Anyone else on the fence about waiting for the B9?
 

My original Plan was to buy a 2013 or 2014 this September. However I'm starting to feel like perhaps it'd be better to wait for the B9 redesign.

Now I realize that the B9 S4 will likely not be out till mid 2015 as a 2016, and normally such a long delay to gratification would be a deal breaker except:

-I keep my cars for 10 years MINIMUM.

-My current car suffers from no mechanical issues whatsoever, is serviced regularly and can easily serve as a viable daily driver till 2015.

-The extra wait would mean paying cash for the car which saves me borrowing costs.

As for the possibility of the B9 being inferior to the B8. Well personal tastes aside I don't think Audi has ever replaced any model with an inferior one.

My main motivation is to have my car look new for as long as possible (again, I keep my cars). I'd also love if the B9 had a retractable nav screen and electric folding side mirrors (both kind of silly I know).

Any advice?

If you keep cars 10+ years then I would at least wait and see if the redesigned car's features and appearance suits you. If it were me, I'd also wait until the second or third model year to pull the trigger - unless the drivetrain largely carries over.

Even then, I'd be wary about a first model year. Case in point: I bought a brand new 2005 Porsche 911. It was the first model year of the 997, but the engine and transmission was a carry-over from the 996 so I thought the risks of having a lot of first-year quirks was low. Boy was I wrong. That car had so many electrical gremlins and other problems that the manufacturer bought it back from me so that it didn't have to be re-branded as a lemon.

I agree about not buying the first year of any new platform. One of the reasons why I jumped on the B8.5 was that Audi rolled in all the fixes for problem they learned about in B8. This should be a really stable platform.

Agree with other posts about not buying first model year. Audi infamously (and sometimes frustratingly) changes standard equipment between model years. That kinda sucks if you hold on to the car for 10 years. A good plan may be to wait for the B9 to come out to check it out. If it is worth waiting a couple more years, keep waiting it out. Otherwise there should still be B8.5's left when the B9 first comes out. Still get benefit of paying cash and have a good choice between picking up a value priced B8.5 vs the newest B9.

I would wait if I'm not that much of a hurry. When the B8 first came out I wanted one so bad but could not afford it. So I saved and saved and finally ordered one in Nov. of 2011. Somehow my order falling into the B8.5 and I wasn't happy because I still wanted the B8. So I cancelled my order. The dealer tried to find the car with my spec and even make a sweeter deal + throwing in the all weather mats. In the end, it gave me time to save enough money for the car and choices with the face lift or non-facelift.

I'm on the fence as well. I was disappointed to find out that the B8 S4 doesn't have the power folding mirrors like my 2006 S4, but that can be addressed with a kit from ECS.

I'm thinking of waiting until December to see if any concrete news on the B9 will come out then. If Audi continues with the supercharger for the B9, then I'll wait. If it's going to be a bi-turbo, then I'll have some thinking to do. The B5 S4 had a bi-turbo, and I didn't feel any lag with that car, so it may not be an issue. There's just something about the supercharger though that draws me back to it, so we'll see. :)

If you want a manual transmission I probably wouldn't wait.

I do indeed want a 6 speed transmission. Are you suggesting that will be going away for the B9? That'd be a game changer for sure.

The owner of my Audi dealer believes there will not be a manual transmission for the next redesign. I am hoping he is wrong.

BMW continues to offer manual transmissions for their M5 only for the U.S. market due to pressure from enthusiasts and car magazines. One the flipside, the new 911 Turbo is only offered with a PDK...for the first time in its history. :(

Who knows...

Nope........and never buy the first year vehicle; especially on a niche European.