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Friend of mine is interested in a B8.5 S4. Since I know you both know WAY more about these cars than I do, I told him I'd ask you all. What are your thoughts? Big things to go wrong, what to look for, expectations of maintenance, what to do/fix right after buying, etc?
Off the top of my head which largely depends on mileage:
PCV system, waterpump, thermostat, carbon cleaning, DSG service, and maybe a supercharger service are the main ones I can think of.
I feel like nowadays the ad / car / service records talk - if he's willing to spend $25-$30k on a nice B8.5 with records indicating most of those things have been addressed, I think he'll have a good / trouble-free experience.
@rockstar143 probably has more input on this than I do.
Also .. if he doesn't care if it's auto / 6MT - I think the B9 S4 is something to consider as well if he wanted to spend the $30-35k range - much more potent / mod friendly motor, ZF8 is a great transmission ... but, no S/C whine.
Friend of mine is interested in a B8.5 S4. Since I know you both know WAY more about these cars than I do, I told him I'd ask you all. What are your thoughts? Big things to go wrong, what to look for, expectations of maintenance, what to do/fix right after buying, etc?
Originally Posted by TylerT
Off the top of my head which largely depends on mileage:
PCV system, waterpump, thermostat, carbon cleaning, DSG service, and maybe a supercharger service are the main ones I can think of.
I feel like nowadays the ad / car / service records talk - if he's willing to spend $25-$30k on a nice B8.5 with records indicating most of those things have been addressed, I think he'll have a good / trouble-free experience.
@rockstar143 probably has more input on this than I do.
Also .. if he doesn't care if it's auto / 6MT - I think the B9 S4 is something to consider as well if he wanted to spend the $30-35k range - much more potent / mod friendly motor, ZF8 is a great transmission ... but, no S/C whine.
Like Tyler mentioned...
I wouldn't have many concerns. As you know 8.5 means no mechatronics failure point...just a DSG fluid and filter swap at 75K...easy peasy. I personally had to swap out the low pressure in tank fuel pump around 85K for $400 and 20 minutes of time.
Other than that...I have done the valve cleaning because I wanted to...didn't have any codes for it. At some point the thermostat will likely have an issue but who knows...it did at 85Kish on my S5 and hasn't been an issue on my 105K S4. So that's not a
THING you have to do but if you do...it's no biggy...tstat, water pump, pcv all at the same time. There are a lot of documented high mileage 3.0T(SC) on the forums that are still going quite strong. If the cats clog up or the starter goes that's a tight job but
that's not a KNOWN thing to happen unless you're dual pulley and beating the snot out of it all the time.
So with that said...I would highly recommend it. I have had mine for 35K almost all of which are stage 2 single pulley tuned without issue...for highway trips we load the kayak on top, bikes on the back and get 25 mpg...with nothing on it going the speed limit
it'll do over 30 with likely 400 awhp.
The B9 is definitely a monster with the tunes they are throwing on them and that is just a testament to how good a motor it is.
I think they are still a bit more pricey though...
Off the top of my head which largely depends on mileage:
PCV system, waterpump, thermostat, carbon cleaning, DSG service, and maybe a supercharger service are the main ones I can think of.
I feel like nowadays the ad / car / service records talk - if he's willing to spend $25-$30k on a nice B8.5 with records indicating most of those things have been addressed, I think he'll have a good / trouble-free experience.
@rockstar143 probably has more input on this than I do.
Also .. if he doesn't care if it's auto / 6MT - I think the B9 S4 is something to consider as well if he wanted to spend the $30-35k range - much more potent / mod friendly motor, ZF8 is a great transmission ... but, no S/C whine.
Originally Posted by rockstar143
Like Tyler mentioned...
I wouldn't have many concerns. As you know 8.5 means no mechatronics failure point...just a DSG fluid and filter swap at 75K...easy peasy. I personally had to swap out the low pressure in tank fuel pump around 85K for $400 and 20 minutes of time.
Other than that...I have done the valve cleaning because I wanted to...didn't have any codes for it. At some point the thermostat will likely have an issue but who knows...it did at 85Kish on my S5 and hasn't been an issue on my 105K S4. So that's not a
THING you have to do but if you do...it's no biggy...tstat, water pump, pcv all at the same time. There are a lot of documented high mileage 3.0T(SC) on the forums that are still going quite strong. If the cats clog up or the starter goes that's a tight job but
that's not a KNOWN thing to happen unless you're dual pulley and beating the snot out of it all the time.
So with that said...I would highly recommend it. I have had mine for 35K almost all of which are stage 2 single pulley tuned without issue...for highway trips we load the kayak on top, bikes on the back and get 25 mpg...with nothing on it going the speed limit
it'll do over 30 with likely 400 awhp.
The B9 is definitely a monster with the tunes they are throwing on them and that is just a testament to how good a motor it is.
I think they are still a bit more pricey though...
