Thinking about buying a 2000 S4

[The_Jerbel]

Re: Thinking about buying a 2000 S4

First of all, onceover is making a lot of assumptions. This should be somewhat of a rhetorical statement, but the price of a car does not necessarily determine its maintenance history. Two years ago I sold my S4 for what most people considered to be a very low price. You would have been hard pressed to find a better maintained S4 in the city.

Yes, chipping a car is harder on the turbos. That does not mean that they will blow the day after you get the car shipped. My turbos were run with an 18psi chip for much of their life, and they were alive and kicking at ~260k km's when I upgraded to Stage 3. Many people have similar stories. The trick here is proper maintenance (can I say that again?), and treating the turbos with some care. Things like not getting into boost until the oil is up to operating temp, and letting the car idle for a minute or two after running the turbos hard instead of just shutting off the car. Don't push the turbos when they're cold, and let them cool down before turning off the car; this sort of thing will help your turbos last for a long, long time.

If you do regular oil changes with a good quality oil and filter, and drive the car like I mentioned above, a stock S4 that has a good maintenance history will treat you very well. There's always an exception to the rule, but I would not worry about the turbos if I was in such a situation.

[T-Dubbs]

Re: Thinking about buying a 2000 S4

Turbos typically fail from both! Not being taken care of, and just plain old getting old.

There is a beautiful Nogaro S4 with upgraded turbos for sale on here.....
(Upgraded to the larger OEM RS4 turbos)

i found a link on kijiji:

http://calgary.kijiji.ca/c-cars-vehi...AdIdZ222729093

[onceover]

Re: Thinking about buying a 2000 S4

^ I believe someone on the boards actually bought this already

[Zaider]

Re: Thinking about buying a 2000 S4

Thanks for the writeup The_Jerbal. Yeah, driving around my STI, I drive it exactly like that, making sure I dont get into boost when the motor is cold (remote car-starter FTW) and letting the car cool down properly.

Thanks also for the link to that car for sale. Im really looking for something fairly unmodified. No offence meant to anyone, but I always feel more comfortable knowing what's been done to the car has been done to my satisfaction.

[luunta]

Re: Thinking about buying a 2000 S4

reliable daily driver = anything but an s4.

i think someone said this already too.

[War]

Re: Thinking about buying a 2000 S4

Ya I bought the car about 1.5 months ago. It is a valid sale and I really dont want to sell it. An opportunity has come along and the S4 doesnt cut it. I need an SUV at minimal. I'll get back into another B5 S4 at some point as I am in love with it.

Will trade for a 01-04 Acura MDX....

[P Arkus]

Re: Thinking about buying a 2000 S4

reliable daily driver = anything but an s4.

i think someone said this already too.

Are you saying he should get an .:R32

[Kor]

Re: Thinking about buying a 2000 S4

If you are changing cars to get a lower maintenance car, IMO S4 is NOT the car you want to get. It's a high maintenance car. Things will break. You will have it in the shop at least 1 or more times a year.

[RONDAL]

Re: Thinking about buying a 2000 S4

remote start is actually really hard on your engine as it prolongs the warm up time. getting in and driving it right away, but driving it gently ensures it warms up properly but doesn't prolong the start up time.

taking car of engines and cars and maintaining them is always key to ensuring you stay one step ahead of the big ticket fixes

[Zaider]

Re: Thinking about buying a 2000 S4

If you are changing cars to get a lower maintenance car, IMO S4 is NOT the car you want to get. It's a high maintenance car. Things will break. You will have it in the shop at least 1 or more times a year.

Im not "changing" cars really. More, I want something with the benefits of hp, awd and a nice interior for year-round roadtrips while keeping my swapped STI as my main car. I can't imagine the S4 getting more than 8k on it per year.

Im fairly mechanically inclined and full of confidence after the swap, so Im willing to do as much of the mainenance as possible. I am not walking into this, expecting to be able to purchase a car like an S4 and have mainenance be like a corrola. My bigger concern is when im going to test-drive one, what to look out for. For instance, Subarus are notorious for having head gasket problems, especially on the older SOHC engines. You can easily check for a leaky head gasket by looking for a white film under the oil cap.

remote start is actually really hard on your engine as it prolongs the warm up time. getting in and driving it right away, but driving it gently ensures it warms up properly but doesn't prolong the start up time.

taking car of engines and cars and maintaining them is always key to ensuring you stay one step ahead of the big ticket fixes

I never let it fully warm up just idling. I usually remote start it about 2 mins before I get in and go. Gives it a bit of idle time without realistically prolonging the warm-up time too much.

[fazda]

Re: Thinking about buying a 2000 S4

my s4 is very well maintained. an i mean very well! i only have 142,000km and i would be lucky to get 10k for it. People are cheap and low ball the **** out of everything. i think 10k for a well maintained s4 isn't a shot in the dark at all. Mine has been nothing but reliable and a pleasure to drive. Buy one, buy a 6speed and go stg3! \thread.

Maintenance is Key! Its not cheap, but doing your own work is a life saver!

[The_Jerbel]

Re: Thinking about buying a 2000 S4

You're selling your car already, Warren??? I guess we won't be doing that maintenance work on it then, eh?

[The_Jerbel]

Re: Thinking about buying a 2000 S4

BTW, letting your car idle for 45 seconds to get the oil pumped and cycled around before before driving away and putting load on the engine is never a bad thing...

[RONDAL]

Re: Thinking about buying a 2000 S4

BTW, letting your car idle for 45 seconds to get the oil pumped and cycled around before before driving away and putting load on the engine is never a bad thing...

no. and realistically by the time you're in, turned on, and get ready to actually put the car in drive its a good 30-45 seconds anyway.
people however that remote start or idle warm up their cars for 10-15 minutes....not good

[NeonGTI]

Re: Thinking about buying a 2000 S4

If you aren't going to put much more than 8k a year on it then why not get a newer A4 for the same money? It doesn't sound like you want a rocket, just something to drive that is a little more plush.

If you get the itch you can always chip it for a little more zoot.