jatwrite

...and sometimes still wonder if I sold the wrong car! My remaining car is an RS6, so I have nothing to complain about. But I do think the S4 is a better driver's car, and almost as fast as the RS6 when chipped. It's already in my personal Hall of Fame, tied for tops with the 530i I bought in 1976.

Also, tip of the hat to AW, since this is the second time I've sold an Audi thru their Marketplace. The first time was a learning process: I spent about $250 on ads elsewhere, but sold the car to someone in another state thru a free ad in AW. This time took a little longer (S4 vs A4 1st time) but AW still won out. I was beginning to advertise elsewhere, starting with an ad in yesterday's Detroit News and Free Press. But it didn't generate a single call. Instead, my 10th or so AW reply over about six weeks called yesterday, then drove across the state with a certified check today and left with the car.

The advantage of AW over other media, I think, is that while it doesn't reach huge numbers, everyone reading it is interested in Audis. Plus, it's cheap, and if you've got some time to sell, it works -- or at least it has for me.

(EDIT) And in both cases the buyer was a father getting the car for his daughter, then son.

No More B5 S4

Of course I'm talking about modded cars of course. :-)

PSmalls::DoggieStyle

I think I met you once in Royal Oak when I went with Piggie to a DTW Audi Group meet.

Anyway, congrats on the sale and enjoy the RS6.

jatwrite

That be me!

jatwrite

For cruising amenities the RS6 adds dual climate control, console HVAC into the back seat for the dog when we travel, BI-xenon headlights, in-dash 6-CD, side & rear privacy shades, solar cooling, more back seat room and probably a couple of other things I can't think of. All of which makes it a great cruiser. Add its addictive sound, 450 horses, good handling for its size and AWD, and it elevates to world class IMHO.

But my 2000 S4 was priced in the low 20s. If I was to sell my RS6 I'd hope to get three times that, yet the S4 is a better handling car. It is better on the track, just as M3s are better than M5s at a track. The S4 also is considerably less expensive to maintain. Its ride quality is comparable to the RS6; its nimbleness, better. As said before, a chipped S4 is almost as fast as a factory RS6. The acceleration difference is negligible, at least in mine.

Guess what I'm trying to say is that both cars are terrific, and while the panache of the RS6 may elevate it to world class, the S4 wins in bang for the buck.

I know that if I was looking for a sporty small sedan priced in the low 20s, I just might end up buying what I sold today!

No More B5 S4

Well, if I were you, given the choices, I'd keep the RS6 too. But you can be sure I'd chip it. :-P

Leif S4

OT: how did you get the key scratches out of your RS6? Repaint?

jatwrite

Basically, as real as the scratch looked, it was gone after a high pressure automatic touchless car wash. I was embarrassed, then unsure of what really happened, then unapologetic because I intended no wrong.

I tried to provide the link here but it didn't work.

nyc_qcar

the S4 gas mileage is almost worse than RS6. I suspect it really is worse .. the RS6 services are free as are the oil top-ups. Most of the RS6 examples seem a lot more fault free and spend less time at the shop than the S4s. There isn't as much of a need to mod the RS6 IMO. What, you think you're gonna eat less tires than an RS6 fanging an S4 around?

jatwrite

RS6 oil changes cost $200. They require use of oil only available from Audi/VW @ $16 per quart, plus extra labor to move a part for access to the drain plug. (On the other hand, they're not required as often.)

Front brake pads will cost $532; gets to $700 with rears included.

Those are the costs I meant in referring to maintenance. And the S4 does have about a 3.5 mpg edge on fuel economy, which adds up to about $600/year for my driving (20K mi/year).

Then there's the cost of things going wrong, and I'm OK with that because I have warranty left & just bought an extended plan from AOA for my RS6. But it cost over $3K -- about double the cost of an extended plan for my S4. I bought it because when the wiring harness on my RS6 had to be replaced, AOA allowed for 1.5 days labor but it actually took longer. Other tasks required longer than expected, too.

Almost all work on the RS6 seems to be labor-intensive, perhaps because the engine bay is so crowded. Whatever the reasons, the front facia must be removed for more tasks than is the case with the S4.