Used Audi S4 (wagon)

GREAT cars, fast and fantastic to drive, wonderful feel and build quality.....until it hits the self-destruct point. I really think AoA sends out a signal to each car if you haven't bought a new one to replace it, the change is so pronounced.

Hated having to sell mine, but it was consistently costing $600-700 each month just to keep running (NOT including fuel). That was just on any item you can imagine, and many you can't; every new noise, odd new behavior, warning light, hiccup, etc. becomes pure dread. Even to two times it skipped a month were false hope - the next month's "WTF is THAT?!?!?" was more than twice the skipped month max "savings" of $700; the next time was just shy of 3X that, and I decided to get out while I could.

When I traded it, it still had no chassis squeaks, and the doors still closed like a bank vault, but everything else mentioned above killed it for me.

 

absolutely great cars, I've had 4 of them (2000, 2004 x 2 & a 2007). great to drive and the interior is probably the best in its class... the only shortcomings out of the box is the sound... they're too quiet stock. Add an exhaust and that problem is solved. They're very comfortable although the backseat isn't very roomy but would be fine for kids if that's your intention. for the price now I don't think you could find another wagon that would perform nearly as well and they're beautiful cars to boot!

I sold all of mine w/ relatively low mileage for one reason or another while they were all still under factory warranty so I never got to the point of having to spend a ton of money for upkeep but I tend to believe that the amounts that willrace said he was spending is not the norm. I think if you find one w/ a pretty complete service history and (preferably) a CPO warranty then you'll be fine. I say go for it, you won't regret it.

 

We have an '06 S4 Avant 6 spd...bought new....55K totally satisfied miles now.

TO DATE, WE HAVE NOT SPENT $100.00 ON MAINTENANCE OUTSIDE OF WARRANTY.
(it is on an extended warranty)
Not one service item has failed. Mfr's. notices excepted.

We have replaced the windshield due to a rock strike.
The battery died from old age; it could not be removed by mere humans, so had to be trucked to the dealer.

DITTO ON REPAIRS TO THE '08 R8 6 spd.

These are our 7th and 8th Audi's. Each of the others had mostly similar stories.
Expect to be adding a Spyder soon.

Guess ours are the exceptions.....Lucky us.

To the OP; for the right money, you can have our S4....;-)

 

They are great cars, and the amounts I was spending are not the norm, until they are. This was my 2nd Audi, in the same line, and while they were running happy, I was very, very happy.
It's only when AoA sends out the "self-destruct" signal (I'm sure there's something like that....I just know it) that it goes horribly wrong. If I could have found another brand-new car, exactly the same, I'd have been all over it. I did go from the first, in full-self-destruct-mode to another, to start it over again, after all.
I'd have also stepped out of it much earlier like most do, to avoid that last year of "WTF IS THIS FIX GONNA COST?!?!?", when it went from occasional (nothing, especially anything even close to serious, for months on end) to dependably traumatic.

The CPO program will only take cars a couple of years old, and with a limited number of miles, and those that Paul was asking about are out of both ranges.

 

Complete crap. Mine self destructed at 120,000 miles. I have kept Alfa Romeo's going for 450,000 miles with few problems so I take care of my cars. By far the most expensive car I have ever owned due to maintenance costs.

 

I love the concept of the S4 wagon, and have shopped them in the past, but everyone I talk to says something like this

 

We have a 2007 S4 Avant 6 speed manual, bought new in May 2007. It was our 3rd Audi, previous were a 98 A4 and a 2002 allroad, which we owned for 5.5 years and sold to buy the S4. I added a 2010 S5 to our garage about 1.5 years ago.

The S5 has been perfect, absolutely no issues. The 2002 allroad was nearly perfect, it needed one repair just before the 4 year warranty expired (driveshaft and wheel bearing), then a year later needed the hazard warning switch replaced. That's all, engine and trans were flawless.

The S4 has been fantastic, and very reliable. It used oil at a rate of about a liter every 2000 - 3000 km, but the 4.2 is known for using a bit of oil. We had originally leased the car because we were anticipating the B8 S4 Avant, due in 2009 or 2010, and were disappointed that the new S4 had a supercharged V6 instead of the fabulous V8, and even more so that Audi North America wasn't bringing the Avant version over here. Since we were more than happy with our 2007 S4, we bought out the lease and bought the extended warranty, and plan to keep it for a few more years.

There is nothing on the market that can replace it - an AWD, sporty, V8, manual transmission wagon. Here's a Road & Track test from 2005 with the S4 Avant (nearly identical to ours, Sprint Blue with silver interior) compared to the MB E55 wagon and Dodge Magnum SRT8: http://www.roadandtrack.com/tests/comparison/battlewagons

I know Audi reliability always comes up in any threads discussing them, and there are always posts from people with terrible experiences - but there will also be posts from owners such as tritone and myself who have had very positive experiences with them. 4.5 years, zero problems, extended warranty in case something comes up. We're not thinking of selling, because it's been great, reliable, we love it, and because there's nothing for sale these days that could replace it. I also know that when I do want to sell it, I will have a line of potential buyers bidding on it, starting with the guys working in the service department at the Audi dealer - every time it's in for routine service, I get one or two asking if I want to sell it.