Audi S4 - Horror story or one bad four door?
01-21-2002, 07:43 AM
#21
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re: the reliability - sure, when stuff happens, it's inconvenient, but audi has excellent 3-4 year "all service/maintenance included" programs that are included with the purchase of the car.
the car won't cost you a penny more other than gas, tires & insurance (and any mods you decide to do)
regards.
the car won't cost you a penny more other than gas, tires & insurance (and any mods you decide to do)
regards.
01-21-2002, 01:16 PM
#22
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Buy the S4, chip it, exhaust it, slap bigger turbos on it, boom. Done. I've had mine 15k miles on it after doing all that and not a single problem...other than I can't seem to keep the speedo under 100!
01-21-2002, 05:38 PM
#24
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My girlfriend owns an A4 1.8t w/APR chip and APR exhaust--15K mi. No probs at all. The torqe is monstrous.
I have two friends with S4s, both stock, each with ~20K miles on 'em, one black, one yellow. Black one had a problem with a sensor (dealer fixed in about an hour AND provided a Range Rover while her S4 was in the shop). A bracket on the fog light on the yellow one broke (curb?) and needed to be replaced. That's it.
I know another guy with the A4 Avant Tiptronic. Bought Used 30K mi., no probs.
A coworker has a Tiptronic A4 w/12K miles and her only complaint is that a french fry was dropped into and cannot be removed from the shifter-compartment without spending about 2 hrs taking the interior apart.
The S4s will both walk away from me in a straight line if I don't get the right gear right NOW in my 02 S2000. I can pull away from the Yellow one, but the Black one pulls on me (rolling starts). The guy with the Yellow one is chipping it (APR). I won't stand a chance against him unless I spring $5K on the Comptech Supercharger. The S4 chip costs 500 bucks. If warranty issues are a concern, all y'gotta do is buy a spare ECU and swap out the chipped ECU when you take it in to the dealer. 5 min. job.
I have two friends with S4s, both stock, each with ~20K miles on 'em, one black, one yellow. Black one had a problem with a sensor (dealer fixed in about an hour AND provided a Range Rover while her S4 was in the shop). A bracket on the fog light on the yellow one broke (curb?) and needed to be replaced. That's it.
I know another guy with the A4 Avant Tiptronic. Bought Used 30K mi., no probs.
A coworker has a Tiptronic A4 w/12K miles and her only complaint is that a french fry was dropped into and cannot be removed from the shifter-compartment without spending about 2 hrs taking the interior apart.
The S4s will both walk away from me in a straight line if I don't get the right gear right NOW in my 02 S2000. I can pull away from the Yellow one, but the Black one pulls on me (rolling starts). The guy with the Yellow one is chipping it (APR). I won't stand a chance against him unless I spring $5K on the Comptech Supercharger. The S4 chip costs 500 bucks. If warranty issues are a concern, all y'gotta do is buy a spare ECU and swap out the chipped ECU when you take it in to the dealer. 5 min. job.
01-23-2002, 08:48 AM
#25
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FNKYS2 - what are we talking for a chip and an exhaust in an S4 in terms of HP and $$?
On paper I've seen 310 to 320 hp with an exhaust and chip, and you should expect to spend a minimum of $1500.
BMW 330 is a nice car and the in-line 6 sounds great. I decided to the S4 primarily because of its power potential, and I felt that the interior was a little nicer (although mixing options were limited). At the time it also seemed like 'everyone' was already waiting on a 330i/ci...
01-24-2002, 01:34 PM
#26
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My brother-in-law has a 6 speed S4 and a good friend of mine has a tiptronic S4 (he's German and only drives German cars - including a 911). Anyway, neither one of them has had any problems in around 20K miles and both love their cars. Of course, I wouldn't expect any problems from a car in only 20K miles, but we all know it does happen sometimes.
As far as BMW's go, while I have never owned one, a lot of my friends have/had them, and my dad has a 5 series. Overall, I would say the Audis are better built/more reliable based on what I have seen. My father has had a lot of problems with his car - new differential at 6K miles, power window problems, A/C problems, etc. Of course, any car can be a lemon, but based on a small sampling of people I know, I would pick an Audi. Besides, you don't see an Audi on every street corner like the BMW's.
As far as BMW's go, while I have never owned one, a lot of my friends have/had them, and my dad has a 5 series. Overall, I would say the Audis are better built/more reliable based on what I have seen. My father has had a lot of problems with his car - new differential at 6K miles, power window problems, A/C problems, etc. Of course, any car can be a lemon, but based on a small sampling of people I know, I would pick an Audi. Besides, you don't see an Audi on every street corner like the BMW's.
01-25-2002, 11:44 PM
#27
Registered User
The ex and I bought an A4 1.8 TQ in April '98 after waiting 6 months for it to arrive. The problems started immediately (2 days into ownership) and continued for 9 months until they finally bought the car back. The issues were large and affected driveability most times.
