Originally Posted by Dan99

I have a 2019 RS5 Sportback with about 60K miles. It was purchased new, I like it a lot, and have no plans to get rid of it. I specifically wanted the 2019 model to avoid a touch-screen interface and still prefer the one in the 2019 models. If you prefer touch screens, you'll have to get a newer model. I will say that the newer models are more compatible with wireless Apple Car Play and Android Auto, if these are important to you. In my case, I typically rely on SD cards and/or plug my phone into the car with a USB cable, and everything works fine. I could use Bluetooth to connect to the MMI, but prefer higher quality sound than Bluetooth can deliver. And, my SD cards can hold a lot of high quality music. My music is on one SD card, and my wife's is on another.

I have had a couple problems over the years:

1. The fuel pump gasket was installed incorrectly at the factory and it developed a leak at about 7K miles. Fixed under warranty.

2. The factory alignment was horrible. It must have been done first thing Monday morning after a rough weekend. A new alignment completely changed the handling for the better. Tire pressures are also critical in the handling of this car. Start with those in the manual, NOT on the door jam, and tweak as needed. More on this below.

3. The valve in the left exhaust started flapping on its own one day and had to be replaced.

4. The standard brakes are expensive to replace, and the Carbon Ceramic ones are through the roof. If the car has CC brakes I would have them measured to determine if they are approaching replacement and either avoid that car or make sure the price reflects the need to replace them. I have the standard brakes, and have moved to aftermarket brake rotors to save on cost. Maybe it's a placebo effect, but the new rotors and stainless steel brake lines make the brakes feel much better. The oem ones were very good, the aftermarket ones are better (at least in my head). 034 and Girodisc are two brands to consider.

My use of the car:

1. It's a daily driver. I was first introduced to RS models when Audi invited me to drive an R8 and RS7 on a local track. I take my car to the same track 2 or 3 times per year, and have also been on Road America (stock) and Virginia International Raceway (tuned). I don't race though. It's a high performance car and I wanted to safely learn how to drive it effectively with less risk than doing it on the road. I go to High Performance Driving Events (HPDE) that include some classroom time, autocross and track time. Considering that the car was designed for the Autobahn, this hardly pushes the car past its limits but, again, I don't beat it.

2. I drove it stock until it was out of warranty. It is now tuned with 034 Stage 1 ECU and Stage 2 TCU. It also has a Wagner Competition Intercooler and an 034 transmission mount. Again, I don't race. The Intercooler just provides better cooling which reduces heat-related power loss and it would be a good investment if you live in a very hot climate (whether you tune it or not). The transmission mount makes the shifting more direct. The ECU tune gives it more power, but the TCU tune made the car more drive-able by making it easier to control shifting with the throttle. The shifts are also much faster.

3. I only used launch control 3 times when stock and 2 times after tuning. It's not my thing and seems hard on the car. I'm more interested in driving on twisty roads than drag racing. If these things matter to you, see if you can figure out how the car was used.

4. I have both summer and winter tires and wheels. I have been doing this on every high performance car I have owned since 1986. The RS5 is like a tank on snow with winter tires and I much prefer it to my wife's Jeep Grand Cherokee (with All Season tires) on snow covered roads.

5. My car has the optional Sport Suspension with DRC. Some people hate it, but I like it. I can change ride quality and handling with the push of a button, and it corners flatter than any passenger car I have driven. I set the suspension for Auto for Daily Driving, reserve Dynamic for the track or twisty canyon roads, and use Comfort for bad roads or a car full of passengers. And, when the tire pressures are dialed in, Auto provides neutral handling, Comfort provides slight understeer, and Dynamic provides some oversteer.

6. I have done all of the factory maintenance. In addition, I change the oil and filter every 5K miles.

Some additional comments about the 2019 RS5:

1. Rocker arms have been a significant topic of discussion. Audi has used at least 3 versions and only the first two seem to have problems. My RS5 was manufactured in 10/2018 and it has the 3rd version. I believe there were only a small number of early production 2019 RS5 Sportbacks that had the second version. I'm not sure about the Coupes. If you find one with an early production date, I would check the rocker arms. This is easily done with a borescope which most shops have, but they are also inexpensive if you want to do it yourself. You insert the scope into the oil filler cap. There is a thread out here that shows pictures of the different rocker arm versions and you can compare them to photos taken with a borescope.

2. Oil temperature. The car has an oil temp gauge in addition to water temp. The manual says to not use full throttle until the oil is up to temp (176F), which takes a while, but I have followed this religiously. Failure to do this is especially hard on the turbos. I'm not sure how you would determine if a prior owner was careful with this, but I would try to figure that out through discussion. Or, perhaps you could go on a test drive with the owner and see if they wait until the oil is up to temperature before driving hard.

3. Some people say that you should break in a new engine by driving it like you stole it. I disagree with this and have always followed the break-in procedure. Again, I'm not sure how you determine something like this except through conversation with the original owner. This issue is not unique to Audi, and applies to any used car you would buy. Typically you won't know, but if someone tells you they drove it hard during break-in, I would look for a different car.

