2007 RS4 Thinking of Buying Need Your Advice, What Should I Pay?

[fid]

Hey guys, new to the forums/RS4 market. Love the site and have been doing ALOT of reading up on here. Recently decided on going forth with purchasing a used 2007 RS4 from a local Audi dealer. Here is the low down:

-'07
-61,000
-5 previous owners
-No real services records
-Clean car fax
-Car body and interior is very clean 8 out 10
-Car runs good, does flatten a little on the top end which from reading seems like maybe carbon build up. But mechanicals it shifts good with no weird sounds. 7.5 out of 10
-Has new front brakes

Dealer is asking $39,900. Just curious as to what might the forum think would be a good target number to shoot for on a car as in described condition. Any feedback is appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[BrandonS]

5 previous owners within 5 years with only 61,000 miles and no service records...I would definately walk away. Not to mention that you would be in for quite an expense to get the carbon cleaning done

[R&Cs4]

5 previous owners within 5 years with only 61,000 miles and no service records...I would definately walk away. Not to mention that you would be in for quite an expense to get the carbon cleaning done

This. With 5 previous owners you have 5x the likelihood that someone beat the crap out of the car/ did not properly maintain it. If it was a 1 owner, it's more likely that maintenance was done properly.

[Rodmar]

What it could also mean is that their are problems with the car and they all wanted to get rid of it

[fid]

Thanks for all the replies! But you would think a car that had a sticker of $73K someone would want to take care of it. But definitely take your opinions serious. Its just hard to find low mileage, low owner RS4 anymore. Hmm, let the second guessing begin haha.

[BrandonS]

Thanks for all the replies! But you would think a car that had a sticker of $73K someone would want to take care of it. But definitely take your opinions serious. Its just hard to find low mileage, low owner RS4 anymore. Hmm, let the second guessing begin haha.

Just take your time, the right car will come around. The last thing you want to do is drop that kind of money and have to soak a bunch more into it because the previous owner/s neglected it. You would be very suprised with how many people will drop big money on cars and not take care of them. When I was in highschool i worked at a local car dealership doing detailing, there was one customer who had a new RS6 (2004) and did not take care of it what so ever

[buzztt]

Thanks for all the replies! But you would think a car that had a sticker of $73K someone would want to take care of it. But definitely take your opinions serious. Its just hard to find low mileage, low owner RS4 anymore. Hmm, let the second guessing begin haha.

its all relative, if someone is worth 3 million bucks then a $73k rs4 is basically a beater

[xalfa]

1 owner good. 5 owners bad.

Have patience, Young Grasshopper.

[HighAltitudeRS4]

Hop onto Denver's Craigslist - there are 3 or 4 good candidates there alone. (Meant to say search both "RS4" and "Audi RS 4") Happy hunting!

[fid]

Thanks everyone for the honest responses. I shall stuff down my impulse to buy, buy, buy and keep searching for that "right" RS to come along. If you find one around the Pa Tristate area don't be afraid to shoot me a PM/e-mail.

[xalfa]

Thanks everyone for the honest responses. I shall stuff down my impulse to buy, buy, buy and keep searching for that "right" RS to come along. If you find one around the Pa Tristate area don't be afraid to shoot me a PM/e-mail.

Here's a 1-owner car in MD. Priced high but looks pretty good.

[xalfa]

Another 1-owner in CT. Ready 2 rock with new front brakes and carbon cleaning - $2k of value right there.

[TypeRx]

Hey guys, new to the forums/RS4 market. Love the site and have been doing ALOT of reading up on here. Recently decided on going forth with purchasing a used 2007 RS4 from a local Audi dealer. Here is the low down:

-'07
-61,000
-5 previous owners
-No real services records
-Clean car fax
-Car body and interior is very clean 8 out 10
-Car runs good, does flatten a little on the top end which from reading seems like maybe carbon build up. But mechanicals it shifts good with no weird sounds. 7.5 out of 10
-Has new front brakes

Dealer is asking $39,900. Just curious as to what might the forum think would be a good target number to shoot for on a car as in described condition. Any feedback is appreciated. Thanks in advance.

