Looking to get a new car with the baby around. We bought the wife a 4 door v6 accord a few months back but I need something a little bit bigger then the GTO.

I'm looking at used S4 avants but need to know what to watch out for. I'm really looking for 06 and newer, would love a manual trans but they seem hard to find.






My wife wants me to get a lifted Tahoe or Crew Cab pickup......this is also an option but i'm kind of leaning away from it myself....but she's dead set on it.

 

With any turbo car I'd look out for any kind of blue-ish grey smoke coming from the tailpipes. Also Moog might want to chime in on the 2.0T and which configuration to watch out for. I'm sure it's the same with the Audi as it is for the VW where they made a change late 2008 to a new engine platform with improvements.

 

S4, not turbocharged


that said, the A4 with the 2.0T is also an option...

 

^ 06 S4 wasnt turbo. It was a NA V8.

Its a gas hog for the amount of power it has and honestly aint that much fun to drive. Steering is numb.

Have you driven it? Its nothing like the GTO. IMO

 

S4 v A4 are apples and oranges.

 

yes, different fruits, but still fruits....so talk to me about both

 

going out this weekend, i'll most likely keep the GTO as well

 

If A4, you want 3.2 V6 or 2.0 T?

 

i'd probably go 2.0T

 

Not a lot of them out there. It will be tough to get a deal on them if you do find one in good condition. I would imagine the dealer that has it will know they are pretty rare.

Good luck on the search.

 

2.0T FSI engine is crazy easy for mods. Flash galore!!!!

FSI engine issues (some): Cam follower, HPFP, diverter valve issues, pcv failures, coilpacks.


Sly could give you more info on this engine he has an A4 avant FSI.

My GTI is the current updated revised TSI engine.

 

when did the TSI drop? Also, why no DSG in the A4's?

 

How about a G8 GT?

 

I'll be honest, i thought about it, but they are problem riddled like the GTO.....and super expensive to insure and fix since all the parts come from AU. Insurance on my GTO is more then a 2011 Z06 would be for me!!!!


and I need something with more trunk/bed space. We are moving to a house in the next few months and will need something for home depot runs.......the wife says just use the suburban...that may work but I need to get it out here.

 

Had a B7 A4 and loved it. It was the 2.0T as well. Got it new, put about 65k on it, and not one problem. Just regular maintenance (which, at the time, was free from Audi). Peppy little engine. We did not chip it, but as Moog said, they respond well to those tunes...

 

how the auto's handle chiping?

 

They handle a flash quite well. You can get an APR stage one flash, and not have to do any modifications whatsoever to the drivetrain.

 

Dunno why the lack of DSG in the Audi's.....It still blows my mind why they went with CVT.

TSI for VW came mid 2008....I believe the same for Audi, but don't quote me on it.

...I would PM Sly. He has a wealth of knowledge specific to the A4 avant.

 

CVT only came in the FWD version. If you get the quattro, the auto is just a conventional auto box. The DSG was only available in transverse FWD layout, i.e. A3 and GTI.

I believe for A4, the TSI came during the model change. Therefore, all B7 A4's had the FSI motors, while the B8 A4's have the TSI motors. I don't have any experience with the TSI motor, but I've had a B7 A4 for about 3 years. The only problem I had was a faulty PCV valve. Other than that, it was mainly oil changes/regular maintenance. I had the APR 91 flash in it and it was great.

 

FSI motors have a tendency to consume more oil than their TSI counterpart.

 

i'm not looking to buy new, looking for something in the 20-25K range.....will most likely be buying at auction....what do I need to look for?

 

A4 avants seem to be pretty rare....not even many on ebay

 

Avants = Win

Good luck!

 

You will not find a B7 S4 Avant that guys here would consider a good car for normal prices. They are very rare and the 6MTs even moreso. I think by 2008 they sold 150 6MT Avants in the US. Very exclusive club ...

I had a B6 S4 sedan as you might know (I name drop on it all the time ... Miss that car) ... I would absolutely get one again in a heartbeat.

It is not an M3. It is not cat-like. It is a Gran Turismo, not a sports car (to me). It gets about 22-24mpg on the highway. But it is so incredibly well built, such an amazing and comfortable ride that even though 340hp doesn't set your hair on fire you'll find it's deceptively quick ... The Recaro seats are amazing. The doors close with a vault-like thud. Even the 2007s are really based upon 2002 designs so while the interior might feel dated the materials are first rate. And adding an RNS-E navigation head unit really modernizes the feel of the inside of the car.

It's the best car I've ever owned. It's the best car anyone in my family has ever owned IMO.

Did I mention I miss it?

 

If you need more room, did you consider a Volvo V70R? Sporty to a point and loads of room....

 

There's actually a few A4 6mts floating around the Phoenix area with low mileage in the low 20's. I was actually starting to consider one instead of trying to track down a Mazdaspeed6, but I eventually did find one.

 

Good luck finding one with less than 100k miles. People hold onto those way beyound the low mileage barrier.

 

any of them avants though?

 

Well there's one lol, but auto and 37k miles.

http://phoenix.craigslist.org/cph/cto/2386695814.html

I remembered seeing a 6mt somewhere, but it was a S-Line, not an Avant.

