Audi S4

So I already have a 05 LGT with 47000 miles on it. I have had it for a little over a year now and I am really happy with it. A dealer near me currently has a 04 Audi S4 with 41,000 miles on it listed for 23,995, I'm wondering what you guys think, I drove it and I loved it, looks great too. I am thinking about trading in my LGT for it. Do you think in the long run I will be happier with my LGT or the S4. I want facts, but opinions are always good to. Thanks guys.

thats the v8 not the biturbo, right? well im sure reliability is going to come up in this discussion, so keep that in the back of your mind if you want to go ahead w/ the purchase, but as far as moddability, i think thats kinda near nil. love the twin turbo v6 of the prev gen, but thats not your question.

 

i guess it comes down to whether or not you will be happy w/ the s4 as is and are willing to bear the costs associated w/ a v8.

 

sorry i couldnt provide more 'facts' but im sure if you google around, youll find the details. as for opinion, well i like my lgt, and i came from two v8s beforehand (540 sport, gs400).

Honestly, I was thinking of getting an 2001.5 S4 before I got my Subie, and boy am I glad I changed my mind. Even though this one is a 2004, Audi's can become pretty problematic. My brother-in-law has a 2001.5 S4 and in the past year alone he's probably spent close to $5000 in repairs, such as the air bag sensor, wheel bearings, o2 sensors, CV boots, etc.. And he is one that very meticulously takes care of his car. Not only do the parts cost a lot, but the labor costs a lot too. I cant image what the labor would be on the V8 in that S4. His was the twin turbo, so while it was tight, I'm sure the V8 is much more tighter and much harder to work on.

 

I'd really think hard about that. If you can afford to fix problems as they come up, then go for it. But if you want something that is a little more reliable and a lot easier to fix I'd stick with the Subie.

 

Good luck!

 

-John

yeah friends tell me theres minimal working room in the s4 turbo. costs are probably on par w/ most european marques, which is on the pricier side. a plus coming over to the lgt from the 540 was the noticeably lesser cost to maintain the vehicle, as well as a large margin of room to play w/ and mod the car. stg2 is def a sleeper.

When you talk about audi you think comfort, style, power, class and repair bills up the ass. Audi trannys are known for needing replacement aroudn 80-90kmiles, the turbos on the s4 also need rebuilt or replaceing usually before 100kmiles. Any work you have a dealership is sure to cost almost double what a subaru dealership would charge for the same thing on subaru car. I looked at alot of s4s before the subie, nice cars can hold value pretty well but if you just go and look at higher mileage 90-130k and almost all have had transmission work done alot actually have new trannys alltogether. Those are just major problems, there are bound to be alot of little ones that the parts wont cost you much but the labor will be alot because audis arent the easiest cars to work on.

wagonmaster, just noticed that you seem to be stock. go stg2 and see if that doesnt change your mind about swapping cars...

Lol thats true a good tune with stage 2 can put you at the same hp as a audi s4 but in a 3400lbs car compared to a 3700lbs car.

The exhaust note on the A4 is intoxicating. That is one of the sweetest sounding V8's I've heard. It seems like the problems that are associated with Audi's are before the 2004 line up "refresh". Since the car is almost out of warranty (if it's not already) be prepared to pay for anything that falls apart.

 

The V8 in the S4 has a great track record, and the manual transmission they use is pretty good too. If it's a triptronic auto, forget it. You can expect to fix all sorts of electronics though. Power window regulators, seat motors, sunroof motors, head units/amps, etc ...

 

Every german car I've had experience with is an electrical nightmare.

Seems a little high priced too.

 

My friend got an 05 at 40k miles for 25k but he also didn't have a ton of features in it.

 

His experience with is S4 has not bee very good. Head lights needed replacing do to condensation, bad driver side window motor and then a bad psgr side driver motor. It was all covered but a pain in the ass in the 1st month of owning it.

Don't forget you'll avg about 18 mpg.

 

I do love the sound and style and talk my self out of trading in for one myself

How much do you owe on your legacy?

