Looking at an S4 Tomorrow, advice needed ....

Inertiauk

Inertiauk

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I am going to look at this car tomorrow with a view to buy.

2004 Audi S4 Quattro 4dr Saloon 4.2

I rang him today and he has agreed a £1500 trade in for my 2.8 B5.5 which is decent. So the deal is looking to be 6k + my car.

The mileage isn't the lowest but it's got the RNSE, cruise and all the bits I would do such as miltek. And I love the white leather.

His 400 bhp sounds unrealistic, I found that a stage 2 revo map does actually exist but no info on hardware required or gains. Might be bs that ?

I have hpi and mileage checked and it all comes back good.

The car is 170 miles from me. What questions should I ask before I leave? And what should I be looking at when I get there besides standard stuff like uneven tyre wear, clean oil, clutch feel/ height.


Any info / opinions / input appreciated.
 
Timing chain rattle on start up is something to consider. That's an expensive fix. I would ask him not to start the car before you arrive that day, so its cold.

400 BHP would be a bit pie in the sky I would think too, cant imagine that gains, however 370 might be more realistic.

Looks a reasonable price considering the spec. Miltek aint cheap at around £700, revo probably £500, RNSE probably around £400-500, so not too bad a price imo. Just have a drive first, and see what you think. Since you have HPI'd the car, get their free insurance deal so you show up with a cover note for it, so there should be no excuse not to let you actually drive the car rather than be driven. Then you can check the clutch yourself.
 
id be wanting a RR print out to start with
 
Nice car, the white leather, although will be a ball ache to keep clean, looks gorgeous.

I would have thought it would have had a multifunction steering wheel with it having the RNSE but thats nothing.

Hopefully it'll be a sound motor.
 
JDM82 said:
Nice car, the white leather, although will be a ball ache to keep clean, looks gorgeous.

I would have thought it would have had a multifunction steering wheel with it having the RNSE but thats nothing.

Hopefully it'll be a sound motor.
Click to expand...

I think the RNSE is retrofitted.

A nice flat bottom multi function steering wheel would probably be on the cards in the future.
 
Inertiauk said:
I think the RNSE is retrofitted.

A nice flat bottom multi function steering wheel would probably be on the cards in the future.
Click to expand...


Ah thats probably it. Yeah I would definately look at getting the MFSW if you get the car. My A4 doesnt have one but Im getting one fitted.
 
that looks so good. Hope you enjoy
 
Hmmm. Missing some engine covers. Ask for a discount, lol.
 
Hurry up, take pics.

Hope it drives well and you pick it up. I love buying new cars!
 
Well happy, bought it, needs a set of wiper blades and a small scuff buffing out of the back bumper, or bumper painted at worst.

Also needs a Bonnet lifter, should be cheap enough to get though.

Am I best getting blades direct from a main stealer ? or eBay have some that claim to be genuine for £34.

GENUINE AUDI FRONT AERO WIPER BLADE KIT. A4,S4,RS4,A6 & A6 ALLROAD. | eBay



This car really goes well, I drove an S4 B6 years ago (I recall the screen price was 16k so it must have been a long time back) but I wasn't mega impressed over the B6 3.0QS I had at the time, however this one really does impress me. There is no proof of the map but I would believe its running at least 370, I will get it on the rollers and find out some time soon.

A Bonus I wasn't aware of when I got there it has a phatbox in the boot. I believe these wire up as a replacement to the cd changer, and the CD changer in the glovebox was working so I don't think the phatbox is wired up, but its there, need to investigate when I get time.

I averaged 29.8 mpg on the way home mostly cruising at 60, but with a bit of playing in there, but when I got back and went out for a 'play' that average for the day quickly dropped to ~25. Still live able.
 
your sig's wrong.:p
















congrats - look forward to seeing some piccies:photo:
 
Unless it already has Aero arms, them blades won't fit.

You can get the aero wiper arms off a B7 and they fit straight on. Typical 2nd hand price for arms and blades is around £50. Of course, you may expect to have to replace the blades sooner buying second hand. Think you are around £100 for new kit from Audi.
 
xs2man said:
Unless it already has Aero arms, them blades won't fit.

