Buying an S4 Avant - what to watch for?
Discussion
Guys,
Just read a previous message about buying and S4 and there was some good decent advice.
What I want to know is if the car has done 75K miles, what should have been done in terms of servicing - what should have been replaced by now, what are the regular niggles and what needs replacing regularly.
This will be my first decent high-performance car (current ride is a Mk4 Gold GTI Turbo 150bhp), decent enough, but certainly no ground shaker.
Have spotted several nice examples but would need to travel a long distance to test drive – so I want to know what questions I should be asking.
If I got the car inspected at the dealers, would those inspectors neccessarily pick up on the very things that an S4 should be pukka on??
Also 2 dealerships - anyone had any contact with these dealers and are they any good?
Fontain Motors, Nr Slough
Croft Motors, Uxbridge
Cheers Guys appreciate any advice in return.
Neill
Just read a previous message about buying and S4 and there was some good decent advice.
What I want to know is if the car has done 75K miles, what should have been done in terms of servicing - what should have been replaced by now, what are the regular niggles and what needs replacing regularly.
This will be my first decent high-performance car (current ride is a Mk4 Gold GTI Turbo 150bhp), decent enough, but certainly no ground shaker.
Have spotted several nice examples but would need to travel a long distance to test drive – so I want to know what questions I should be asking.
If I got the car inspected at the dealers, would those inspectors neccessarily pick up on the very things that an S4 should be pukka on??
Also 2 dealerships - anyone had any contact with these dealers and are they any good?
Fontain Motors, Nr Slough
Croft Motors, Uxbridge
Cheers Guys appreciate any advice in return.
Neill
Assuming you mean a 2.7 TT S4?
Early models, check that intercooler pipes have been replaced as per re-call.
Check diffs and driveshaft exits. diff seals are prone to fail.
75k is right on the cam belt change. The book says 80k, but dealers are now recommending 60k miles. if your prospective purchase hasn't had it done, then it needed it 15k miles ago. The front of the car needs stripped and it is a £500 touch at the dealers.
Brakes are the weakest areas on the car. at 75k I would be bargaining for a full set of discs and pads.
handbrake mechanism poor. Cables often stretch and handbrake often has excessive travel.
waterpumps known to fail, listen for faint tappety sounding knocks at the top front of the engine indicating waterpump bearings.
Turn car from lock to lock when stationary and listen for a noisy power steering pump.
listen for squeeks and rattles over bumpy ground. the car has lots of bushes which wear and you can never pinpoint which one is making the noise.
rear ARB drop links are a common failure, but they are cheap.
Wheelbearings also fail, listen for rumbles.
look under the rear of the car and check the second exhaust mounting bracket from the back. It is common to find this cracked and not attached to the exhaust.
Other than that it is just general buyer beware stuff.
Don't buy a car that seems too cheap. S4's are sought after cars which people do not have to struggle to sell. if one seems cheap then it is cheap for a reason.
Neil.
Early models, check that intercooler pipes have been replaced as per re-call.
Check diffs and driveshaft exits. diff seals are prone to fail.
75k is right on the cam belt change. The book says 80k, but dealers are now recommending 60k miles. if your prospective purchase hasn't had it done, then it needed it 15k miles ago. The front of the car needs stripped and it is a £500 touch at the dealers.
Brakes are the weakest areas on the car. at 75k I would be bargaining for a full set of discs and pads.
handbrake mechanism poor. Cables often stretch and handbrake often has excessive travel.
waterpumps known to fail, listen for faint tappety sounding knocks at the top front of the engine indicating waterpump bearings.
Turn car from lock to lock when stationary and listen for a noisy power steering pump.
listen for squeeks and rattles over bumpy ground. the car has lots of bushes which wear and you can never pinpoint which one is making the noise.
rear ARB drop links are a common failure, but they are cheap.
Wheelbearings also fail, listen for rumbles.
look under the rear of the car and check the second exhaust mounting bracket from the back. It is common to find this cracked and not attached to the exhaust.
Other than that it is just general buyer beware stuff.
Don't buy a car that seems too cheap. S4's are sought after cars which people do not have to struggle to sell. if one seems cheap then it is cheap for a reason.
Neil.
Whoa! Heightswitch... it certainly looks like you know your onions fella.
You've obviously come across one or two in your time then.
Fantastic advice, and many thanks for it too, but sadly I am not mechanically minded at all so I'm not going to know what I was talking about if I blabber on at the dealerships and I wouldn't know what I was looking for anyway - and they're gonna sniff that out straight away and blind me with science. I am a mechanically ignorant sportscar fan!
The few cars that I have seen in adverts say they've got FASH, so is the cambelt issue already going to be resolved because of the FASH? and would a dealer make sure that the cambelt change was something pointed out in an advert - or thirdly, I should just bloody-well ask to make sure.
