drewbalshi

I'm currently considering buying a used S4. The B6 seems to fit my needs/wants as well as budget. The car that I'm most closely looking at has about 60k miles. Does anyone have advice on things to keep an eye on when I go to check out the car? Common issues with the 4.2? Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Glion

yeah I advice you to read the site a bit more.

The only good thing about this car is that it drives fast imho

things to look for.
Cold start: timing chain slap

window regulators: one goes out rest is soon to follow
gas consumption is extremely high
if things break in the interior (/ashtray) you have to take everything out cause they are well build
maintenance is very high
vibration from quatro with low speeds
headlights are 1300 euros (Switzerland) a piece

I have the avant but it doesnt have that much room

all in all I love the car but would not buy one again....

S4Bloom

Mine has 48K miles on it and has been practically flawless. Maintenance is as expected for a nice V8. As is the gas mileage. My car runs butter-smooth. Change the oil, get new filters, etc.

Coil packs had reported issues but there was a free recall.

drewbalshi

THANKS. LOOKS LIKE THE TRANSMISSION CASING ON THIS ONE IS CRACKED, THEY ARE REPLACING IT. OTHERWISE I'M NOT HEARING TO MANY OTHER COMMON ISSUES. I DON'T MIND THE GAS MILEAGE, PRETTY SHORT COMMUTE.

THANKS FOR THE REPLIES SO FAR.

DREW

Jeremy9

I am currently in the same position, looking for a B6 S4 Avant. I am considering the auto over the 6M, are there any common problems with that transmission?

nitro1

You guys need to search this site and Audizine.com.

You will find MANY issues and concerns with this car. I'm not even going to start listing stuff b/c it would take too long. What I will say is that you are buying a $55k car and it will need to be maintained like one. If you buy this car and nothing left in the pocketbook for repairs, you are screwed. I love my car...its incredible....BUT, total mileage means jack $hit on this car, its all about the previous owner.

Do some research then come back with specific questions. If you are scraping together $15k-$25k to barely pay for your "new" used S4 this is not the car for you. Look at Subaru.

Slobo7x

Well you can search this site and audizine back and forth for all the info and more. If you read the thread called "metal noise when cold" you will probably not buy it. lol

As stated above this is a somewhat expensive car, that needs to be maintained in order to prevent expensive repairs and headaches.

I have 105,000 on my 04 S4 and it runs perfect as my previous 05 with 50,000 miles. Absolutely no difference.

Maintenance is the key. If you feel that there might be something wrong, check it out right away and avoid problems down the road.

Only really bad thing that you would not expect is the gas mileage in manual S4's, auto gets a little better.

Good luck and hope you do decide to get it, cause it's unlike any other car

drewbalshi

Thanks for the replies guys.

I am very familiar with all the upkeep with the Audis as i've been driving two different a4s over the past 10 years. So it was something I was well aware of going into the purchase.

I have gone ahead and purchased my first s4. 2005 w/ 59,000 mi. Picking it up today.

I'm sure i'll be back with more questions down the road.

Thanks
Drew

rman726

I picked up my 2005 S5 Cab on Monday, and am absolutely loving it. I'm sure you'll love it too. I know I won't love the maintenance costs, but that's just something you go into the purchase knowing.

Armand Opperman

hi just wana know are there any small pop ups on the 2005 s4 b6 i bought one and the next day i couldn't get clutch so now i replaced the master cylinder And still no clutch took it in today to do the cluctc pressure plate and the slave cylinder hopefully that will be the end of problems but with a smile i can say the s4 kicks bmw ***