Venom Team

Howdy All!

I posted here a few months ago asking for advice about the sport package on the A4, and I really appreciated the advice. My dealer just found me a great A4 prestige with the sport package, and I'm taking delivery today.

This will be my first Audi, and honestly, my first new car ever. I was hoping people here would share pointers or tips on owning an Audi -- the things you wish you'd known ahead of time. Any insight on keeping the car in good shape, cosmetic or mechanical would be very much appreciated!

Thanks for your time!

heisnuts

If you plan on keeping the car for at least 4 to 5 years, I would say that Audi Care makes a lot of sense. The package is sold for $869 and will cover all of your factory services for 5 years/50,000 miles (your first service at 1 year/10,000 miles is already covered by Audi already) at any Audi dealer.

On the detailing side, there are a ton of products out there that are good. I personally like the Adam's line since we have a local dealer here who stocks the line and Adam has a ton of how to videos on his site showing exactly how to get the best results from each of his products. His site is www.adamspolishes.com

rjshenoy

You should most definitely consider tinting the windows to protect the awesome A4 interior from harmful uv/infra rays.

Also, a ceramic coating for the exterior surfaces to protect the factory paint and give it a polished look. I went with Opti coat PRO.

mplsbrian

The paint on modern Audis is very, very soft and chips extremely easily compared to other cars or trucks you may be used to. Many owners will invest in a 3M or Xpel clear bra covering the full front bumper, and either a full or partial hood. If you don't, expect the front end paint to be pitted from sand within the first year and expect any rock chips from errant trucks etc to go straight through the paint. Expect to pay as much as $700+ for a quality installation job with top grade self-healing film, and if you are going to do it, do it immediately because once the damage is done it's probably too late to correct fully and slap film over...I had my film put on 24 hours after delivery--and caught my first rock 48 hours after delivery which sliced right through the hood film (but did not destroy the paint thanks to said protection). I have caught 3-4 nasty rock chips (also protected by the film) in the 17,000 miles since delivery on my S4 and am very glad I spent the money.

Relatedly, many will choose to only hand-wash their car because soft paint/clear like this is more prone to swirling than, say, an F150.

I like Collinite 845 for wax, it seems to go on very easily and adds only 30-45 mins to my wash routine. Alternatively you can look into ceramic coatings but that is a huge add'l cost and is also something that requires pristine paint to apply and so you gotta get it done right away or pay for a full paint correction routine first to do it properly. I personally prefer to just wax as I actually find the process somewhat therapeutic...makes me appreciate my car more.