Looking at buying a 2001 Audi S4 for a daily driver. Anyone have experience with one?

SVTstang96

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Like the title states I am looking at a 2001 Audi S4 Quattro this weekend. The car has 150k miles but is in overall good shape from the pictures. It's a friend of mine who owns it and it does need some work. There is a bent rim from a pothole, a cracked bumper from a raccoon, and typical wear and tear for a 13 year old car. Also has a minor vacuum leak (old vac lines) but other then that its good. The car is the S-line so its a 2.7L Twin Turbo V6 pushing 250hp, it also had the steptronic automatic, and is all wheel drive. If anyone has owned one, or knows someone with one please give me your honest opinion of them. I know because its a german car maintenance is typically expensive, but thats only when you bring it to the dealership. ($110/hour on labor). I would be doing all the work and maintenance myself.
 

D3VST8R96GT

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Personal 2001Audi experience. Quick as hell... even with 4 dudes in the car it smoked a newer honda si. Down side always had an electrical gremlin of some sort.... some stayed some would disappear and some of those would return. Nothing that affected performance really just annoying which is why its gone.....but it was a nice car..... I put 20k on it in ~6 months I had it…

The D3V
 

RICE ETR

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I had a Audi TT before my mustang, really fun and peppy with a good tune, look into his records for the timing belt and water pump as it is an interference engine. It's routine to have it done every 100k or so.
 

ReplicaR

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They can make huge power with the right stuff on them, but they are Audis, which means that they are extremely difficult to work on, parts are very expensive, and the car is unreliable. Getting one with 150k, you will be looking at a lot of stuff to fix pretty much all the time. I've had friend who had the cars. They were all very fast, but none of them lasted. All of them had electrical issues, without an exception. If you want a daily driver, get something that's better on gas, far more reliable, and quiet. Forget about the speed, because daily should be all about point A to B. My daily is an 05 TSX, and I could not have asked for a better car. Averages great mileage, even though I mostly sit in traffic (Los Angeles living for you), reliable as hell, really nice inside. It's not fast, but it doesn't need to be, because I have my Mustang for weekends, and that has plenty of everything speed related.
 

white95

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Stay away from it!! The B5 generation was especially problematic as you've read. Check out audizine.com for research..


Talk to [MENTION=17367]CWO[/MENTION] about Audis also.
 
OP
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SVTstang96

SVTstang96

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Thanks for all the input guys! The big thing that makes me want to look at it is the fact that its AWD. I live in iowa and commute 35 miles each way to school in the winter. Even when we get 8" of snow they won't cancel class so I need something thats somewhat good on gas, but also AWD. I have been looking into BMW X Models, Audi Quattros, and Subarus. So far the BMW's are at least $6k, and the subaru's are around the same price. Because this is a friends car it will likely be less than 2k with the needed work. I may just fix it and drive it to figure out what I think. If I find it to be too much of a pain to keep up with I will just sell it for a profit. Currently I have a 2000 Ford Focus ZX3 Hatch. It gets around well in snow but the car is very cheaply made and it has a lot of cons for a long commute. No AC, no cruise, manual windows, manual locks, manual transmission, black seats, no tint, little sound deadening so its noisy on the highway. ETC.
 

TanTop94

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I say buy it and if you dont like it give it to me at a large discount :)

edit

As far as my input on these cars I think they are pretty neat, my first encounter with one was when my friend was in the market to get a car and we found a 2003 I believe (cant remember when they went to a v8 I think it was 2004). But I feel in love with the car, AWD sedan with twin turbos stock, a great commuter car that has potential to be pretty fast with a just a tune. How can you say no? All cars have their problems, just found the basic problems and fix them right away and boom you will have a great car. You seem to have the know how on how to fix whatever car you get your hands on so Id say this is a pretty good buy. Well..lets see pics of this car you are going to get your hands on before we go any further lol!
 
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SVTstang96

SVTstang96

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slow90coupe

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At that price and if you're comfortable working on them, I'd say go for it. They are a major PITA to work on and the electrical systems are nightmares, but if the car has been maintained well, you should be fine.
 
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SVTstang96

SVTstang96

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Im not too worried about the electrical stuff. I can get the wiring diagrams online, and my brother has some dealer software which plugs directly into the computer and can monitor every circuit, sensor, module, etc. They can't be much worse then a jeep or bmw to work on... Jeeps are terrible for their lack of decent engineering.
 

lutter94

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I drove an S4 once (idk, late 90s early 2000's), knees touched the dash. Felt almost as small as a Miata. The Newer A4 I drove in Holland was roomy though......
 

OnyxCobra

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no way I would touch one especially that old with everything I've heard about them. I even shied away from one with 1/3 the miles.
 

white95

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I've been lusting after about a 2011 S4 Titanium edition but the 2.0T still drinks oil -_-


audi_s4_011.jpg
 

OnyxCobra

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I really like the new ones, was looking at the V6T S4s to replace my IS but the reliability and maintenance costs still scare me away.
 

ttocs

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I had a buddy that I think had one or one similar and it was a quick little car. He too had a lot of electrical problems and he(like myself) is an electronics technician although he has progressed further into the engineering side now and also complained of electrical problems. If your not scared by the possibility that a german electrical gremlin could drive you completely insane, like yoda said you will be - if it is a lemon. Overall audi and VW the past few years I have heard a mixed bag of reactions that they either love it or hate it(a lot).
 

Rallim

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I've driven a few VAG cars, loved driving every one. I don't own one because they're *$&&ing stupid to work on. Timing belt on the backside of a motor so you have to pull the motor to get to it? GTFO. BMW's at least make sense.
 

CWO

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It's simple. A well maintained Audi will last forever. Very few are maintained like they deserve. Euro-spec oil, mineral oil power steering fluid, G11/G12 coolant all make it difficult for people to understand what it means to maintain one.

I've owned several and maintained them myself for the most part. I have a guy I trust to do anything major like timing belts and major work like that, which is another thing you have to be sure is done around 100k miles.

2001 S4 (2.7TT 306HP [chipped]):
SD530226.jpg


2002 S6 (4.2l V8 340hp):
20130930_174343_zpsa53409a6.jpg


2003 A4 (1.8T 150HP [The wife's]):
IMG_0551.jpg



To to OP, buy it. You can sell it for $3k tomorrow. Hell, buy it for $2k and sell it to me for $3k.
 

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