notasausage

Hey everyone. I'm a long time lurker and a first time poster to the AudiWorld forums. I've been around this community for almost 15 years and find myself with the possibility of purchasing my own unicorn.

My wife bought a 2005 Audi A4, fully loaded, from dealership long before we met. We both loved that car (all 135,000 miles of it), but after a low-speed accident just over a year ago rendered it totaled, we took the insurance money and bought a CPO Mercedes GLK to deal with hauling around our young son and our dog.

I really like the GLK, but not necessarily the fact that it's an SUV. She hates it. And having a car payment again really sucks, especially since our other car is a 2005 Mini Cooper S that we bought outright. So I told her about my unicorn, and she was completely into it!

After a few weeks of searching, I found a 2004 Audi S4 Avant in Nogaro Blue with 100,000 miles. But it's had official maintenance done just last month, including a new timing chain, replaced camshaft adjuster, and a bunch of other items. Should I buy this thing? I know the risks, but considering the recent work done, I feel pretty confident that it's good to go.

Looking at other cars available on TrueCar and elsewhere, I got an idea of pricing. This one seems pretty reasonable. How much would you be willing to pay for this unicorn? Am I crazy?

rynpllck

I would pay anywhere from 10-14k depending on condition. Since it's had it's timing chain and it's color I'm assuming more the upper limit of that range.
Given the good sounding history the only other problem would be scoring of the cylinders which can be caught by a leak down test prior to purchase.

I would hope anyone here wouldn't call you crazy, they're excellent vehicles. I daily mine with 154k on the clock with no real service history outside of my 25k miles and it's been excellent. Some minor issues here and there but oil consumption/leaking is the most annoying problem at 1k-ish miles a quart.

ericj376

Sounds pretty solid to me! Especially considering the timing chain service being done! Bought my Imola Yellow S4 Avant with 94,000 on it and paid $13,900.00 and I thought it was a great deal. So much fun to drive, I absolutely think it is worth it, and I definately do not think you are crazy!

notasausage

Well... we bought it. And it arrived last night, so I didn't get to drive it until this morning. But even though I started doubting our decision to spend this much on a 12-year-old car, as soon as I got behind the wheel I realized what a great decision we made. It completely lived up to the hype!

Here are some photos after I spent a few hours cleaning it up:

ericj376

Congrats! Welcome to the club!! I bought mine almost 2 years ago, and I still smile every time I drive her!! Worth every penny!!

Grisho

Congratulations man!!!
Following your passion is never crazy, I think it is a must!
I also got my 2005.5 S4 with 105k 2 months ago and loving every second with it! Ihad full service history and I paid $9,900 for it