johnny_domino

I am an Audi virgin. I have always loved and respected Audi's, and I have wanted one my whole life.

Currently I drive and 07' Acura TL Type-S. Great car, but IT'S AN AUTOMATIC. So I am getting rid of it, and at the top of my list of cars, is a 04-06 S4. Test drove one, and LOVED IT!

However, I am scared to purchase one. I have heard repairs are extremley expensive and little things, like some electrical break a lot! I don't know if I am ready for the cost of ownership yet, but I really want the S4.

Questions:

1 - Do you absolutley have to get the car serviced every 10k? (Coming from owning only Japanese Cars which never needed it)

2 - How much does a regularly scheduled maintenance cost each time?

3 - I found a 04' S4 w/ 37k on it, is it going to give me trouble any time soon?

4 - Also is the 45k maintenance expensive?

5 - Can I drive this car hard? (My previous car was a 350z, i beat the hell out of it up til 60k, no problems ever)

Appreciate the feedback.

RVTS4

I had a 05 TL with the 6 speed and Brembos a while back...the S4 is sooo much better. The TL would get tied up in knots with FWD and that much power on twisty roads or spirited driving. It was a pretender...looked good, drove nicely, but WAS NOT a performance sedan. FWD with that much power ...well about 275 Hp...was pointless even wit the LSD.
I have an 05 S4 now...and I'm happy!!

johnny_domino

That's pretty much the way I feel about the TL. My only concern would be the reliability of the S4. TL's are practically bullet proof. Has your S4 given you any trouble? how many miles on it?

BC2885

Johnny...Saw your same thread on other board.Bought mine (04 dolphin),from orig owner w/ high miles bout 1.75 years ago w/ 95k miles (hwy).Now at 122k. Not gonna lie...Had alot of misc 300-500 dollar expenses on this,but it was a third car for me,plus i own trucks too.i keep going back to the s4 as its probably the most fun,capable daily driver ive ever owned.parts are awefully expensive,more than porsche,or benz,and not as reliable as those 2 either per my experience. Take it to an indi if you buy w/o warranty...save lots of you know what. Ive done fuel pump (700),wiper motor trans (350),valve cover gaskets (200),plugs (150), Ignition switch module?(150),rotors (250),all new coil packs (400),and im sure im forgetting a few things too. Im not going to include mods here (which is about everything you can do to a NA motor. I lowered w/ pss9's,hodgkins sways f&r on stiff setting,vmr rs4 reps,new summer rubber,milltech res cat back,ecs smoked side markers,tinted tails,windows,clear bra,etc,etc,etc. and more. Oh,JHM short throw shifter...a must! Momo shift ****...good looking,but built like all italian stuff...$hit! Oh,new front engine bushing from ecs to reduce driveline slop. main components good...tranny,driveline,engine excellent!!! Small bits/parts will fail w/ higher miles,but i saved over 10 grand buying miles which dont bother me in the least bit.The car will always be worth 10 grand even w/ 150k miles on it,so relax,try one out,and have some fun!!

brian.

johnny_domino

Thanks for the awesome response, that really helps put things in perspective. I am really starting to lean towards getting it now. The one i am looking at only has 37k on it, so hopefully it wont't be much trouble.

I have been YouTubing the Milltek exhaust, and it sounds ick! Definitley would have to get that.

Thanks Brian!

BC2885

Youre welcome J Domino! Also,this was/is my first Audi too. Even with the few "issues" ive had,i would say at this point i would buy another one for sure.This car feels the road like no other...Ah,wait a minute...My C4S 996 dis that too!..chuckle. But really,i like the overall feel of this car.Not too big,not too small,recaro's are an absolute MUST! You will love these seats,even for longer road trip scenarios.Plus,the quattro system performs very,very well! The fwd power on your acura would be a huge detractor for me.Anything in the 300hp range w/ fwd should NOT be fwd,period! The interior of these s4's are made very well with superior finishes to the imports imo. Lexus would be the closest to par with audi,and probable a little more modern,but the audi's leather in the recaro's will blow the Jap stuff away any day in every way.Im a car nut,and this thing puts a smile on my face everyday i get in it and i like how it looks in my garage too. You'll be in the German camp for life after buying there cars. Im everything but bmw. Benz,Porsche,audi for me!Just wish the parts for audi were less money and more in line with the other german cars,but they tend to be the most money out of the 3 i listed. Have fun with your purchase.Do not pay retail....PLEASE! Tell em youre worried about the gas mileage and the maintenance costs and ask for a few thousand off the price wheather a dealer or private party sale (preffered!). Good luck Domino.. Brian

BC2885

JD.... On milltech... Ive found guys bashing some exhaust companies saying bad welds,sound,bad cats,etc. At the end of the day,buy what you like. Any of the big boy companies build quality stuff and there all around the same money. i went with a resonated cat back millteck system and really enjoy the mild note with no cabin drone like w/ a non res system. I,instead of removing the resinators,will most likely go with a set of downpipes which will unlock some more power and deepen the tone a tad more in lieu of removing the res. To blow out the resinators or order w/o them,imo sounds obnoxious,unrefined,and rice like...even though the s4 has imo,one of the nicest,sexiest,natural motor sounds of nearly any car made! Its a magical powerplant paired with a very sturdy transmission. please tell me your buying a 6mt!!! No tips for this guy!

