Looking at a 2017 A4
 

Hi all,

I'm in the market for my first Audi (coming from e46 BMW). I don't have a lot of knowledge about Audi's. I've been researching religiously, but I wanted to get your opinion on these options I've found. This is my main option:
https://www.cargurus.com/Cars/invent...ting=226988535
Its a little high in miles, which is obviously a concern. This one is fully loaded with (what I believe) all packages. I decided on the prestige because I've heard good things about Audi's virtual cockpit, and me being a tech-oriented guy, I thought I would enjoy it. I would really appreciate your thought on an Audi with this many miles. Attached is the carfax for this vehicle.
My second option is:
https://www.cargurus.com/Cars/invent...ting=232621923
As this one does not have the prestige add-ons, but it does seem to have the same sport, sound, and weather packages.

I really enjoy seeing your opinions on these and any information you can give me when looking at used Audi's (Online and when I get to the dealer.)

Thank you,
Sean

Thanks for the response! Yea, that was my worry as well. I've heard Audi has gotten near Honda levels of reliability, so I thought I would check others opinions. my budget is 20-30k and with this particular Audi being so new, their arent a lot to choose from in my area. Judging by your profile pic, would you say its worth waiting for the 2017 or would I be better off looking at 15/16? I'm also keeping my eye on the 2019 VW GLI, which is supposed to release in the spring. quote from the CEO "were seeling Audi for VW prices" so that might be the way to go till I get a little further in my career.

Gotcha, so what you're saying is that there is a good bit of negotiating in sedans rn? I'm a few months away till I'm fully ready to get a new car, (even though I'm so eager) so I'll have some time to find the perfect one.

Aside from the high mileage, neither of those have the adaptive cruise nor the warm weather package (ventilated seats).

Oh ok, adaptive cruise seems like a nice feature, but the warm weather package kinda seems like a scam lol. When you have a cooled seat option, the ventilation doesn't really seem to help much from what I've read. Haven't experienced it myself though. Obviously, you have it, so would you say that the warm weather package is worth the money?

I haven't heard a single person on this forum that didn't highly regard the ventilated seats. FYI, Audi ventilated seats pulls away hot air from your body rather than pushing air out from the seats. It is more comfortable in long-term driving.

Gotcha, I could def see how that would be nice with leather seats. It's a little hard to find an Audi with all packages in the 20k miles range. There are only 4 prestiges in my area. The 2 I referenced and then 2 with lower miles, but they dont have any extra packages, just a base prestige.

The 2017 A4 began selling around March/April 2016. Three year lease returns should begin appearing in a few months. My suggestion is to wait a bit unless the perfect car comes along.

That's a very good point. Luckily I have a little time, so I'm definitely going to keep my eyes peeled. Also now looking at A3's, since from what I've read, it's a little sportier with less room. I don't have people in the back seat very often, so if I get something sportier for cheaper, then why not. The only thing is I don't think the 17 A3's have any sort of weather packages. As I live in Maryland, both warm and cold weather packages would benefit me greatly.

I appreciate all the replies guys!

The cold weather pkg is heated rear seats and a heated steering wheel. If you rarely have back seat passengers you're only benefiting from the heated steering wheel.

Oh ok, that's def not a deal breaker then, but that steering wheel would still be very nice. Maybe I'll just try to install one myself haha.

An A3 can definitely be had for less than an A4, but the interior on the A4 is in a different league IMO. They both offer the virtual cockpit, but the rest of the A3 interior
just doesn't feel like the luxury item you're paying top $$$$$ for.

I agree that the A4 is much more upscale than the A3, especially for 2017 models.

The one thing going for the A3 is the rear LED lights. I wish those were on the A4, its gorgeous!

That's fine but understand the A3 uses the 'fake-4-wheel-drive' haldex system. When you step up to the A4 you get quattro the way it was intended. Quattro applies power to all 4 tires immediately and does not wait for tire slip to shift power as with the haldex system. IMO that makes the A4 much more sporty than the A3. So many cars now come with AWD but it is usually a haldex type implementation. Quattro is special and worth the extra $.

I'm seeing a sea of Premiums everywhere. I'm new to the forum and am also looking for a 2017 or 2018 A4. I've found it curious that most folks here seem to have Prestiges and PPs but the listings are full of Premiums. They must have made a ton of them relative to the higher trim levels. I'd probably be OK with one but for Side Assist, which I really want. So I'll probably get a PP. It doesn't help I'm in a somewhat remote area with one Audi dealer in 20 miles and not another in 200.

The A4 also has LED tail lights. Do you just mean you like the shape of the A3 lights over the A4s?

The Premiums were likely the car of choice for rentals and fleets. Just in case you are averse to that.

