what aka_dk said. The only peace of mind with Approved Used cars is the warranty, and I think you'll find that those aren't exactly airtight!

Whatever you buy, it may have been driven hard, but at least with an enthusiast it will have been looked after too.

There are buyers guides in each RS forum.

Good luck

[TimDogg]

Mate, I went from an ST220 to an RS4 about a year ago so if you want any comparison info then just PM me. I must admit, it's hard to damage a V8 by driving it hard (then again it does rev up to 8k I suppose) but it's such a big lump they all feel solid. I went with Audi but when I went to resell it to them a year later (and with 5k miles extra on it) they were asking me to take a £10k hit on it - I told them to ram it! I wouldn't buy from Audi again because of this - go find a good independent and a car with <40k miles, you'll be fine, just get the AA or RAC to do the checks for you.

[steve_70]

best advice possible is wait for a forum owned enthusiast car to come up for sale here ... thats not biased, its fact ... the best way to buy a car is in as much knowledge of its history as possible and for it to have been loved and well cared for ... you get that all here

Having just bought from a dealers I would Third that advice. Buying from dealer was 2nd choice for me, as lurking on PH and here for months, nothing came up that was right for me.

I had bad experiences with Audi used Approved, and with Indys and private sellers... would I buy another one from Audi .... NO, not because of any issues/ horror stories of the car as such, but the sales and service is absolutely shocking of about the 8 or so dealerships I visited.

I managed to find some cracking examples that were worth every penny, but the sales and service was shocking and so refused to give them the time or my money... they don't deserve the buisness.

I did in the end find the right one for me at a dealers and I got the car I wanted at the right price, but its was uphill struggle all the way and would I go back....no.

This is in contrast to our local dual Mitsi/peugeot dealer,I have built up a good rapport with the sales/ service team and they value me as a repeat customer, I have had 3 peugeots in a row as runarounds to the Evo, having also bought string of Mitsi's from them and currently asking them to look out for another Evo for me that I can px the pug I got from them... so RS for the family and Evo for the track.

[EvlD3mon]

I bought from what I thought was a reputable dealer, wrong! damn thieves car had previous hidden damage. all I can say is take your time and don't me awed like I was cause its an RS4. everthing must be agreable and ok. its better to pay more for a cleaner model now that pay less now and more later for repairs and aches!

[sonny]

Its not all doom and gloom. When I purchased mine from the dealer I had no issues at all (Bury st Edmund's Audi) and the car was spot on. I think it is very hit or miss. Depends on who you are talking to in the dealership too helps, if you get talking to the dealership mongo then your f**ked, chat to one who is clued up and understands the RS4 then your laughing. As you say you will get piece of mind with dealership but at a 4-5k plus premium. But the car will more than likely come with a 12 month Warranty too.

[DuncS3]

You think its really 4-5k premium? I would have said more like 3k and in that I'm factoring cost of warranty to me of approx 1500 (half that to the dealer)?

[Steve_C]

I got mine from German Marques in Tewkesbury. I'd recommend them - honest guys.

[ShaneyB]

best advice possible is wait for a forum owned enthusiast car to come up for sale here

+1
With the money saved you can get Warranty Direct to sort you out. I bought my 1st S Audi from Amersham in 2002 and they were excellent - until I noticed all the paint blemishes under the laquer, then they didn't want to know. I'll never buy direct from Audi again. I was lucky and got mine indirectly from a forum member(s) and speaking to them directly was invaluable, as is this site
Just used the main delers for test drives and to compare specs/performance.

[rs4007]

Audi dealership or not, surely a full and recent audi service history is a good thing to go by, i hope so anyway... I assume audi recommend when any necessary changes need done, including big expensive ones on the service report. For example the last service said my car needed to change spark plugs at 60k and this was done 500 miles before I bought the car at 53k miles.

[HYFR]

FSH is a MINIMUM but it does not by any means mean the car will be tip top if its all done by Audi ... its a myth

reputable specialist all day long for me

[RS6Steve]

I'd recommend buying only a forum owned RS4 as you know exactly what you are getting.