 

man if only that was a manual....and white

 

i have an allroad with almost the exact same motor, with 107k miles on it.
if you look for any 4.2l audi, try a cold start if possible and listen for timing chain rattle, some start very early, and most will do it by 100k miles.
What it is is the timing chain tensioners getting warn or something like that. The tensioners make the timing chain tight with oil pressure so over time it takes longer for the oil to reach the tensioners and make the chain tight, so the chain will rattle on startup. this can obviously cause major damage, and due to the fact that the 4.2's in the s4 have the timing chain located at the rear of the engine, it's a bitch to work on, Audi will charge 4k just to remove the motor and look at it, then you're probably looking at a little more to replace whatever is needed.
didn't mean to give you a horror story, but it's a serious problem with the 4.2's, i know the b6's had the problem, don't think they fixed it in the b7's, but it's something to look into
i do love the audi interiors though, simply amazing, and must get one with black interior, anything else looks kind of out of place. The motor is awesome even though it's pretty bad on gas, with the motor and an auto in mine, best i've got is 20MPG highway. And has a very nice exhaust sound to it, just search up s4's with cutouts on youtube.

 

A great rare find would be an AllRoad with the 2.7T in stick...throw in a chip...bam. And they werent so prone to blowing turbos or lines because of the bigger engine bay allowing them to stay cooler.

 

^yes they were still prone to blowing turbos, some have gone at 30k miles or less on allroads, and it is rare to see one get over 100k miles without having to replace the turbos.
And a manual 2.7t allroad is as rare as a 4.2 allroad, as last time i checked there was only about 10 for sale in all of the US on cars.com and the 4.2's get bigger rotors and some other goodies that the 2.7's do not


going to be hard to find a manual avant in white it's basically what everyone is looking for

 

There is a place in Santa Monica that specializes in allroads...its the prices that blow.

 

who?

 

Cant remember the exact name but it always came up in searches...but this was a few years ago.

I just tried to search and got nothing, he might have gone bye bye.

 

Coilpacks aren't as much of an issue on the B7, not to say the issue doesn't happen, but they aren't a common issue like they were with the B6. But they are an easy fix with simple tools that you could do on the side of the road from what I've seen/heard. I haven't had any issues [yet] with this.

Cam follower issue is a problem with 2005.5 - 2007 model B7. Supposedly a fix was implemented in the 2008 B7 and when I've addressed this problem with my dealership they have said the same. I've only got 23K on the odo, normally people that push their cars really hard or have high mileage are having the issues from what I've read on the boards. Many just check the cam follower every 5K (every oil change) and swap out the necessary parts. With how much knowledge you have about working on cars, this fix should be a walk in the park for you. Some guys swap it out every 5K/10K to be on the safe side. A bad cam follower can lead to much bigger issues later.

The diverter valve in the B7 is prone to failure, and if you go with the Stage 1 tune, it will probably tear at some point due to the increased boost. The diverter valve off the B8 is a direct replacement for the valve in the B7. Places like ECS tuning and other places to get parts from sell it and from what I've seen/heard, it's an easy swap.

I've heard of people having issues with the PCV valve, but I haven't narrowed down the causes to anything in particular. I don't know if it's a manufacturing defect, tied to mods people perform on their cars, or other reason, but people do talk about PCV failures often.

The issue with the HPFP from what I've seen is that all those that go with the Stage 1 tune tend to get full cut at high speed/high rpm. I've had the issue on my Avant on occasion. Stock fuel pump just can't deliver the amount of fuel needed to support the 15-17psi that the Stage 1 tune offers. Companies like APR, AWE and a few others offer a HPFP to combat the issue. It's on my list, just lacking the money to do it and many other mods that I want to.

No idea why they didn't go wit the DSG in the A4 Avant. I have a hunch though it may have to do with the transmission setup. The A3 2.0T which came with DSG had a transverse setup; whereas the A4 Quattro had a longitudinal setup.



A4 Avant's are very hard to find. I remember when we were looking at purchasing, the dealership was selling a CPO Avant and wanted 38K for it! We bought ours, new, special ordered with every option available for about the same price! This isn't to say you can't find one, just have to have the time, patience and willingness to possibly go far distances to get one. The rarest of the bunch from what I've heard on the boards are the white titaniums with manuals.

I love ours. It's come in very handy for diaper changes. The hatch makes it that much more easier. And having all that extra roof space screams for a nice yakima/thule cargo carrier. The car seat in the back is a snug fit. We have a safety 1st base with a seat that fits in the stroller. I have to move both front seats forward a bit to let the seat fit. But each seat is different so hard to say if you'll have the same issue. I'm hoping to replace the seat with a nice cushy recaro child seat. I've seen other guys on the Audi boards that have done so and it looks

can't think of anything else to say right now, but I'll keep thinkin about it and report back if I think of anything else.

 

Oh and for the special pricing that APR promotes a few times a year, $599 for 4 tunes + security lockout, fault code erase and anti-theft you can't go wrong! I went with this sale and got the stock tune, 91 oct, 93 oct, valet.

I love the tune, it's a night and day difference. I wish we got 93 octane in so cal. However, an increase of 70 lb-ft with the 91 tune isn't anything to scoff at.

 

http://seattle.craigslist.org/est/ctd/2384585805.html

'07 White Titanium. Auto though

 

i think i'm going to do this for my gf when APR runs the promotion. don't know where's the closest shop to downtown LA though.

did you get a better gas mileage after the tune? my ms3 is getting so much better gas mileage even with so many more WOT runs per tank!