Shall I buy an S4?

J

JamesL

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Hi, I am a long term V6 Quattro owner. I started with a a 100, which was the forerunner to the A6 I believe. Then I got an A6. Then a B5 A4.
For last couple of years I have owned an S Line B7 A4 3.2. I love it though its still not a V8
Would I be nuts to buy an S4? I mean all the ones I could afford have 120K plus miles on them, and I hear horror stories about the timing chain tensioners. Though theoretically the same issue applies to my V6 as well :/
Who has made the jump?
 
You'll need deep pockets to own one, EVERYTHING is extremely expensive when things go wrong.
 
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And not a good time to be looking at one as prices have gone up recently , i'd be holding back a while for prices to drop back to proper prices not the current overinflated ones.
 
hello mate, welcome to the forum.
like yourself I've got the B7 A4 3.2 quattro, and much as the S and RS might be tempting I keep on loving what I've got.

Performance is not bad, and on mine (320k km) changing the coil packs and the variable timing actuators/sensors was a revelation.

Just nipping up the bolts on covers at the back of the engine which cover the tensioners stopped the oil leaks and also stopped any occasional rattling the could be heard now and then. The tensioners need oil pressure, which cant be maintained if there's a slight leak.

What about the RS4 rear roll bar? if not, might be worth a look.

Only downside I keep hearing about is the carbon build up, but I wonder how much of this is down to too much driving at 30mph around town?
The V6 is meant for more than that ;-).
 
joinerman said:
You'll need deep pockets to own one, EVERYTHING is extremely expensive when things go wrong
Click to expand...
Hah, yes, Andy who owns my local independent Audi garage used to own one and he said the same thing. And he can get his parts at trade and fit them himself!
I am happy enough with performance on mine really, its a very nice car. And increasingly rare it seems.
I am confused about how much oil those V6s get through though.
This is my fourth one - had three old 2.8 units, two of the old 12v ones and a A4 B5 with the newer enngine. Now I have the 3.2 and I thought this one might be a bit tighter inthat respect, but no. I have to keep a litre bottle in the back just in case. It doesn appear to be leaking anywhere that I can see. And if it was burning it wouldnt it show up in emmissions in MOT?
 
JamesL said:
Hah, yes, Andy who owns my local independent Audi garage used to own one and he said the same thing. And he can get his parts at trade and fit them himself!
I am happy enough with performance on mine really, its a very nice car. And increasingly rare it seems.
I am confused about how much oil those V6s get through though.
This is my fourth one - had three old 2.8 units, two of the old 12v ones and a A4 B5 with the newer enngine. Now I have the 3.2 and I thought this one might be a bit tighter inthat respect, but no. I have to keep a litre bottle in the back just in case. It doesn appear to be leaking anywhere that I can see. And if it was burning it wouldnt it show up in emmissions in MOT?
Click to expand...
iirc it says in the Audi handbook to keep a litre bottle in the glovebox just in case, or maybe I'm imagining it. In any case, my 3.2 drinks oil more or less the same regardless. Emmissions are spot-on.

Out of curiosity, which oil do you use?
 
AlpineCab said:
iirc it says in the Audi handbook to keep a litre bottle in the glovebox just in case, or maybe I'm imagining it. In any case, my 3.2 drinks oil more or less the same regardless. Emmissions are spot-on.

Out of curiosity, which oil do you use?
Click to expand...
I use Fuchs as it is a great price and has a good reputation. Plus I dont need the very very best if I have to top the thing up every couple of weeks.
Opie Oils is a great place to buy it.
 

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JamesL said:
Hah, yes, Andy who owns my local independent Audi garage used to own one and he said the same thing. And he can get his parts at trade and fit them himself!
I am happy enough with performance on mine really, its a very nice car. And increasingly rare it seems.
I am confused about how much oil those V6s get through though.
This is my fourth one - had three old 2.8 units, two of the old 12v ones and a A4 B5 with the newer enngine. Now I have the 3.2 and I thought this one might be a bit tighter inthat respect, but no. I have to keep a litre bottle in the back just in case. It doesn appear to be leaking anywhere that I can see. And if it was burning it wouldnt it show up in emmissions in MOT?
Click to expand...
Not sure if you're just talking about petrol V6s or V6s in general.
I used to have a 2.5tdi A6 and at 150k it didn't use a drop of oil between 6k services.
 
I've had a 3.0 B6 in the past as well as a 4.2 S4 (B6 also)

They were both very similar cost to run in terms of maintenance, and the 3.0 was fairly slow in comparison, but not that much better on fuel.

Having owned both j would definitely recommend going to the V8 S4.

People have mentioned car prices are high right now, but there are some S4 V8s at very similar money to post pandemic. I think the high cost of fueling one (just like the v6) makes the demand for the. stay fairly normal .
 
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