4. The car comes with high performance summer tires. If you live in or travel to a climate that drops below 40F you'll also need winter tires and wheels, or just go with All Season tires. Make sure you know what tires are on the car and consider this as you negotiate price. High performance summer and winter tires will out-perform All Seasons, so you have to decide whether performance or convenience is most important to you. If the car does have summer tires, look for any checking in the tire surface. This would indicate it was driven below 40F and it needs new tires.

5. Personally, as mentioned in an earlier post, I drive exclusively in Sport. Drive mode puts the car in a gear that is too high and exposes the engine to lugging. Sport puts the car in a gear that keeps the engine rpms in a range that avoids lugging while also making it much more responsive. In my view, 8th gear should be avoided at any speed under 75 mph, so I would actually prefer to purchase a used one that did not spend most of its time in Drive. I'm not sure how much weight to attach to this, but that's my preference.

6. I would make sure all of the factory service has been done. Some only involve an oil change, but others include spark plugs, changing transmission oil and filter, rear end oil, etc. which are all expensive. If any of that has been skipped, I would include the missing service in price negotiations.

7. The knock on the Sport Suspension with DRC is that it can make the suspension harsh. In my view, Dynamic is too harsh for the street, but just put the car in Auto or Comfort. Any harshness that you experience on the street in Dynamic simply disappears on the track, and the car is very stable and controllable. The trap that myself and others fell into was, "i bought a high performance are and should be able to use Dynamic on the street.", but this ignores the fact that Dynamic is really intended for a level of driving that is beyond what you should be doing on most streets. However, you would not want anything less on a track. I have had cars with better shocks, but I would get an RS5 with the Sport Suspension and DRC over one with the standard suspension. I am curious about the suspension in the Competition models, but only 2023 models and newer have that option.

Finally, I used to purchase used performance cars because I could not afford a new one. For example, I've had two used Porsches that I put 100K and 130K additional miles on. Both had 140K miles on them when I sold them. I would still be driving the second one if my daughter did not outgrow the back seat. So, longevity on a used performance car is possible, but you have to do some due diligence on the items above that are important to you, and try to avoid a car that was abused.

Originally Posted by JohnEnglish

The Michelin CrossClimate 2 is probably the best all season tire out there. In this chart, you can see how well it compares to the Michelin X-Ice Snow, a dedicated winter tire, in the snow. It even compares favorably to the Michelin Pilot Sport 4S in dry and wet grip.

Originally Posted by SlapShot

This discussion here has me seriously re-considering the purchase of a 2019-202, and using it long term. Just for starters, $2,300.00 for a water pump and thermostat that apparently routinely fails? Brake jobs for $5k at 30 to 50k miles? I understand that high performance European cars do require some pricey maintenance and occasional repairs. I have, in the past, set aside $1000.00 a year for this purpose, and am fine with that. It was always enough to cover things with my BMW's. And tire replacement is not a part of that fund's coverage, tires wear on these cars. But that looks entirely inadequate with what people are experiencing.

The really unfortunate thing is that really like the RS5 Sportback, and I haven't really found another car, made by anyone, that represents a viable alternative.

Originally Posted by superswiss

Known issues such as thermostats and scheduled maintenance aside, the main expenses on cars like this are tires and brakes. I used to go through a set of tires in 12 months with my RS5 and the first couple of years with my AMG. Now I drive only about 4-5k miles a year, so a set lasts about 2 years. You can go for all-season tires that have a bit longer tread life I suppose if you just use it as an A to B daily driver. However, when it comes to brakes, most people way overpay. Except for the CCBs, brakes are probably the easiest part to go aftermarket and not only save thousands, but actually get better brakes. I haven't had a dealership replace my brakes in a decade or so. I always source aftermarket parts myself and have them replaced by my Indy at a fraction of the cost dealerships quote. Not only that, but I now source my parts at FCP Euro. They have lifetime replacement warranty. You send back the worn parts and they give you full credit for it. For example, I'm on my third set of front brakes and the last set was free other than for the labor to install them and shipping the old parts back. FCP Euro gave me a full credit for the worn parts. The only thing now is that they only give a store credit. They used to give cash credit, but it was abused by a small group of black sheep. In my case I had bought the previous set before they had changed the policy, so they honored the original deal, but moving forward it's only going to be store credit. Still a great deal for a car like this that needs new brakes about every 18k miles.

Originally Posted by SlapShot

Thanks, I really appreciate that perspective, and I agree with your perspective. It's the major failures like thermostats and water pumps etc. that concern me,

Originally Posted by SlapShot

This discussion here has me seriously re-considering the purchase of a 2019-202, and using it long term. Just for starters, $2,300.00 for a water pump and thermostat that apparently routinely fails? Brake jobs for $5k at 30 to 50k miles? I understand that high performance European cars do require some pricey maintenance and occasional repairs. I have, in the past, set aside $1000.00 a year for this purpose, and am fine with that. It was always enough to cover things with my BMW's. And tire replacement is not a part of that fund's coverage, tires wear on these cars. But that looks entirely inadequate with what people are experiencing.

Cost to maintain between 3 and 5 years - AudiWorld Forums

The really unfortunate thing is that really like the RS5 Sportback, and I haven't really found another car, made by anyone, that represents a viable alternative.

Originally Posted by SlapShot

Thanks, I really appreciate that perspective, and I agree with your perspective. It's the major failures like thermostats and water pumps etc. that concern me,