Money Pits?

Z

Z82

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Are S4's generally money pits?
Reason I ask is I have been looking for a newer A4 and can not make my mind up between a 1.8TQS and mod it heaps (engine wise) or an S4 and a generic map (revo or similar).
Either way I'd like late 200's or early 300bhp but I dont want a car thats likely to be needing lots of money spent on it regularly.

My current A4 has served me well for the 2.5yrs Ive owned it, other than general servicing the only thing Ive had to spend money on was 2 broken springs and its just turned 140k
 
Parts are way more than a 1.8TQ and the K03's on the S4 are not known for there reliability in the long run and the 1.8TQ way cheaper to mod and work on but performance wise the S4 is way better.
 
Nice 1.8TQS's are hard to find which kinda sways me towards the S4 as I have been looking for a while but wont be in a position to buy for another month or so however I may of just sold my v6, will know later today.
 
they are all money pits!
I reckon over 3 years I will be looking at close to £10-12k for the car and all the parts and bits I have for it. that will leave me with a 400bhp car with awesome brakes and adjustabel suspension. this also involved me doing a lot of the work.

don't think I could do the same with an S4 of the same year I would be £3-4 grand further out of pocket
 
18tqs are relatively rare and hold their price well, but it's worth saying not to go out and buy a bargain basement S4 because although its only a little more than the TQS, its likely to be knackered.

The TQS is probably going to be my next car, in a year or so, the main reason i aint going to do very much to the current car is the lack of quattro means its not something i plan to keep for too long. If i keep it going with general maintenance i hope to be able to sell it on and not lose too much money on it.

Saying that, a V8 powered B5 has been tempting me, so maybe a 2.8 Quattro would be a better buy as they're usually cheaper, then slot the V8 in :) Could probably have 300hp of V8 B5 for the price of a decent S4
 
I bought a 98 S4 with 120k on the clock and full Audi main dealer history.

2 days later the gear selector jammed and it ended up costing me £1500 to get sorted including changing the clutch and flywheel while they were at it.

The other week i had to replace the rear brake pads and battery and that cost a further £200.

In reality that could've happened to any car i bought and you can't buy a car that was the best part of 50k new and expect it to not cost a fortune to get it fixed.

Just buy what you want any worry about it if and when something does let go. You only live once!
 
aragorn said:
18tqs are relatively rare and hold their price well, but it's worth saying not to go out and buy a bargain basement S4 because although its only a little more than the TQS, its likely to be knackered.

The TQS is probably going to be my next car, in a year or so, the main reason i aint going to do very much to the current car is the lack of quattro means its not something i plan to keep for too long. If i keep it going with general maintenance i hope to be able to sell it on and not lose too much money on it.

Saying that, a V8 powered B5 has been tempting me, so maybe a 2.8 Quattro would be a better buy as they're usually cheaper, then slot the V8 in :) Could probably have 300hp of V8 B5 for the price of a decent S4
Click to expand...

Sounds like you need a word with Sienna matey!! He's doing just that! :hubbahubba:
 
Cant imagine how much an S4 would cost to run, as my 1.8TQS approaches 60K I am finding its needing a lot of replacement parts, all servicable parts but still, its costing me a lot more to run than any of my Civics did, the parts and servicing costs are expensive!

I would like to think that once these parts are replaced it will be happy motoring for 60K miles!!!

:redrs4:
 
I've just been to see an S4 today - over a year older than my tqs, 14k more miles and after a £3k part-ex value for mine would cost an extra £4,780... A difficult move to justify, especially when the S4 didn't feel that much quicker than my 180bhp (?) and the brakes felt dead after the initial bite...
I'm guessing that it should have felt a lot quicker than mine - boost leak perhaps? Actually enjoyed the 30 mile drive back - I'm guessing I shouldn't have after a run out in a 'proper' S4...
 
Must have been a problem with it, or you were expecting to much!? Is your 1.8T totally standard?

Whats the tax like under the new rules on the S4, and the fuel bills must be a worry. I am really happy with my 1.8, its ecomical when you need it to be and the power is there if you need it too. Or it used to be anyway! Has problems at the mo
 
My Tqs has a 710N (so holds boost as it should) and an N75J (so it boosts a little more aggressively), but other than that it's out of the box minus 100000 miles of wear.
I tested a tiptronic A6 2.7t last week. It felt keener than the S4 and the A4 did feel a little flat on the way home afterwards... Not interested in an A6 now though - too much of a big bus for my liking.
Is it worth the extra £4k I'm going to have to fork out for the same age car with a bit more performance, that's going to cost more to mod and maintain? Maybe I should just try to get enough together for a B5 RS4 - at least that will hold it's money!

I do need a V6 though - 4 pots just sound too boring! :rolleyes:
 
Cheers Doc, I spotted that the other day but need to see if my car sells today or not (im not holding my breath as the buyer lives in the clouds a lot)

Well all comments are pushing me back towards the TQS.
TBH if I had a TQS I'd be happy with 250bhp (rather than aformentioned 300) How obtainable would this be on a 180TQS (ie money wise)?
 