Indeed, just bought a 17 Premium A4 Quattro for a friend who only drives A4 Quattros since 2005. The reason so many 17 Premiums are on the dealer's lot is because they are ex Audi's rental car service cars (silvercar.com). silvercar.com basically let you get a A4 or Q3 rental at the major airports. Shuttle picks you up and take to A4/Q3 lot. Prices not too expensive and unlimited mileage. I figure it was just a way for Audi to run the factory at high throughput, maybe required by labor laws in Germany?

Anyway, these ex rental A4 Premiums are around 20k miles and most used car dealers got them at auction for about $22-$24k (badvin.org will show some of these auction car results with VIN. Also chat with audi on myaudi.com and they will tell if car came from silvercar.com with VIN). Around where am I in pacific northwest, these cars are popular but seems the 17 used are not selling very fast. Dealers are dropping prices to auction price after holding it on lot for 2-3 months. All these come with convenience and MMI Nav plus pkg.

autotrader.com shows all these cars In my area. Mostly on new car dealer's used inventory as they buy from auctions to fill their used fleet. Rural dealers is cheaper than metro dealers. Salesguy from rural BMW dealer where we bought the car said bulk of their used sales are 10-20k cars.

In terms of service. Most just had audi's 10 and 20k service at an Audi dealer.

if you could get that for $25k that is a lot of car for that price. That mileage should indicate highway miles which if backed up by excellent service records wouldn't bother me at all. My 2017 has 55k on it right now and easily 90% are highway miles. Heck the brake pads still look great.
My wife is an Insurance auditor and had a 100 mile round trip to work and that where the miles came from. Luckily she has been promoted/transferred to a location 5 miles from the house so now she does 10 miles a day. I am chaning to a 5k oil change interval to compensate for the short tripping now.

Can anyone back this up? I was kinda thinking the same. Since these would be primarily commuted highway miles, then I wouldn't think there would be a lot of wear on the vehicle. Obviously, I'd still get something like this pre-inspected, but you could pick something like this up with the same wear as something with 20k miles for thousands off. If those 20k miles were fun miles and the 50k were commuting miles, then they could both be in relatively same condition for a fraction of the price.

See my post #23 for reference. Bought one of these for a friend and no way of knowing how the car was used while as a silvercar.com rental. But I assumed a few things

- silvercar.com is an app based audi A4/Q3 rental at major airports run by VW. So most likely business travelers or those who loves Audis. Low chance of kids getting them for joy rides or was tracked (although unlimited mileage with low rental cost makes it a good candidate haha)
- I relied on carfax to determine if any accidents. Non of the 10-15 I looked at that was auctioned off by VW Credit (silvercar.com) had any reported accidents.
- Balance of 4 year 50k mile warranty still in effect so just go to Audi to get anything not wear+tear corrected.

The car we got was pretty much perfect with the exception of 3 things which seem all common to this car and probably unrelated to rental wear+tear.

1. OEM P7 Cinturado tires had some high speed vibration (common problem, flat spots easily even on brand new cars). We eventually asked the dealer to swap with trade-in car's tires (2012 A4 quattro with same tire size) and problem gone. If you see this tire on the car. Read this thread carefully. My experience on #77 and #79 and chimed in more to help someone with issues on this tire. https://www.audiworld.com/forums/a4-...2912885/page2/

2. Engine head seam has a small leak. Going in for warranty repair. I found another car had this problem, not sure how common. https://www.audiworld.com/forums/a4-...seams-2966973/

3. Really really faint wheel bearing sound. Also going in for warranty repair but sound is so faint now that tech may not identify it. This one sounds like a common issue. https://www.audiworld.com/forums/a4-...speed-2940649/

From the cars you linked to in the original post, I figure I search in the Baltimore area for you. Here is what I saw.

https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/Used+Cars/AWD+~+4WD/Audi/A4/Owings+Mills+MD-21117?driveGroup=AWD4WD&makeCodeList=AUDI&listingT ypes=USED&searchRadius=200&modelCodeList=A4&zip=21 117&maxPrice=30000&startYear=2017&endYear=2019&mar ketExtension=true&sortBy=relevance&numRecords=25&f irstRecord=0

Downside is not a lot of silvercar.com auctioned off cars in your area. But Carvana has a couple. Specifically, these 2 around 20k miles

https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/vehicledetails.xhtml?listingId=507473965&zip=21117 &referrer=%2Fcars-for-sale%2Fsearchresults.xhtml%3Fzip%3D21117%26startYe ar%3D2017%26incremental%3Dall%26endYear%3D2019%26m odelCodeList%3DA4%26makeCodeList%3DAUDI%26driveGro up%3DAWD4WD%26listingTypes%3DUSED%26sortBy%3Drelev ance%26maxPrice%3D30000%26firstRecord%3D0%26market Extension%3Don%26searchRadius%3D200&listingTypes=U SED&startYear=2017&numRecords=25&maxPrice=30000&fi rstRecord=0&endYear=2019&modelCodeList=A4&makeCode List=AUDI&searchRadius=200&makeCode1=AUDI&modelCod e1=A4&clickType=listing