I love the looks of the S4 though...yum. But after test driving one back to back with an is350, I would pick the is350 which is just as (if not faster) fast, not a bad sounding exhaust at all and I usually HATE v6 tones, same interior quality and better mileage. I ended up with the LegacyGT though and cost was NOT a factor in my decision one iota. Subaru uniqueness, 5spd manual not available in the is350 (its fatal flaw), great awd, and I love the mod ability, sleeperness and ability to work on my own car!

hrmm.... i have owned a audi A4 1.8T and i loved it ALOT! when i got the car i remember the dealer saying something like "once you drive this car around you wont want another car unless its an AUDI"..... well thats not true haha i got it when it had about 45kmiles on it was a 2002 and yes it was the quattro manual ... the one thing i didnt like about the car is small things would turn off and on by its self.. sometimes the windows wont roll down or they would roll down and NOT up ... it would say my trunk or doors where open when im driving but uh ya they where closed... small things like my cd player or A/C not working really started to piss me off with that car... and oil change price..... i got all my oil done by the audi dealer because the car still had warranty on it and i couldnt do it myself... and somewhere along the road the oil line to the turbo cracked witch cost me a bit... but the thing about audi is the tranny... shit hit the fan so hard when my tranny went out ... so i fixed the tranny sold the car... thats ALL the bad things that has happend with the car that i can think of.. BUT the car was really fun to drive would even say alittle more fun then a stock LGT . o ya i didnt mod the audi because it cost to damn much

The a4 1.8t always felt week to me. I have a handful of friends with them and they never could keep up with the lgt even when it was stock. I think the a4 only makes like 170-200hp or soemthing though, the s4 is much faster, but liek he said audi trannys even the stick ones have alot of problems. Its like looking for 1990-1999 eclipse and talons, 90% on craigslist have had the motor rebuilt or replaced, why cause they suck lol.

Why are most of you taking up space in this discussion talking about the pros/cons of the biturbo model when the 04 is the 2nd year of the NA V8 models, so most of that input is kind of useless for the OP.

 

My understanding is that the V8 is quite nice but very thirsty for fuel. However i personally wouldn't get any of the V8 S4s until starting with the 2006 MY (the facelifted grille) because i believe that generation started changing the std torque split from 50:50 to 35:65 F:R to resemble the std torque split in the RS4

 

http://images.automotive.com/stock/300/AUDI/S4/2006/4SA-4.jpg

Ah so its the v8, my bad lol. Welkl the v8 is nice shouldnt have any problems with that. Just watch out for the tranny.

@ ed: lol

 

i think the 06 is prob a bit out of the op's $ range, otherwise, he'd be looking at that, no?

i have friends with the new S4 and A3 s line... both are kinda slow but i really like the power on the S4... all around power just feels so good xD haha but both do have there problems with electronics =/ friend was stuck in his new S4 for about 10mins infront of his shop haha

Yea I test drove an 03 or 04 S4 and the understeer was disgusting compared to my car.

I had this internal debate for quite some time lol (S4 vs '07 LGT-b). And FWIW I was also considering the 2003 540i M-Sport. At any rate, I've decided that I will get the LGT-b because of reliability and it's just a newer car. With an older car, you have to put up with some old car BS like worn leather, bent wheels, broken window motors, worn struts, dated look, etc.

 

YES, the S4 is a badass mofo, but it's going to screw you in the long-term because of fuel consumption and reliability issues. And plus, the 2004 is looking dated already IMO...

 

If you were talking about a 2005.5+ S4 wagon, I'd be stumped. oh so sexy

Two words: Reliability (and lack thereof) and Cost (to fix all of the reliability issues). Audis have stranded people miles away from help due to electrical issues. At least, in my experience, a Sube is going to get you home. It may be slow (read: in failsafe "limp" mode), but it'll get you home.

I had an A8L with the 4.2l V8. Other than a bad valve-cover gasket, and the crank bearing seal going (96000 miles), there were no problems with the engine... Just be prepared for obscene maintenance costs, and if it's under warranty still, I hope the previous owner took it to an Audi dealership for regular service.

Yea I test drove an 03 or 04 S4 and the understeer was disgusting compared to my car.

 

I was wondering when someone was going to bring up the "U" word. 04 was when they still had the mass of the engine well in front of the front axle. They've improved it in the more recent models, starting with the S5, to be more like a Subaru with the mass of the engine lower and further back, to reduce the understeer problem.

 

The understeer otherwise kills a really great car. No amount of suspension modification can get rid of that feeling of a shopping cart with a cinder block in the front.

I was wondering when someone was going to bring up the "U" word. 04 was when they still had the mass of the engine well in front of the front axle. They've improved it in the more recent models, starting with the S5, to be more like a Subaru with the mass of the engine lower and further back, to reduce the understeer problem.

 

The understeer otherwise kills a really great car. No amount of suspension modification can get rid of that feeling of a shopping cart with a cinder block in the front.

 

Lol yes because subaru invented this:lol:

Lol yes because subaru invented this:lol:

 

No, but they didn't wait 30 years to alter their engine/transmission layout to improve dynamics.

A friend and his brother had an A4 and S4. He has since purchased an Acura TL. His comment was, "It spent more time in the shop than our five year old Ford truck." I took this to be a bad thing.

 

Audis interior designs are very nice, though.