You can get the aero wiper arms off a B7 and they fit straight on. Typical 2nd hand price for arms and blades is around £50. Of course, you may expect to have to replace the blades sooner buying second hand. Think you are around £100 for new kit from Audi.
Click to expand...

It has them, I presumed they came in around 2004 (my 03 B6 never used to have them) or the owner retrofitted them, but it has them.

are the blades on ebay a good price ?
 
there was a thread recently about wiper blades stating the gsf and ebay types dont last 5 minutes compaired to the gen audi ones ill try for a search ok for the thread
 
Last time I checked, the dealers weren't too far off that price. No postage, or waiting for postage at the dealers though.
 
You should have Aero wipers on there - I have a an early 2004 (53-plate) with them.

That's about the same price as the dealers. I bought some last year and couldn't believe I'd only walked out with a couple of bits of rubber having spent almost £40!

If you find a cheaper source, let us know.

If that's all that's wrong with the car then you got a good deal; especially with all the optional extras they'd had fitted.

What did it sound like when it started? A rattle for a second is normal, so is an engine whine for the first minute or so of driving.

I'd crack on with an oil change as a priority job too. Make sure you put a good quality one in, as recommended on here, Audizine, AudiSRS or RS246.

Above all else though, find a tunnel or get under a motorway bridge and floor it. Nothing like that Milltek flavour!
 
biyitch said:
You should have Aero wipers on there - I have a an early 2004 (53-plate) with them.

That's about the same price as the dealers. I bought some last year and couldn't believe I'd only walked out with a couple of bits of rubber having spent almost £40!

If you find a cheaper source, let us know.

If that's all that's wrong with the car then you got a good deal; especially with all the optional extras they'd had fitted.

What did it sound like when it started? A rattle for a second is normal, so is an engine whine for the first minute or so of driving.

I'd crack on with an oil change as a priority job too. Make sure you put a good quality one in, as recommended on here, Audizine, AudiSRS or RS246.

Above all else though, find a tunnel or get under a motorway bridge and floor it. Nothing like that Milltek flavour!
Click to expand...

Will buy those blades then as they are genuine ones, thanks.

I don't hear anything worrying coming from the engine at all, even on a cold start it sounds tight to me.

Oil change is on the cards soon enough, Its on long life servicing though, can it be reset if the oil is changed sooner than the car needs it so that it continues. Oil was last done 18k miles ago (14 months ago) and the computer says it has 1400 miles or 302 days of life left in it so I was going to do the oil when the car tells me to. Which will be within the next 3-4 weeks.

I opened her up last night in some tunnels, second gear runs with the windows down. OMG!

I pulled onto some services after buying it and just gave it a little squirt in first to 20mph and every neck in the place snapped, bet they didn't expect to see an 8 yr old A4 lol.
 
That's an insane amount of time to go without an oil change. Unfortunately that's the default for all Audis, regardless of engine type.

You wanna be on the fixed interval service (12 months max.). Longlife servicing is not appropriate for these cars, despite what a dealer will tell you.

Most people change the oil every 5 or 6000 miles. I only do about 6000 miles a year so I'm good for an annual change.

You can reset the service warning in-car but you'll need access to VCDS (VAG-COM) to change the warning interval to fixed.

A good oil will cost about £80 (you need nearly 10 litres!).

Find a good VAG specialist you can trust. Luckily I did with the first one I tried - and they're a 2 minutes drive away. Bonus.
 
Thanks for the advice I will do that, Its hard to find somone you can trust, Think I will give Awesome GTI in Irlam a go, I have used them the odd time before, professional and thorough but the bill is high, you get what you pay for I guess. Plus I can get them to put it on the rollers after the oil change.

1 Thing about the car that makes me a bit puzzled is the cigarette lighter, on my 2003 A4 3.0QS backin the day it was on a swivel piece and hid away neatly.
On this its just a solid piece in the centre console, its like that nice little touch has been downgraded for this higher spec car.
 
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