I would be pretty concerned without a PPI and the price is high IMO. Like $3-$5K too high. If you can get a strong PPI and the dealer down to like the $36K range, I would be willing to chance it.

[Flying Tomatoes]

5 owners doesn’t necessarily mean the car is worthless...

It just means you need to be more through with your pre-purchase inspection. Take your mechanic (or another RS owner/friend), get it up on the lift and really go over this car. Be aware that all the maintenance items on this car are very expensive compared to your regular every day four door sedan and if you purchase a car that needs "a few maintenance items" you could be talking a few thousand dollars. It adds up quick. These cars are not for the faint of heart but if you take care of it and stay on top of things it is a very rewarding ownership experience. Also, what we might be willing to pay for this car and what you might be willing to pay are completely different. We also can't see the car first hand. Take some time, do some searching around and familiarize yourself with these cars before you make a decision on this one or any other RS4.

Hopefully this post didn’t come across the wrong way, best of luck!


edit: Just noticed your in PA. If you would like me to come take a look at a car with you, I would be more then willing to do so. Just shoot me a PM.

[ShockwaveVT]

Hey guys, new to the forums/RS4 market. Love the site and have been doing ALOT of reading up on here. Recently decided on going forth with purchasing a used 2007 RS4 from a local Audi dealer. Here is the low down:

-'07
-61,000
-5 previous owners
-No real services records
-Clean car fax
-Car body and interior is very clean 8 out 10
-Car runs good, does flatten a little on the top end which from reading seems like maybe carbon build up. But mechanicals it shifts good with no weird sounds. 7.5 out of 10
-Has new front brakes

Dealer is asking $39,900. Just curious as to what might the forum think would be a good target number to shoot for on a car as in described condition. Any feedback is appreciated. Thanks in advance.

I think upper 30's is reasonable for a one/two owner 60k 2008 with complete service records. However with that many owners and no records, I'd say mid 30's and only if a very detailed PPI comes back clean (e.g. newish brakes, suspension in good shape, etc). BTW, don't expect to negotiate the cost of a carbon cleaning into the purchase price since lot of owners (and just about any dealer) consider that an optional service. Certainly worth shooting for though.

[ewhit18d]

Not to ambush your thread.. But check out mine.
http://www.audizine.com/classifieds/...00miles&cat=68

-'07
-61,000
-2 enthusiast owners
-Complete services records
-Clean car fax
-Car body and interior is very clean 8 out 10
-Car runs great! New carbon clean, service with all fluids flushed.
-Full brakes about 15K miles on them

[fid]

5 owners doesn’t necessarily mean the car is worthless...

It just means you need to be more through with your pre-purchase inspection. Take your mechanic (or another RS owner/friend), get it up on the lift and really go over this car. Be aware that all the maintenance items on this car are very expensive compared to your regular every day four door sedan and if you purchase a car that needs "a few maintenance items" you could be talking a few thousand dollars. It adds up quick. These cars are not for the faint of heart but if you take care of it and stay on top of things it is a very rewarding ownership experience. Also, what we might be willing to pay for this car and what you might be willing to pay are completely different. We also can't see the car first hand. Take some time, do some searching around and familiarize yourself with these cars before you make a decision on this one or any other RS4.

Hopefully this post didn’t come across the wrong way, best of luck!


edit: Just noticed your in PA. If you would like me to come take a look at a car with you, I would be more then willing to do so. Just shoot me a PM.

Thanks alot for the offer, I might have to take you up on that! I am from the Reading area and the car is at Autohaus Lancaster. So local.....

[Flying Tomatoes]

Thanks alot for the offer, I might have to take you up on that! I am from the Reading area and the car is at Autohaus Lancaster. So local.....

Bought my car at Autohaus in 2011, it was CPO. They seem to always have RS4s running through there. They just sold a Suzuka recently.

Last two owners of that Misano your looking at were dealers, one being Autohaus and one being another dealer that took it in on trade and sold it at auction(to autohaus). So its really a 3 owner car, I wouldn't be too horrified of that. Autohaus is a big dealership with a great reputation, they don't sell junk. I would give it a second look.

