Tom in Seattle

I'm seriously considering an Avus Silver 2007 RS4 that was first licensed in Aug '06, so it has a bit less than two years remaining on the factory warranty. I've heard, but not seen anyone here confirm, that the DRC only has a 12 mo/12,000 mile warranty, so for this car it would be expired, correct?

Am I asking for trouble, or should I just go into this transaction assuming I'll replace the DRC with Stasis/Ohlins eventually anyway and the remaining warranty should be good enough for the rest of the car? The RS4 in question has just over 7000 miles on it and the selling price is $50K. It's about a 3 hour drive away, so no big deal to pick up. I can have a look in person if I desire.

I've seen 2007s listed on Autotrader or eBay from Audi dealers with asking prices in the $52-54K range for pretty low mileage cars (~ 16K or less). Several are CPO cars with about 3 years factory warranty remaining.

A CPO car sounds attractive, but even that doesn't tell me anything about how the car has been driven or treated during its life.

I really have a feeling from speaking with this gentleman at length that he always treated the RS4 with the ultimate respect. He offered to put me in touch with the local dealer's service manager to verify the service history and I may do that, or I suppose I could, and should, just look it up on Carfax. BTW, this owner had two RS4s, an RS6 and an R8... all being sold because of a medical condition, so it wasn't like he drove it allot.

I have to say Avus Silver would probably not be my first choice (my wife thinks it's a bit boring as it turns out), but Misano Red and Sprint Blue (my two favorites) may be a bit too bright for her tastes, and Mugello Blue a bit too dark... so Avus Silver is becoming the middle ground.

Thanks for any input.

JMSIV

I admit I have never looked hard at the fine print, but man there is a lot of disinformation on the internet.

Personally, I don't understand the world's fascination with extended warranties. The insurance companies (they are insurance policies) make a killing on the things, whether cars or electronic goods. Sure, there are cases where people save money. But it's bit like Vegas: at the end of the day, they are taking a lot more in than they are paying out. The CPO inspection is worthless. You are simply paying more for the car up front to cover the risk of something breaking.

It is more important to realize that some of the consumables (like brake pads and rotors) may be significantly more than other cars, say an S4. When you have 2-piece Lambo rotors the size of a medium pizza, it's going to cost you more than the dessert plates on a civic.

It's a good car. Buy it, drive it, fix it if it breaks.

sparkhill

several owners have had DRC claims fixed beyond this period. It requires your SA to go to bat for you. DRC warranties beyond 1yr/12K would be at the discretion of Audi.

daveak05

and true.

daveak05

sure, there's quite a few bad DRC's being mentioned here, but that's just here...maybe 20 claims out of approx 4000 RS4's sold.

Still, the new one leaking on the showroom floor was unsettling, to say the least. That alone would have me running from DRC. And I don't believe that owners should HAVE to get aftermarket suspension because of DRC failures. If you want to upgrade, fine. If your $70k car's suspension is failing within a year or so, that's not acceptable.

i also don't understand the deal with fluid leaks being at the center of all DRC failure. All shocks/struts have fluid. Bad seals on Audi DRC?... pressure related problem? What gives with this POS system?

sparkhill

The real problem is that Audi should not be use a second rate solution (DRC) on one of their "halo" cars and then make the issue worse by calling it a consumable suspension part with a shortened warranty. I expect to pay for consumables like brake pads. Leaking DRC on new cars at the dealerships is not acceptable. Shortening the warranty when the issues are known from the RS6 is just chicken-****.

sparkhill

There were only about 2000 RS4's sold in North America and this is predominately a US forum. So even 20 failures would be 1%. Assume 20% of owners come here, which I think is still high, and you can extrapolate a 5% failure rate. Look at the RS6 4 year failure rate and it far higher. To make things worse, once the DRC goes the first time, it becomes a guessing game as to whether or not it will ever be properly repaired at anytime in the future.

I feel pretty strongly that suspension components should last the duration of the warranty under "normal" use - which I think you have to define by the car and how it is marketed. The RS4 should hold up as a daily driver with a few track days mixed in since that is essentially how Audi markets it. Most of these RS4's are not even being tracked. So it is complete bull**** for Audi to limit the warranty on a DRC system that they brag about the purported benefits of. Build a product and stand behind it. Period.

I doubt we really disagree on this one.

daveak05

I think it's something that we need to keep in perspective...that car's aren't perfect. Drive your car and enjoy it, and expect the occasional repair outside of regular maintenance.

I agree with what you're saying though. VAG has a history of dialing back warranty on known problem items. The 98-04 Jetta Sedans had horrendous assembly, quality, and reliability under a new assembly plant in Mexico. Wagons were assembled in Germany. VAG's answer? Offer a 2 year/24k mile factory warranty. After '02 they went back to a 3/36, IIRC.

sparkhill

Sure, I agree with that.

daveak05

There's a catch in that reasoning though...maybe 20% of owners come here, but those that wouldn't normally be here may come here to discuss a problem with their RS4. So that can skew the incidences of failure in the other direction.