Buying a 94 Audi S4!!! Any other C4 S4/S6 owners out there?

[Suicide Bobb 5,000+ posts]

***If you don't want to read the whole post, just read the paragraphs following "Which leads me to the point of the thread..." to skip all of the background info on the car.***

Alright...So I have $3500 loaned through my parents (no interest, yay!), $1500 from selling my Bonneville, and around $500 of my own. Before I had sold the Bonneville, I test drove a 94 S4. It has 130k, and is owned by a ~45 year old man who has a wife and kids. He lives in a nice neighborhood, and he only uses the car to commute to work. For monetary concerns, he is selling the car. In short, he is a respectable man who took very good care of his car. He didn't seem like an enthusiast though, just an average guy with a nice car.

The car is immaculate. The is a small fingerprint-sized dent at the bottom lip of the trunk lid, and some corrosion on the front wheels (it used to be in Montana I believe, where roads are salted frequently). Otherwise, the interior is pristine, and the engine is clean. What I mean by "clean" is that it is not perfect as if he got it power-washed like you see at dealerships, but it is well cared for. The only spots we found were some oil near the rear of the engine on the passenger side there was some oil near the valve cover gasket, and some on the I believe the steering coloumn seal or something on the sort (my buddy found it, I forget exactly where it was). The owner performed his own oil change the last time it got one, so my guess is that it dripped on spots. Maybe, maybe not.

Besides the engine, the front right tire had a very small amount of wear on the sidewall, and an almost unnoticeable shudder on the highway. Imagine the car was 100% smooth on the highway, and this car would be 95% smooth. My buddy believes it is wear from a worn (but not bad) tie rod end. These issues I have mentioned are the only things we could find even close to wrong with the car. They honestly are very minute, fine details that are exaggerated by the fact that the car has aged so little.

To my surprise, every single electronic thing in the car works! Climate control, A/C, heated seats, electric seats, foglights, you name it. The seats are in awesome condition, as is everything else. Turbo spools up nicely, the whine is present, as is the faint bypass valve "kuhuhuhuh". Brakes are solid, clutch is too.

All in all, it is in amazing condition for being a 16 year old car. It has always been one of my dream cars, because I am an Audi/VW guy, and I get sexually excited every time I hear a 5-cylinder The VR6 and Audi 5 are my favorite engines of all time!

The owner has it listed for $4500. I would be more than happy to pay that much for the car, I think it is worth every **** penny. However, I plan to bring him down to a target $4000. We are meeting up tonight at 7pm Pacific time. Whether I can get it for $4k or $4.5k, I will be driving home with it

Which leads me to the point of the thread...

I would love for any owners of these/anyone who has experience with them or the following S6 to chime in and tell me anything you can possibly let me know about it. Common problems, bang-for-buck mods, easter eggs (weird things specific to the car), etc.

I am very interested to know how much a chip costs for the car, and what I can expect from it. I am going to need the car to last me 4 cared for years, so I'm not looking to get any modifications that will negatively affect its reliability. Chip, exhaust, intake, and drivetrain mods will probably be the extent of it. I plan on immediately deleting and straight-piping the center resonator (if it has one), then later on running full Borla (I'm a Borla nut-hugger, sorry flowmaster fans). I also love loud turbo whine and bypass/blowoff valve noise, but I know blowoff valves have never really been compatible with Audi's

Sorry for the long read, thanks to those who took the time out of their day to read and hopefully reply!

Click to read more...

 

[Louisiana_CRX 5,000+ posts]

I didn't read it all .... ...but I like my Audi TT if that helps any....

 

[Suicide Bobb 5,000+ posts]

I didn't read it all .... ...but I like my Audi TT if that helps any....

Haha //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

It's alright. I'm not asking if I should buy the car, rather if anyone who has owned it can let me know anything they can about it.

I used to have a 97 A4 1.8T. It was nice and all, but it had no character. It was just too lifeless. This S4 is a whole different story //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[Louisiana_CRX 5,000+ posts]

You've owned Audis before ...so get it //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[Suicide Bobb 5,000+ posts]

You've owned Audis before ...so get it //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

I was sold on it the day I test drove it //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif I just had to sell the Bonny first, which I finally accomplished today...2 weeks later

 

[AlterEgo99 5,000+ posts]

tl; dnr

 

[Suicide Bobb 5,000+ posts]

tl; dnr

That's why I put the "skip to this part of the post" part at the beginning...

 

[AlterEgo99 5,000+ posts]

Amen brotha, A-M-E-N.

 

[stangman67 10+ year member]

Good cars if you plan on doing your own work on it. You've owned an Audi, so I am sure you know about all the little nitpicky electrical problems and such..

 

[Suicide Bobb 5,000+ posts]

Good cars if you plan on doing your own work on it. You've owned an Audi, so I am sure you know about all the little nitpicky electrical problems and such..

Of course I plan on doing my own work //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

I do know parts will be expensive. That's why I like this one, given its awesome condition.

Electrical mishaps are a non-issue for me. I'm on caraudio for peets sake!

Have you owned one, or something similar?

 

[stangman67 10+ year member]

I had a buddy with a mid 90's a4 and another with an early 2000 a4. Both had electrical issues, window switches going bad, doors not unlocking etc. **** nice price though. Very nice cars otherwise. Neither of them had powertrain issues and they were driven fairly hard.

 

[Suicide Bobb 5,000+ posts]

I had a buddy with a mid 90's a4 and another with an early 2000 a4. Both had electrical issues, window switches going bad, doors not unlocking etc. **** nice price though. Very nice cars otherwise. Neither of them had powertrain issues and they were driven fairly hard.

Oh ok cool. They have some stout powertrains for sure

 

[Suicide Bobb 5,000+ posts]

What do you guys think of this on it?

Painted Audi A4 A5 A6 A8 Shark fin B5 B6 B7 B8 S4 S6: eBay Motors (item 270454459924 end time Oct-04-10 20:25:57 PDT)

It's dirt cheap, so I figured it might not be a bad idea. I guess I'll have to see the car again first to get a good judgment.

 

[stangman67 10+ year member]

Did you get it? If so pics are a must

 

[Carnivorous18 10+ year member]

Indeed I wana see pics if you got it. Funny I was looking at S4's around my area a while back. They seem like nice cars. But if your gona get that fin, why not just get the actual one so you can get your radio reception placed outside the car?