Apr 98: a/c failure
Jun 98: wheel bearing replacement
Aug 98: complete transmission replacement
.
.
.
Jan 99: repurchased as a lemon
I could detail more beyond the tranny, but I just touched on the major things for the sake of brevity. Other problems included turbo lag, paint flaking off, fit and finish issues, etc.
Audi was NOT a pleasure to deal with. We were given a usually smoke-smelling, cheap Enterprise rental car every time the A4 was in for service until I learned Enterprise's business hours and showed up when they were closed so that Audi had to provide a car off their lot. The dealers in our area had never worked on a 1.8T Quattro (most owners took them to privately owned shops), so they spent a lot of time on tech support, took forever and usually didn't get the problems fixed the first time. Audi of America, when I contacted them after the problems got serious, started telling me every time I called "we will continue to work within the terms of the warranty." (verbatim, I swear, I heard it enough to remember it). This was not a good car ownership experience, the whole way around.
3 years after the repurchase, I'm hoping lightning doesnt strike in the same place twice and thinking about buying another A4, only because the A4 is available as an all wheel drive, where BMW can't match that aspect. I will NOT purchase another Audi without an all-encompassing, third party warranty (such as that which you can get from your credit union).
Clark, another owner on this board, could shed light on this as well, since his former roommate had an S4 and had bad experience after bad experience with his as well.
Sorry I couldn't shed positive light on this, but my experience was nothing short of a nightmare, and I hope I can save someone else the frustrating experience of dealing with Audi. If you do it, get the third party warranty!!!!!
Apr 98: a/c failure
Jun 98: wheel bearing replacement
Aug 98: complete transmission replacement
.
.
.
Jan 99: repurchased as a lemon
I could detail more beyond the tranny, but I just touched on the major things for the sake of brevity. Other problems included turbo lag, paint flaking off, fit and finish issues, etc.
Audi was NOT a pleasure to deal with. We were given a usually smoke-smelling, cheap Enterprise rental car every time the A4 was in for service until I learned Enterprise's business hours and showed up when they were closed so that Audi had to provide a car off their lot. The dealers in our area had never worked on a 1.8T Quattro (most owners took them to privately owned shops), so they spent a lot of time on tech support, took forever and usually didn't get the problems fixed the first time. Audi of America, when I contacted them after the problems got serious, started telling me every time I called "we will continue to work within the terms of the warranty." (verbatim, I swear, I heard it enough to remember it). This was not a good car ownership experience, the whole way around.
3 years after the repurchase, I'm hoping lightning doesnt strike in the same place twice and thinking about buying another A4, only because the A4 is available as an all wheel drive, where BMW can't match that aspect. I will NOT purchase another Audi without an all-encompassing, third party warranty (such as that which you can get from your credit union).
Clark, another owner on this board, could shed light on this as well, since his former roommate had an S4 and had bad experience after bad experience with his as well.
Sorry I couldn't shed positive light on this, but my experience was nothing short of a nightmare, and I hope I can save someone else the frustrating experience of dealing with Audi. If you do it, get the third party warranty!!!!!
01-26-2002, 11:23 AM
#28
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All these impressions come from my best friend/roomate's 3 year affair with his S4.
The S4 car is wicked fast with a chip and exhaust. I mean, the thing will pull low 13's at the strip (chipped/exhaust), whether you have just the driver or 4 large people in the car. The car has more torque than most small nations. It's handling is decent for a car carrying some 3500 lbs, though it's a bit wallowy in tight transitions.
Now, if reliability is very important to you then you should look elsewhere. After his experiences with the car and his involvement in the Audiworld forums, he summed it up as such:
"The S4 is like having a girlfriend who is smart, beatiful, and really good in bed. It just makes you kind of ignore the fact that she's a cleptomaniac".
He never had any of the more major problems (like blown turbos, tranny failure, multiple computer failures) that other's on Audiworld reported. Rather he dealt with the more typical problems that he said almost ALL S4 owners had:
1. The plastic headlight washer covers fly off at over 80 mph or so. This is so common that the Audi dealerships usually stock bucketloads of the covers and hand them out like little chicklets.
2. The power steering pump makes awful noises/fails. His was replaced twice.
3. The windshield washer reservoir spontaneously cracks. His was replaced twice and he gave up after the third failure. Dealerships usually stock many replacement reservoirs.
4. The radio has odd, intermittent problems. When he went to the dealership, they suggested that he buy aftermarket as the wait for warranty radios was over a year.
5. The soft return for the glovebox failed.
He complained about a few other things that seemed insignificant enough I don't remember them.