There's an Accord 2.0T 6MT in each of those cities. They are unsurprisingly hard to come by, only 33 for sale in the country so I'll likely have to travel to get one.
Need some help to check them out from people who know cars to make sure they aren't duds.
Never heard any complaints about JE, but didn't know they had a store in SA. A bit of a drive for me (3-4 hours each way).
Had a former coworker at another Honda dealer in Houston that used to work for JE, don't recall him having any complaints as an employee, but this was back in the early 00s.
Never heard any complaints about JE, but didn't know they had a store in SA. A bit of a drive for me (3-4 hours each way).
Had a former coworker at another Honda dealer in Houston that used to work for JE, don't recall him having any complaints as an employee, but this was back in the early 00s.
The one I linked is in Houston, not San Antonio...there's another one down there though.
The one I linked is in Houston, not San Antonio...there's another one down there though.
No idea why they have a 1 start rating, but only have 2 reviews. I'm sure a lot of dealer's ratings have gone down with supply shortages & inflated pricing.
That dealer is about 30 minutes from my office, but could be over an hour with how Houston traffic can be.
I think the bigger boys like the S6, S7 and obviously RS stuff...
only thing I've heard is oil starvation from the oil feed screens to the turbos getting clogged.
I think the fix is to remove them.
Sounds like a good time to upgrade some turbo while he is at it.
He's definitely not the type to do anything like that. He's a lot like me in that he likes to enjoy a car for what it is for a few years and then move on to something else.
Morgan's right - B8 S5 coupes were all 4.2s; verts were 3.0T.
B8.5 S4/5s were all 3.0T.
4.0T was offered in C7 S6, S & RS7, and S8.
As others have said, depending on mileage - wouldn't hurt to check and or replace screens, turbos, injectors, plugs & coil packs, mounts, & suspension (bag / cylinder).
Carbon build up isn't an issue for any of those cars mentioned above as they all have direct injection, which is a plus.
Last edited by Marcelechka; Jul 11, 2022 at 06:12 PM.
@Marcelechka
Carbon build up IS an issue BECAUSE they have direct injection!
Port injection cleans the back side of the intake valves, direct doesn't.
Multiport is the best of both worlds.
anything you do to wet the back end of the valves to help keep that crud from NOT sitting there not burning off...
should be golden.
Again, 100k miles from now it'll be on it's 3 owner down the line from you anyway, or you just have it cleaned again.
Now that I've done it twice I can say it ain't no big thing but not my favorite thing.
Believe it or not I probably should do it to the Suburban of all things...
Price seems fair compared to comparable vehicles with similar miles. There's not too many out there to compare to.
Looks like the dealership just bought it from auction last month for $10,600 - $1k more than MMR estimate. Add the selling fee and possible shipping, they're in it for around $11,000.
Price seems fair compared to comparable vehicles with similar miles. There's not too many out there to compare to.
Looks like the dealership just bought it from auction last month for $10,600 - $1k more than MMR estimate. Add the selling fee and possible shipping, they're in it for around $11,000.
Awesome, thanks for the detective work.
So they're making $4k profit and they list on autotrader the following:
Due to the current market situation we have priced ALL of our inventory cars at our NO HASSLE - BOTTOM DOLLAR - CASH - price. These prices are based on NADA retail and current market availability and values.
Please note that tax / title / tag / registration (NC residents) and dealer fees will be in addition to the advertised price.
These prices reflect our bottom dollar of profit that we can keep the doors open - if that price does not work for you for whatever reason - we thank you for the interest - and we wish you the best of luck with your search. Any emails asking what's the bottom dollar or our best "CASH" price will be ignored.
Yeah they are barely making it to keep their doors open.....smh...
Last Friday I brought my car in for some metal clicking sound when turning the steering wheel and they told me it was because of my rotor ?? (i thought it was either the steering rack or some suspension stuff) but whatever, as long as they fix it.
Got a 2022 7 series with 2000 miles as loaner. Loved it the first day and hate driving it starting the 2nd. It reminds me so much of my 1997 Avalon.
Now a week later, they replaced the rotors and pads and called and told me that the porter hit my car while moving it
Front bumper will need to be replaced.
Obviously, i am not happy but they will throw in the AC service for free (My AC starts to smell like shit). But i am more mad about the fact that i have to drive the stupid 7 series for another week.... #firstworldproblem
Complains about 'free' luxo-barge.
When I had my C, the usually loaner was a CLA/GLA
Got out of those by having 2 kids in high back carseats. Hard to install with the low roofline.
Usually got a C, GLC and once a GLE.
No way they'd have S for a loaner.
Complains about 'free' luxo-barge.
When I had my C, the usually loaner was a CLA/GLA
Got out of those by having 2 kids in high back carseats. Hard to install with the low roofline.
Usually got a C, GLC and once a GLE.
No way they'd have S for a loaner.
It is easier now cuz they dont have any cars. They are using some of the 2019 cars as loaners
Besides i think the loaner desk girl liked me