[fid]

Bought my car at Autohaus in 2011, it was CPO. They seem to always have RS4s running through there. They just sold a Suzuka recently.

Last two owners of that Misano your looking at were dealers, one being Autohaus and one being another dealer that took it in on trade and sold it at auction(to autohaus). So its really a 3 owner car, I wouldn't be too horrified of that. Autohaus is a big dealership with a great reputation, they don't sell junk. I would give it a second look.

Thanks for letting me know! I didn't notice that when looking through the carfax.

Care to share a virtual checklist of things I should hammer the car on?

[Flying Tomatoes]

Thanks for letting me know! I didn't notice that when looking through the carfax.

Care to share a virtual checklist of things I should hammer the car on?

Check the tires, make sure there is some meat on them. OEM replacements are close to 400$ a piece.

Check the brakes. If they need replaced this is a 2,000$ job if done by your dealer.

Check the oil cooler lines in the front. These are known to leak and there is an updated part number. Not a super huge issue however you don’t want to but the car and start dumping money.

Check the DRC for leaks, they original units were faulty and will fail. There are updated parts for this, check if it was done.

Drive the car! (Obviously) Make sure the gears all engage smoothly up shifting and down shifting (rev match). When I got my car it had a bad throw out bearing and was a bit funny going in and out of third gear. I didn’t think much of it when I bought it but it got progressively worse fast and resulted in my dealer replacing my clutch, flyhweel and throw out bearing. It was covered under CPO but I'm sure this would have been well over 2,000$ probably close to 3,000$ and it took over a month for them to get the parts in.

Play with everything. The nav, sat radio, CD player (bring a CD to test) and SD slots. If any of these items don’t work I can almost guarantee you your dealer will recommend you replace the whole unit. Again very pricy.

Make sure the inflator kit and tool kits are in the trunk.

There is more I'm missing I'm sure. That’s just off the top of my head.

I would try and get them to pull the plugs and scope to see how bad the carbon build up is. This one’s going to be a long shot but it’s worth a shot. Done by a dealer a carbon cleaning is going to run you about 1,000$

Another side note, the car in question has Titanium package wheels on a non Ti package car. Not a big deal but to me thats a sign some one tweeked with this thing a bit. Check for modifications or any sort.

Good Luck

[fid]

Thanks again for passing along the knowledge! I am looking at jumping down there this week to drive it again. I will keep all this in mind.

Check the tires, make sure there is some meat on them. OEM replacements are close to 400$ a piece.

Check the brakes. If they need replaced this is a 2,000$ job if done by your dealer.

Check the oil cooler lines in the front. These are known to leak and there is an updated part number. Not a super huge issue however you don’t want to but the car and start dumping money.

Check the DRC for leaks, they original units were faulty and will fail. There are updated parts for this, check if it was done.

Drive the car! (Obviously) Make sure the gears all engage smoothly up shifting and down shifting (rev match). When I got my car it had a bad throw out bearing and was a bit funny going in and out of third gear. I didn’t think much of it when I bought it but it got progressively worse fast and resulted in my dealer replacing my clutch, flyhweel and throw out bearing. It was covered under CPO but I'm sure this would have been well over 2,000$ probably close to 3,000$ and it took over a month for them to get the parts in.

Play with everything. The nav, sat radio, CD player (bring a CD to test) and SD slots. If any of these items don’t work I can almost guarantee you your dealer will recommend you replace the whole unit. Again very pricy.

Make sure the inflator kit and tool kits are in the trunk.

There is more I'm missing I'm sure. That’s just off the top of my head.

I would try and get them to pull the plugs and scope to see how bad the carbon build up is. This one’s going to be a long shot but it’s worth a shot. Done by a dealer a carbon cleaning is going to run you about 1,000$

Another side note, the car in question has Titanium package wheels on a non Ti package car. Not a big deal but to me thats a sign some one tweeked with this thing a bit. Check for modifications or any sort.

Good Luck