Have fun, brian

ColoQuattro

Go for an s-4!...but get a certified used one. I had my fun a few years back with a '05 dolphin grey avant and silver nappa Recaros and tiptronic. What a looker. Added, a resonated Miltek, Stop Tech 355 BBK conversion, neuspeed rear swaybar, and REVO ECU flash. This was the BEST performance car I have ever owned. Nothing sounded like that V-8 the first time I fired her up. Chose it over a C 53 AMG Benz due to its stability and over a M-3 due to it being a wagon (s'cuse me...Sport Back). The Benze was faster in a straight line but had no finesse in the curves...compareable to a 340 Duster with the wollowing and requirement for the ESP all of the time when driving it hard, and the M-3 was a 2 person car. The Audi was a rock solid handling car and what it gave up in striaght line performance it more that made up for in the corners and in our Colorado winters. Fit and finish was the best on the Audi.
Audi also had idiosyncrices like front lights that fogged up in damp weather, auto headlight switch that was changed 4 times. Bought new I spent little on repairs with their warranty plan. I first bought a allRoad which lived in the shop. AW finally lemonlawed the thing and traided me straight across for the S-4. I would not have a 6 series car just becuse of what I know about them from the Audi engineers and District Rep that traded me for my S-4... and Audi lost over $10,000 on that trade. They back up their products!
Now for the mid 20K's you cannot get a more exotic car with this much performance....4.2L all aluminum, 40v, V-8, Variable valve Timing, butterfilied exhaust system, AWD, BiXenon lighting, heated Recaros, tiptronic trans with paddle shifters, excellent sound system, plus more .... But get a certified unmodded one though, and other than exhaust and wheels, I would leave it stock except for some cosmetics. It is a sport luxo car and if you want more speed get a full on EVO with the Recaro's and with the Maybach engine.
I will buy a (certified) '05 S-4 Avant again soon and maybe I'll get lucky and get a nagaro blue one like I should have in the first place and I will keep my '91 200 20v TQ for modding and thrashing because "I" can work on the 200 20v Turbo since it's a uR 5 cyl car.
I don't care anymore that the EVO's and STI's are faster, the s-4 is far more comfortable, reliable, almost as fast (and with a better driver just as fast). I bet I can get my 200 to run with a EVO with the right Turbo, exhaust and other modds (this is not unheard of) There are some nice unmollested S-4's out there with gas prices where they are and many are lease returns. BTW--I didn't ever wait until 10,000 miles for the maintenance I did mine at 7500 miles religiously. Mine would have been a nice one to keep if my finances would not have tanked at the wrong time only owed $6000 more on her before I had to sell, but the bankruptcy courts would not have let me keep her anyway.

wmv

You are nuts if you do buy an Audi, they are fine while the factory warrantee is in place afterward forget it.

The cars themselves are very attractive to look at and drive but are toxiic to own.

Audi never was able to solve issues w/ my last S4 and washed their hands of it after 4 yrs. A friend purchased an Acure CS at the same time as my S4 purchase , Acura replaced the trans. for free 2 years after the warrantee had expired, and no there was no recall or external pressure for them to do so. That' the difference between Audi and Acura

supercarS4

I purchased my 2004 S4 Moro Blue with 6sp auto. It was a CPO by Audi and it had 55k miles. I have owned it close to 10 months now and have 61k miles on it. In that time it has been back to the dealer 3 times for warranty work. It needed new bushing in the front suspension, then a few months later the pin to a front drive shaft fell out which it had to be flat bed to the dealer. Then the power steering house cracked and started to leak returning it back to the dealer again. NOw I have a Airbag light coming on. With the warranty I have paid $150 so far. So I would not get this car without a warranty!!!!!
That being said, and how upset I do get with these stupid things going wrong The car is so fun to drive. SO much power, the quattro is great for handling and you will NEVER get stuck in the snow!!!!

So my realibilty of Audi is not so great but performence wise you can't beat them!!!!!!!!!!! I am going to ride this car out for a while then when the warranty is over make choice to keep it or trade it in. Right now even though I love the car the realitbilty of it has made me sour.