https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/vehicledetails.xhtml?listingId=508537738&zip=21117 &referrer=%2Fcars-for-sale%2Fsearchresults.xhtml%3Fzip%3D21117%26startYe ar%3D2017%26incremental%3Dall%26endYear%3D2019%26m odelCodeList%3DA4%26makeCodeList%3DAUDI%26driveGro up%3DAWD4WD%26listingTypes%3DUSED%26sortBy%3Drelev ance%26maxPrice%3D30000%26firstRecord%3D0%26market Extension%3Don%26searchRadius%3D200&listingTypes=U SED&startYear=2017&numRecords=25&maxPrice=30000&fi rstRecord=0&endYear=2019&modelCodeList=A4&makeCode List=AUDI&searchRadius=200&makeCode1=AUDI&modelCod e1=A4&clickType=listing

Carvana doesn't provide a free link to carfax so you don't get the accident / service history. But these 2 cars came from silvercar.com and they follow Audi's original maintenance schedule (oil change at 10/20k miles). I know these 2 cars came from silvercar.com because autotrader includes vincheck link (no free check but get the VIN this way) and then use VIN in auction report on badvin.org shows VW Credit as the seller. You can also see the original auction price, location, and pictures. One car came from San Francisco while the other Las Vegas so likely used in CA airport and no salt underneath. Unfortunately, no picture shows a clear shot of the tires to know if they are Pirelli P7 Cinturatos (but probably the case as most I saw had them). To see unblurred report, make a free account on badvin.org.

https://badvin.org/v/WAUANAF4XHN0270....BCAA.12631015
https://badvin.org/v/WAUANAF41HN027421-2017-audi-a4-36b

Note both of these cars have been auctioned off 2-3 months now. Sellers will be motivated to negotiate and reduce the price towards their auction cost instead of keep on paying monthly loan on their capital.

You can also go to myaudi.com (make a login, even add a car with above VIN as yours just to get to chat to chat window) and chat with Audi USA help person. Give them VIN and ask them when does factory warranty expire. I noticed silvercar.com's Audis all started factory warranty almost a year before they were put into rental service so 4 year/50k mile warranty is due to expire sometime around 2020. I guess VW sees no point in providing longer factory warranty on these rental cars.

Anyway, if you want the Premium model for about $25k or less with around 20k miles. This is the path to pick one up. silvercar.com don't have anything but premium models. They are all optioned with convenience and MMI nav (look closer at the pics to confirm but was on all the ones I saw. For conv, I looked at heated mirror sign on the side mirror control knob, forgot what I looked at to verify MMI nav)

If you end up pursuing either of the above cars, I'd ask Carvana to

1. Confirm tire model and ask what they will do if tires prove to be problematic. But the tire problem is somewhat subjective and PITA to get someone to acknowledge to fix so best to just get it exchanged or discounted in case you need to swap. Given these cars likely sat for last 3 months, the Pirelli P7 Cinturatos are likely flat spotted (if not previously) and will likely have high speed vibrations.
2. Get carfax or vincheck report for you to see when it was put into rental service and the 10/20k service records on the report. silvercar.com usually ran these cars for about 1.5 years from the ones I've see. Here is an example of a silvercar.com auctioned 17 A4 Premium near me. See the carfax link for service records and length of time in the rental service.

https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/vehicledetails.xhtml?listingId=502938056&zip=98074 &referrer=%2Fcars-for-sale%2Fsearchresults.xhtml%3Fzip%3D98074%26modifyS earchId%3D17914272571%26startYear%3D2017%26increme ntal%3DALL%26endYear%3D2019%26modelCodeList%3DA4%2 6makeCodeList%3DAUDI%26driveGroup%3DAWD4WD%26listi ngTypes%3DUsed%26sortBy%3Drelevance%26maxPrice%3D3 0000%26lastExec%3D1552693186000%26firstRecord%3D0% 26marketExtension%3Don%26searchRadius%3D200&listin gTypes=Used&startYear=2017&numRecords=25&maxPrice= 30000&firstRecord=0&endYear=2019&modelCodeList=A4& makeCodeList=AUDI&searchRadius=200&makeCode1=AUDI& modelCode1=A4&clickType=listing

This is really tempting because it looks to me like you got a good deal. I bought a Chrysler from a similar program in 2007 and even though it's by no means the car an A4 is it's done nearly repair-free yeoman's service for me for a dozen years. I just haven't talked myself into a Premium yet. I've decided I can live without VC because I like the aesthetics of the gauges, but I still want side assist. Thanks for the info, though. I'm mulling.

The A4 B9 for me has a huge grin factor. Nice car to drive.

Hey Guys, I'm going to be test driving a few A3 and A4's tomorrow; all from the 2017 year. Might purchase one. Anything I should look out for. Any specific reliability issues you all have run into that I should make sure is fine?