Now, all of this must be taken into account with the fact that Audi provides a spectacular, 5 yr 50,000 mile EVERYTHING warranty (they even replaced his brake pads and rotors after he tracked the car and then complained of a slight pulsing while braking). When you get service done, you always get a loaner that is at worst a standard A4. So you really have to just decide how much you mind spending significant time at the dealership and driving a loaner.
Now, one other thing had started to happen with regards to Audi warranty work. Basically, they are getting killed on warranty costs for that car, especially since so many people chip/mod/track the S4 until something breaks. So for bigger failures like blown turbos (not an uncommon failuer. Not sure exactly what went wrong when they say a "blown turbo", though I assume a lubrication/bearing failure.), they started getting to be real dicks about assuming innocent until proven guilty. They'd accuse you of having modded the car (like a chip, then having switched it back before service) and tracking and such, even claiming to have "heard about you tracking your car". For some people with blown turbos, they'd charge you for the service saying that they would only warranty it and reimburse you if there was no evidence after the teardown that it wasn't your fault.
Anyway, this is all anecdotal evidence and it didn't even happen to me, but I'm relating this for what it's worth. He never regretted owning the car, but he had decided that he did not want to own that car out of warranty. During the time he owned it, the WRX became available and he bought one of those instead.
Clark
The S4 car is wicked fast with a chip and exhaust. I mean, the thing will pull low 13's at the strip (chipped/exhaust), whether you have just the driver or 4 large people in the car. The car has more torque than most small nations. It's handling is decent for a car carrying some 3500 lbs, though it's a bit wallowy in tight transitions.
Now, if reliability is very important to you then you should look elsewhere. After his experiences with the car and his involvement in the Audiworld forums, he summed it up as such:
"The S4 is like having a girlfriend who is smart, beatiful, and really good in bed. It just makes you kind of ignore the fact that she's a cleptomaniac".
He never had any of the more major problems (like blown turbos, tranny failure, multiple computer failures) that other's on Audiworld reported. Rather he dealt with the more typical problems that he said almost ALL S4 owners had:
1. The plastic headlight washer covers fly off at over 80 mph or so. This is so common that the Audi dealerships usually stock bucketloads of the covers and hand them out like little chicklets.
2. The power steering pump makes awful noises/fails. His was replaced twice.
3. The windshield washer reservoir spontaneously cracks. His was replaced twice and he gave up after the third failure. Dealerships usually stock many replacement reservoirs.
4. The radio has odd, intermittent problems. When he went to the dealership, they suggested that he buy aftermarket as the wait for warranty radios was over a year.
5. The soft return for the glovebox failed.
He complained about a few other things that seemed insignificant enough I don't remember them.
Now, all of this must be taken into account with the fact that Audi provides a spectacular, 5 yr 50,000 mile EVERYTHING warranty (they even replaced his brake pads and rotors after he tracked the car and then complained of a slight pulsing while braking). When you get service done, you always get a loaner that is at worst a standard A4. So you really have to just decide how much you mind spending significant time at the dealership and driving a loaner.
Now, one other thing had started to happen with regards to Audi warranty work. Basically, they are getting killed on warranty costs for that car, especially since so many people chip/mod/track the S4 until something breaks. So for bigger failures like blown turbos (not an uncommon failuer. Not sure exactly what went wrong when they say a "blown turbo", though I assume a lubrication/bearing failure.), they started getting to be real dicks about assuming innocent until proven guilty. They'd accuse you of having modded the car (like a chip, then having switched it back before service) and tracking and such, even claiming to have "heard about you tracking your car". For some people with blown turbos, they'd charge you for the service saying that they would only warranty it and reimburse you if there was no evidence after the teardown that it wasn't your fault.
Anyway, this is all anecdotal evidence and it didn't even happen to me, but I'm relating this for what it's worth. He never regretted owning the car, but he had decided that he did not want to own that car out of warranty. During the time he owned it, the WRX became available and he bought one of those instead.
Clark
01-28-2002, 08:17 AM
#29
Originally posted by Sondra S2K
3 years after the repurchase, I'm hoping lightning doesnt strike in the same place twice and thinking about buying another A4, only because the A4 is available as an all wheel drive, where BMW can't match that aspect. [/B]
3 years after the repurchase, I'm hoping lightning doesnt strike in the same place twice and thinking about buying another A4, only because the A4 is available as an all wheel drive, where BMW can't match that aspect. [/B]
01-28-2002, 08:44 AM
#30
Registered User
I have an '01 S4, I have 15K miles with zero problems. The main reason I chose the S4 over a 330ci/i was for the all wheel drive. The S4 is fast stock and can easily be faster with a few mods. The suspension was a little soft for me so I put on some H&R coilovers which seem to provide a firmer ride. Acceleration is smooth and quick. You can go 100+ with 4 people with no problems at all. I am very happy with the S4. BTW, I have the TIPTRONIC.