Stage 2 S4 w/s-tronic + high mileage, recipe for disaster?

[Chris Paine]

Hi all, first post on here after coming back to the Audi fold after a brief sojourn into BMW ownership which I'm glad I'm now over.

To cut to the chase, I've put a small holding deposit down on a 2009 S4 avant with stage 2 MRC tune. The current owner is holding it for me so I can go and view it in detail on Saturday. The car has 121k on it and has full service history and recently had 3k of work done on the gearbox. It's this which worries me as I know they can be a bit of an achilles heel and potentially very, very expensive if the gearbox ever needs replacing. I also know that gearboxes on cars of this age are more likely to cause grief than the later cars.

Before I commit to buying the car, which I'll only do after pouring over the service history in great detail, what else should I be doing to try and establish if I'm likely to be buying a ticking financial time bomb? Get Carista and scan for fault codes perhaps?

I'm really looking forward to getting it but I want to cover absolutely everything before shaking hands on the car. Previous Audi's were a tuned S3 and S6 before that. Loved them but although I've always fancied the B8 S4 I don't want it to bankrupt me!

I'd really appreciate any help. Been reading through a lot on here the last couple of days, great forum.

Cheers

 

[Dippy]

Based on what you have written it would seem that it still has the original gearbox, but has had parts replaced such as the mechatronics. Based on what I have read (mainly on Audizine where there are more problem reports), there is indeed a risk that such a gearbox will develop problems in the future. You can do more research but it the end you'd have to buy with some acceptance of risk. A full gearbox replacement might not be necessary because there are companies which will do a full refurb (e.g. Milta), but you'd still need to be prepared for a significant cost.

 

[Chris Paine]

Fully accept tat there is an element of risk when buying any 2nd hand car, especially high performance ones. I previously owned a TVR and you don't go into owning one of those expecting it to be trouble free! I'd had a look at Milta as a possible refurb in case it does go pear shaped. They seem pretty reasonable and a hell of a lot less than a new 'box.

 

[Dippy]

The other major issue can be the timing chains. Have a listen for rattle on start-up.

 

[Chris Paine]

Been a bit busy with going away on holiday but checked the car out before leaving at the weekend and there was an intermittent rattle coming from the rear right side of the engine with the bonnet up. Owner says it's an exhaust heat shield. I took a video which I'm happy to post but I'd have thought a timing chain rattle would go away soon after start up? This was on for a few seconds then off again, then would come back. Car was started from cold. Should I be worried?