Hello,
I'm considering a 2007 A4. While not "S Line", this one has the S line sport suspension, is black on black, 6 speed manual, fully loaded (including nav).

Was looking at the BMW 335 ('07), as well as a 2004 330i (E46) with the zhp performance package, and the Infinity G35.

I noticed many of you own Audis and BMWs (and other things). I've never had an Audi before. I am considering leasing this one for around $470/month with $1300 down (24 month lease, 15,000 miles/year). Is that a good deal...?

Any thoughts would be appreciated. Are there "issues" with these A4s? How much does the "chip" I keep hearing about cost? Does it void the warranty? How are resale values? If I end up buying this car out at the end of the lease, I'll end up paying close to $39,000 for this car, which seems high to me. Is it?

Need to make a decision tomorrow (Monday the 8th), so any advice is very much appreciated.

Thanks!

J.

 

chip - 500 clams

yes it may if you have a serious issue which i highly doubt

the color and the way you keep it clean, like getting regular detailings every 6 or 3 months will give you a great resale. no no's on the car washes

39g's seems to high, i put down 3g's for 500 a month, for 3 years and buy back is 20g's

 

Sounds like you are looking at an A4 2.0T with sport suspension (so such thing as an "s-line suspension").

1. Your lease sounds like it could be a little better. Like someone said, $39K sounds like a bit hight.

2. I'm on my third Audi and (knock on wood) there have been no issues with the cars that I've owned. Not to say that there aren't cars that have had issues, but mine have been trouble free.

3. The "chip" is an ECU program, costing between $500-$700, from various vendors. It will give the car a really noticeable boost in power. (Just had mine done with the APR program two days ago.) By itself, it does not void any warranty. But, if a problem arises and the dealer can point to the program as the cause, warranty repair could be denied.

4. I sold my 2002 A4 1.8T Avant after owning it for about two years and got what I thought was a very good price for it.

The bottom line is will it make you happy after you test drive it compared to other cars? I don't know what other cars you've owned, but people who have owned Japanese cars such as Honda, Acura, or Lexus tend to think that those cars are near perfect and get scared off by the old history of Audi (i.e. unexpected acceleration, poor quality, etc.) that no longer exists, IMHO. To me, Audi is light years ahead of those troubled times, else I wouldn't have gotten three Audis in a row.

Hope this helps you with your due dilligence.

 

Cant tell you about the lease stuff but here is the rest.

The real common issue is with chipped cars. The diaphram in the electronic BPV tears under high boost. Its common and cheap to fix. I just had mine replaced with the ecode mechanical valve that is coming out. I used Revo on my last Audi S4 and APR on another last Audi S4 and APR on this one, made about 50hp we dynod it I just dont remember exactly but its a different car. Chips are not chips anymore for the most part, they dont need to open your ECU and solder a chip on. They flash the ECU and every chip has thier own way of doing it but its undetectable. And if the dealer did know your car was modded and you had a failure somewhere the mod has to be responsible. If you have a chip and your BPV goes ya.. if the dealer knows they could turn it down 70.00 part. If your dash falls apart no... the chip didnt cause that. Audi are very reliable and just like any German car they are well built. Resale is not great, as with all German cars. Unless its super rare. The USD just doesnt hold up to the Euro and people dont want to pay lots of money for a used car. And aside from my BPV going on this car I have never had a problem with my modded B5 S4, B6 S4 or this car. Drive them all.

 

Thanks to all of you who have responded with advice. Please keep it coming. A couple of things...

(1) Re: the price, I feel it's a bit high too, but not sure how to bring it down (short of walking away...) The dealer was recommended by a VERY trusted friend (who came with me) who has purchased multiple high-end Audis from there. The dealer is asking just over $36,400 base price, or $500 over "invoice" (of course this isn't really dealer cost, I know). If I add the down payment, the monthlies for 24-months, and then the residual at the end of the lease term, it comes out to just shy of $39,000, all in... Where do you suggest there might be room to push the dealer here?

(2) RE the ECU re-program, did most of you who have this get it right when you got your cars, or did you drive them around for a while until you got "bored", then mod them? Also, if I decide to walk away from the car at the end of the lease term, am I going to have issues with a dealer because of the mod (I know someone said it was undetectable, but just assume the dealer knew... Is it easily "reversible", if necessary?

(3) RE my other cars: I've had Japanese cars and enjoy their reliability. But they don't have anywhere near the "soul" of European cars. I've also had 2 Italian cars, so I know all about problematic cars... That said, I've heard that, while much better than earlier models, Audis continue to have common electrical problems that often show up after a year or two of ownership... Any experience with this?

Thanks in advance!!

 

your ECU can be easily reflashed to really reallly stock, not stock mode but really stock.

 

The ECU can be reflashed to stock, so that shouldn't be an issue. It's not like an exhaust that needs to be uninstalled with lots of labor.

Not sure I'm much help on the lease, as my current lease on the A4 is my first lease with Audi.

As far as common electrical problems, as I've mentioned, no such things on my cars (knock on wood). One issue that was commonly known with the previous generation A4 (B6) was the ignition coil packs. This issue does not appear to be in the B7.

There are definitely instances where people have had some problems of different natures, but nothing indicative of inherent quality problems across the board. These are now solid cars, IMHO, but just like other makes, are not totally immune to the occasional issue.

If you're worried that your car will be at the dealer every month, then that's not the case. You will read about owners who've had to visit the dealer more often than normal, but again, there doesn't seem to be a pattern that everyone is experiencing this.

Good luck.

 

Sill I had no problems with mine.