I think what I need is an Audi Service Engineer to take a day off from work and come with me to view cars, a daft idea maybe, but I'm sure there's a decent enough living to be made on-the-side by offering know-none's like me a marque specific, non-biased, service mechanic/engineer's view on a car before we buy.
I know you can get Vehicle Inspectors to come and take a look, but would they really know to look for every single point that you have just pinpointed? - would they know about the Intercooler Pipe re-call??
Just out of curiosity - is there anyone out there that already provides this kind of service, specifically for Audi cars?
And finally... does anyone know any info about the two dealers that I mentioned previously... they both carry large Audi stock and was just wondering what kind of reputations they have.
Fontain Motors, Nr Slough
Croft Motors, Harebridge, Uxbridge
Heightswitch, many thanks for the info - lots and lots there for me to think about.
Neill O
You've obviously come across one or two in your time then.
Fantastic advice, and many thanks for it too, but sadly I am not mechanically minded at all so I'm not going to know what I was talking about if I blabber on at the dealerships and I wouldn't know what I was looking for anyway - and they're gonna sniff that out straight away and blind me with science. I am a mechanically ignorant sportscar fan!
The few cars that I have seen in adverts say they've got FASH, so is the cambelt issue already going to be resolved because of the FASH? and would a dealer make sure that the cambelt change was something pointed out in an advert - or thirdly, I should just bloody-well ask to make sure.
I think what I need is an Audi Service Engineer to take a day off from work and come with me to view cars, a daft idea maybe, but I'm sure there's a decent enough living to be made on-the-side by offering know-none's like me a marque specific, non-biased, service mechanic/engineer's view on a car before we buy.
I know you can get Vehicle Inspectors to come and take a look, but would they really know to look for every single point that you have just pinpointed? - would they know about the Intercooler Pipe re-call??
Just out of curiosity - is there anyone out there that already provides this kind of service, specifically for Audi cars?
And finally... does anyone know any info about the two dealers that I mentioned previously... they both carry large Audi stock and was just wondering what kind of reputations they have.
Fontain Motors, Nr Slough
Croft Motors, Harebridge, Uxbridge
Heightswitch, many thanks for the info - lots and lots there for me to think about.
Neill O
Fontain & Croft seem to have the majority of all 2.7 S4's on sale so they are good places to see a variety of cars. I recently bought an S4 Avant from Fontains and they seem a decent enough outfit - but you do pay top dollar!
If I had had the time I would have saved £3k and bought privately. With a bit of patience good ones can still be found - sometimes with balance of Audi Warranty.
Also any Audi dealer will carry out an Inspection for you - for about 2 hours labour cost - and if any faults are corrected can then sell you an Audi Extended warranty. This is circa £750 but your total spend will still be less than buying from Fontains or Crofts.
One other thing you can do, once you have found a car is to call Audi Customer services (08700 105671)and they will confirm service history/recalls & factory fitted options.
Good Luck with your search. I am quite pleased with mine, but I can see why brake & suspension upgrades are popular - which I would definately do before re-mapping/chipping!
Cheers
Vic
PS also see www.rs246.com
If I had had the time I would have saved £3k and bought privately. With a bit of patience good ones can still be found - sometimes with balance of Audi Warranty.
Also any Audi dealer will carry out an Inspection for you - for about 2 hours labour cost - and if any faults are corrected can then sell you an Audi Extended warranty. This is circa £750 but your total spend will still be less than buying from Fontains or Crofts.
One other thing you can do, once you have found a car is to call Audi Customer services (08700 105671)and they will confirm service history/recalls & factory fitted options.
Good Luck with your search. I am quite pleased with mine, but I can see why brake & suspension upgrades are popular - which I would definately do before re-mapping/chipping!
Cheers
Vic
PS also see www.rs246.com
Definitely get any prospective car to a specialist before you hand over the cash. Try to avoid the main stealers as they, in my experience, are often incompetent! I now use QST in Haywards Heath and they are excellent.
There's lots of other things to check, like turbo pressure relief valves, diff seals etc..., all of which can be expensive but not earth-breaking. Certainly check all the electrics, climate etc...
Then you'll want to look at suspension mods, short-shifter, brake conversions etc... but that just adds to the fun.
Oh, and K04's are somthing else, but I've not done that yet!!
Best of luck finding your car - you know you're doing the right thing!!
Maybe even a specialist will know of a car for sale??
Cheers
Rob
There's lots of other things to check, like turbo pressure relief valves, diff seals etc..., all of which can be expensive but not earth-breaking. Certainly check all the electrics, climate etc...
Then you'll want to look at suspension mods, short-shifter, brake conversions etc... but that just adds to the fun.
Oh, and K04's are somthing else, but I've not done that yet!!
Best of luck finding your car - you know you're doing the right thing!!
Maybe even a specialist will know of a car for sale??
Cheers
Rob
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