Approach to buying an RS4
Thread Starter
AudiWorld Member
Joined: Jun 2011
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So I test drove my first RS4 today. Wow.
Very tight steering. Extremely light, smooth and easy clutch. There was a shimmy in the steering at about 100 kph (60mph), which concerned me a bit. Brakes were very solid. Everything I expected and more. It was so undramatic when I did some hard turns and handling, I was quite surprised. A very, very poised car.
What I didn't like about this particular car was the owner had just installed KW3's less than a month earlier. I found this strange - why change the shocks and then sell it right after especially since it's still under (extended) warranty.
He claimed the warranty didn't cover the bad DRC's since the car had been lowered. Is this true?
He also had air fresheners everywhere (even in the trunk), which leads me to believe either he's a smoker or there's water infiltration somewhere. I also felt it should have been faster (using my butt dyno). It was doing roughly 0-100 kph in about 6s - he confirmed a carbon clean had never been done. I think 50 more horses were lurking in that monster, waiting to get out.
Anyway, not the particular car I will buy but it's a start.
Oh, and I finally truly understand what every journalist has written about this car... fantastic.
Very tight steering. Extremely light, smooth and easy clutch. There was a shimmy in the steering at about 100 kph (60mph), which concerned me a bit. Brakes were very solid. Everything I expected and more. It was so undramatic when I did some hard turns and handling, I was quite surprised. A very, very poised car.
What I didn't like about this particular car was the owner had just installed KW3's less than a month earlier. I found this strange - why change the shocks and then sell it right after especially since it's still under (extended) warranty.
He claimed the warranty didn't cover the bad DRC's since the car had been lowered. Is this true?
He also had air fresheners everywhere (even in the trunk), which leads me to believe either he's a smoker or there's water infiltration somewhere. I also felt it should have been faster (using my butt dyno). It was doing roughly 0-100 kph in about 6s - he confirmed a carbon clean had never been done. I think 50 more horses were lurking in that monster, waiting to get out.
Anyway, not the particular car I will buy but it's a start.
Oh, and I finally truly understand what every journalist has written about this car... fantastic.
Last edited by G35Dalf; Apr 8, 2012 at 02:41 PM.
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From: DC Metro Area
If he's running spacers on the front that would be my first guess as to the cause of the vibrations. I have gone through 3-4 sets of front spacers before finally finding one that doesn't cause vibrations. If he indeed lowered the stock suspension by installing aftermarket springs then I've heard that Audi won't cover any issues.
Thread Starter
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If he's running spacers on the front that would be my first guess as to the cause of the vibrations. I have gone through 3-4 sets of front spacers before finally finding one that doesn't cause vibrations. If he indeed lowered the stock suspension by installing aftermarket springs then I've heard that Audi won't cover any issues.
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my MTM ones work really well. You can get them for around $300 from Horchaus in Montreal. Theyr'e the Canadian MTM dealer.
For perspective, someone on AZ did a group buy for a set of 4 x 10mm MTM spacers + bolts for the RS4 for like $400. I have no idea why anyone agreed to pay that.
Club AutoUnion
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 31,629
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From: Fort Collins Colorado
So I test drove my first RS4 today. Wow.
Very tight steering. Extremely light, smooth and easy clutch. There was a shimmy in the steering at about 100 kph (60mph), which concerned me a bit. Brakes were very solid. Everything I expected and more. It was so undramatic when I did some hard turns and handling, I was quite surprised. A very, very poised car.
What I didn't like about this particular car was the owner had just installed KW3's less than a month earlier. I found this strange - why change the shocks and then sell it right after especially since it's still under (extended) warranty.
He claimed the warranty didn't cover the bad DRC's since the car had been lowered. Is this true?
He also had air fresheners everywhere (even in the trunk), which leads me to believe either he's a smoker or there's water infiltration somewhere. I also felt it should have been faster (using my butt dyno). It was doing roughly 0-100 kph in about 6s - he confirmed a carbon clean had never been done. I think 50 more horses were lurking in that monster, waiting to get out.
Anyway, not the particular I will buy but it's a start.
Oh, and I finally truly understand what every journalist has written about this car... fantastic.
Very tight steering. Extremely light, smooth and easy clutch. There was a shimmy in the steering at about 100 kph (60mph), which concerned me a bit. Brakes were very solid. Everything I expected and more. It was so undramatic when I did some hard turns and handling, I was quite surprised. A very, very poised car.
What I didn't like about this particular car was the owner had just installed KW3's less than a month earlier. I found this strange - why change the shocks and then sell it right after especially since it's still under (extended) warranty.
He claimed the warranty didn't cover the bad DRC's since the car had been lowered. Is this true?
He also had air fresheners everywhere (even in the trunk), which leads me to believe either he's a smoker or there's water infiltration somewhere. I also felt it should have been faster (using my butt dyno). It was doing roughly 0-100 kph in about 6s - he confirmed a carbon clean had never been done. I think 50 more horses were lurking in that monster, waiting to get out.
Anyway, not the particular I will buy but it's a start.
Oh, and I finally truly understand what every journalist has written about this car... fantastic.
Thread Starter
AudiWorld Member
Joined: Jun 2011
Posts: 216
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Yes the DRC would not have been under warranty if the car was lowered. In fact the lowering will cause the DRCs to fail unless they were repressurized. I am sure the car needs a carbon clean like you said. I would worry about the air freshers but more important would be a full inspection by a good shop.
RS4's in Canada are few and far between - finding a garage queen in my area is going to be tough. There's a couple of low mileage beauties out west in Canada but they're too far/expensive to bring here. I'm not in a rush so still looking... :-)
Last edited by G35Dalf; Apr 9, 2012 at 10:25 AM.
Club AutoUnion
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 31,629
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From: Fort Collins Colorado
Last edited by Reggie; Apr 3, 2012 at 12:39 PM.
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I found another car - the dealer indicated it was an Audi lease return and was accidented in the rear ($13, 000 in repairs - trunk replaced).
I imagine the car had to have to passed an Audi inspection before they would have accepted the end of lease. Is this a reliable car in that sense? Is it even worth looking at with $13K in damage? I'm thinking it would mostly be panel work - not sure if the entire car was repainted to match... maybe the subframe was bent? I'm starting to think it's going to be hard to find a car with no previous damage... ugh.
I imagine the car had to have to passed an Audi inspection before they would have accepted the end of lease. Is this a reliable car in that sense? Is it even worth looking at with $13K in damage? I'm thinking it would mostly be panel work - not sure if the entire car was repainted to match... maybe the subframe was bent? I'm starting to think it's going to be hard to find a car with no previous damage... ugh.
Last edited by G35Dalf; Apr 9, 2012 at 09:56 AM.