@hiltoa. Cool, thinking of upgrading my recirc when my standard one pops and will the N75 at the same time, not replacing them yet though as my current standard one is healthy,

Love the A6 2.7T, there is a modded one near me and it sounds awesome and looks great, has an Oettinger kit on it
 
Z82 said:
Cheers Doc, I spotted that the other day but need to see if my car sells today or not (im not holding my breath as the buyer lives in the clouds a lot)

Well all comments are pushing me back towards the TQS.
TBH if I had a TQS I'd be happy with 250bhp (rather than aformentioned 300) How obtainable would this be on a 180TQS (ie money wise)?
Click to expand...

You would need a K04-15 turbo to get you close, injectors, FMIC, TT225 MAF and a remap.

Oh and there is a K04-15 in the for sale section for what I would say is cheap money and very rare.
 
Is it worth fitting a TT225 MAF to a standard car as mine is having one next week and may as well upgrade if its worth it, its not remapped yet but will be after summer
 
As I have posted elsewhere, mine is now near 170K. The only real expense is getting the cambelt done, between £600 an £800. Get mine done every 40K, but think it is a 60K fix?

1 set of EGTs, 1 set of lambdas, couple of sets of disks, one throttle body (not boot), one stainless exhaust and thats it. still original turbos, so dont know why people say they are bobbins.
 
SonicDeathMonkey3 said:
still original turbos, so dont know why people say they are bobbins.
Click to expand...

Ah, you're probably one of the few that lets the turbos cool down for a decent while before turning off. I guess you change the oil regularly too?

IMHO it's not so much the turbos that are bobbins, it's the packaging that is a little cramped...
 
Oil? it gets changed when they service it, every 10K. It's all been motorway miles and, to be honest, I drive the car like it's stolen.

As for letting it cool down, not really.

The other cost, of course, is fuel. expect 22-24 mpg. I would not be surprised to see mre on the market as fuel soars.
 
lol i just picked one up in silver just the same as my t sport - she noticed it was different as she screamed more than usual on a sprint run :)
 
hiltoa said:
My Tqs has a 710N (so holds boost as it should) and an N75J (so it boosts a little more aggressively), but other than that it's out of the box minus 100000 miles of wear.
I tested a tiptronic A6 2.7t last week. It felt keener than the S4 and the A4 did feel a little flat on the way home afterwards... Not interested in an A6 now though - too much of a big bus for my liking.
Is it worth the extra £4k I'm going to have to fork out for the same age car with a bit more performance, that's going to cost more to mod and maintain? Maybe I should just try to get enough together for a B5 RS4 - at least that will hold it's money!

I do need a V6 though - 4 pots just sound too boring! :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Mate, i don't know what S4 you drove but it obviously had serious issues with the engine. My old car was a re mapped 1.8t sport with all with a bailey dv, n75j etc and was quite a quick little car and my S4 absolutely blows it away. It doesn't have the all or nothing power delivery that the 1.8t had, it's just smooth power the whole way.

I'd suggest you drive another one before making your mind up.
 
Arrgg...
Im back in the middle again lol


Well the guy interested in my car isnt getting back to me till weekend now and if he is taking it its not till after F&M show but I wasnt going to advertise it till then any way so I guess theres no rush the now.

I think when the time comes I'll just see whats on offer be it a TQS or an S4 and decide then. If Im buying a TQS I'd like one in black or white preferabley, which limits a rare find even more, if its an S4 I'll be slightly less fussy about colour.


Thanks for all the input and advice guys, youve all just confused me even more lol
 
I would consider selling my 1.8TQS for the right price but its hibiscus red, however it is mint with only 58K clock, just needs a new MAF which its booked in for and a new tyre and thats it

I miss high revving engines :(
 
@smitch - I intend to drive as many as I can - not a lot to look at in the Leeds area though... :( Where are they all hiding?
 
check pistonheads and autotrader a few times a day - I must have looked at 8 or so in my search, there are some good un's out there but a lot of ones that have been abused or not maintained properly.

I had to do quite a bit of mileage in my search, york, nottingham, slough, brum etc
 
Fraser said:
check pistonheads and autotrader a few times a day - I must have looked at 8 or so in my search, there are some good un's out there but a lot of ones that have been abused or not maintained properly.

I had to do quite a bit of mileage in my search, york, nottingham, slough, brum etc
Click to expand...

I have PH and AT on all day at work. Trouble is, the only time I really get to look at stuff during the week is on my lunch, which limits my range somewhat. The one I've looked at was in Sheffield - bit of an extended lunch hour... :whistle2:
I'm not in a desperate rush - still lovin my little 1.8t :kissmyrings:, just fancy more urge and a sweeter vocal performance!
 
the difference from the 1.t to the S4 is pretty astounding, I used some days off work and daisy chained a few visits together - did 3 in one day - phew!
 
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