Buying a used B9 S4

[sdamike]

Hello, Im looking for some help/input here from the B9 S4 owners out there. We are looking at a used 2018 S4, with just under 20k miles on it. It is not being sold by Audi, and it is not certified. But it was a lease that went back to audi, so for one reason or another they passed it on. The car does have some scratches and small flaws but nothing terrible. Our main concern is (maybe its unfounded), it only has 2 years left on the original warranty. Generally I am not all that concerned with having a warranty, but as I look at the car, I realize how little I can probably do to fix it as compared to my truck for example. Is that a real concern or am I just overthinking it? Are these pretty reliable or have you been in and out of the dealer with it? I did some searches and found mixed results. But I wanted to post and ask. At least some time has passed where ownership is at least more than a year now. Would love to hear some feedback, thank you!

[TheFatArmadillo]

I’d prefer a car with a CPO warranty, however if I liked the car and that wasn’t an option I’d negotiate the price to one I felt comfortable with and pick up something from Fidelity.

Reliability on mine with 30k has been fine except for software update related items. With that said, none of us have enough miles on them to know how they will hold up long term.

[TaroBaapG35]

Hello, Im looking for some help/input here from the B9 S4 owners out there. We are looking at a used 2018 S4, with just under 20k miles on it. It is not being sold by Audi, and it is not certified. But it was a lease that went back to audi, so for one reason or another they passed it on. The car does have some scratches and small flaws but nothing terrible. Our main concern is (maybe its unfounded), it only has 2 years left on the original warranty. Generally I am not all that concerned with having a warranty, but as I look at the car, I realize how little I can probably do to fix it as compared to my truck for example. Is that a real concern or am I just overthinking it? Are these pretty reliable or have you been in and out of the dealer with it? I did some searches and found mixed results. But I wanted to post and ask. At least some time has passed where ownership is at least more than a year now. Would love to hear some feedback, thank you!

Get a PPI done by a VW/Audi dealer. Might tell you possibly why the original Audi dealer did not certify it.

[Burrcold]

I would be more concerned if there was any prior body damage. You've still got two full years to make sure all is in order mechanically.

[SHCKR]

Even though it's more complicated than your typical 1500 Silverado, mechanical work is not impossible. What is impossible is any electrical or computer issues. What I would recommend is purchasing extended vehicle warranty, there are forums here that talk about the value, and about this place/guy, which is apparently where you get best deals:

Troy Dietrich
Factory Discount Warranty
Toyota & Ford*of Greenfield
Fathers & Sons Audi & Volkswagen
Tel. 413-772-0989
Fax. 413-774-2247
Web.*http://www.FD-Warranty.com

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[sdamike]

Thanks for the reply's, Some good food for thought here.

In a odd situation here, its either get this S4, get a new golf r, keep the current 2016 6mt Autobahn GTI... or the lady wants a Scat pack charger. I'm not sure what to do, at all.

[Mops@Nemesis]

My S4 was minty with 12k miles and Audi didn't certify due to having incorrect OE wheels. Not too far from you... my salesman's S4 is for sale with mods. Very clean car. I believe my silver S4 is still for sale there too.

https://www.audiwilmingtonde.com/use...c544b057ef.htm

We're picking up a 2019 Golf R this week.

[SchnellS4Life]

I’d say you’re overthinking it unless the car is priced wrong and has lots of the “careless” type of wear. Meaning, seat bolster wear, fingernail scratches everywhere, door dings, curb rash, bird dropping/bug stains in the paint, smells, and of course any amount of extra valve train and/or bottom end noise. It would be hard to make the purchase worth while vs finding a CPO car. I do have to say this has been the most reliable, problem free, new car I have ever purchased. I’m only had 11,2xx miles and by no means have been putting around in the car. I let it warm up properly and cool down if ever needed but it’s been fantastic on mileage, power, comfort, electrical, etc. not a hiccup. I can easily get 31-34 MPG in I-84 to and from Portland (160 mile round trip) and have seen as much as 36 on highways that have a 55-60 MPH limit.

I’ve changed the oil at 1,000 miles and again at 6,000 miles. Will be doing it again here soon at 12,000 since I haven’t decided if I am going to keep it long term or not. So you may check on the intervals and see if the owner cares much or just waited until the last possible minute for servicing. So far, my car is rock solid and above expectations. The only thing stopping me from keeping long term will be the backseat room and the fact that my wife wants a crossover like everyone else and their mom. I already have a truck and a bike for myself so I can foresee her winning in this

I glanced through my phone and found a decent MPG picture showing and that was also early on at just over 4K miles. If anything, my advice for you would be to checkout “Audi Summer Sale” event with great lease deals. Like I mentioned my wife and everyone else being hot and bothered by crossovers, they are pushing the sedans to get them out there and offering hefty discounts. Back when I bought my S4, which was in 2017 when they first hit, I ended up getting the car for right around $6,000 under MSRP and they over allowed on my trade (2013 F150 Raptor Supercrew with 15k miles) like crazy by showing $48,500. This was done during their “Winter Sales Event” and I’m sure they’ll do much better now with the dying breed of the sedan. I felt like it was a great deal at the time since it was a first year body style and I bought the truck for $47,000 originally (Just barely the 2nd owner). Probably the worst idea I ever had was getting rid of the Raptor though since those things hold their value like crazy but I worked too much at the time and never got to enjoy it.

Anyway, hope that helps!





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[SchnellS4Life]

SDMike, that’s so funny because I was going to point out some of the cars that I’ve had in the past that all had issues and compare them to the S4 that hasn’t had a single one. I special ordered a charger scat pack back in March of 2016 and it ended up trading it in at just over 400 miles because I had nothing but issues with it and Chrysler wasn’t playing along. Mechanical and body issues like the paint, body gap alignment, interior quality, etc things that I didn’t notice during the excitement of delivery. Before that I had a 2012 Chrysler 300 SRT8 and got rid of that at just over 30,000 miles. It was a better car but still not perfect. I had the adaptive suspension replaced under warranty at 27,000 miles, the headlights around the same, and the fan motor started going out right before getting rid of it, and the fake carbon fiber was peeling up in the interior already. Before that and amongst other vehicles, I had a 2009 Challenger SRT8 that was pretty much perfect but that was gone at just over 5,000 miles. I have found both of my cars in the recent years for sale on Autotrader up in Washington, the 300 at Northwest Motorsports with 75k miles and the Challenger at some Dodge dealer all modded out with a different hood, wheels, exhaust etc with I think around the same miles. At the time of finding all my issues out with the Charger that I ordered, it was more common than not on the forums to see these paint/body issues. Even with the Hellcats, it was a joke and Chrysler would close a warranty claim dispute if I took longer than a day to give them a call back (I worked graveyard at the time so it was hard) so I had enough. I ordered it from Idaho (Dennis Dillon, great deals) and traded it in up in WA so I didn’t lose out but still. Frustrating that their quality control has really gone down hill. Maybe my car was built on a Friday after a thirsty Thursday get together with the employees?

- My advice, stay away from Mopar unless you do some searching on their forums to see if they’ve gotten their shit together again in the last few years. You really can’t compare it to an Audi. They make a badass engine but everything else leaves a lot to be desired, at whatever price point of theirs.


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