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Picked up a new car: 04 S4

halik

halik

Lifer
Got a really good deal on a 1 owner S4 that needs little R&R. Silver on black, six speed with 100K on the clock.
 
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Nice.

I was looking at those for a while, found some nice examples but more than a couple of them reported things like, motor+tranny replaced under warranty at ~30K, etc.

Scared the piss out of me, is there something wrong with those V8's?
 
s4v8.jpg


Thats the back of the engine, not the front.
 
BouZouki said:
s4v8.jpg


Thats the back of the engine, not the front.
Click to expand...

Yupp, timing chain galore. Apparently the firewall on the B6 platform was 2" too short to fit the belt timed 4.2L. They put on a chain and shoved to the back for more clearance.

The cool thing is that all the accessories are chain driven too (power steering, ac compressor etc).
 
CRXican said:
any service records? 100k, scary
Click to expand...


This plus I hope "good deal" means it was free, as it will eat you alive in upkeep.

I saw some of these at auction and the prices were really low. I asked a couple dealers and they said to many issues and some have even had problems while they were trying to sell. i.e. theres goes any profit on it. Same thing with the A8's.
 
Marlin1975 said:
This plus I hope "good deal" means it was free, as it will eat you alive in upkeep.

I saw some of these at auction and the prices were really low. I asked a couple dealers and they said to many issues and some have even had problems while they were trying to sell. i.e. theres goes any profit on it. Same thing with the A8's.
Click to expand...

I paid paid about 1/2 of retail (ebay motors / autotrader). I don't think that NA v8 audi will be any more expensive than my twin turbo v6 audi with 140K on it 😉
 
I've had my 04 S4 Avant for almost 2 years now.

The biggest issue that scares people away from early 04 S4s is the timing chain or timing chain tensioner broke. Later versions were stronger, but on early cars this was a weak point. I have an Oct 03 car, and the chain or tensioner on my car was never replaced. Since it is on the back of the engine, you have to pull it out to replace. $$$$

Other than that, I haven't heard of anything being less reliable than other Audis. MAF, electronic gremlins, interior switches, power windows, etc. But driveline is pretty solid.

I've had two problems: window switch broke, and the secondary air pump broke. No other problems for 20 months or so and 15k miles. (we don't drive much, I don't commute with it)

Terrible gas mileage. Like an SUV. But, I'd rather spend the gas in a nice sporty car than a big truck 🙂

I love the engine sound, like the looks, and it drives very nicely. IMO, I've decided that I don't like having over-abundant power. I'd rather drive 170hp like a race car than drive 340hp with a light foot. But the highway entrance ramps and occasional other spots are fun 🙂

I'm thinking of selling mine. Mainly want something new. But I can't think of anything else I'd prefer, so I'll take my time.

Favorite moment:
One time when getting on the highway, my 6 year old daughter said from the back seat: "Here comes the fun part."

Ha!
 
NAC said:
I've had my 04 S4 Avant for almost 2 years now.

The biggest issue that scares people away from early 04 S4s is the timing chain or timing chain tensioner broke. Later versions were stronger, but on early cars this was a weak point. I have an Oct 03 car, and the chain or tensioner on my car was never replaced. Since it is on the back of the engine, you have to pull it out to replace. $$$$

Other than that, I haven't heard of anything being less reliable than other Audis. MAF, electronic gremlins, interior switches, power windows, etc. But driveline is pretty solid.

I've had two problems: window switch broke, and the secondary air pump broke. No other problems for 20 months or so and 15k miles. (we don't drive much, I don't commute with it)

Terrible gas mileage. Like an SUV. But, I'd rather spend the gas in a nice sporty car than a big truck 🙂

I love the engine sound, like the looks, and it drives very nicely. IMO, I've decided that I don't like having over-abundant power. I'd rather drive 170hp like a race car than drive 340hp with a light foot. But the highway entrance ramps and occasional other spots are fun 🙂

I'm thinking of selling mine. Mainly want something new. But I can't think of anything else I'd prefer, so I'll take my time.

Favorite moment:
One time when getting on the highway, my 6 year old daughter said from the back seat: "Here comes the fun part."

Ha!
Click to expand...

I looked into the cam tensioner issue along with the cam roller failures, my car is 10/03 as well, so there should be no issues there. I can't hear anything from the back of the motor either.

I take it your car is tip?
 
No auto for me... Manual of course 😉

The 40 valves do make a racket, but that is just the sound of the engine. A bit unique, at least compared to most engines. But agreed, my cam chain doesn't seem to make any noise. In the beginning I used to try to listen for it. I tell myself that, if it didn't fail in the first 20k miles, then the part was clearly build strong enough to last, so why would it fail now.
 
A lot of people crap on this model for being inferior to the M3, I feel otherwise.

The B6 S4 feels 5x as solid and more well built than the e46 M3 and a much better daily driver for your commute.

The car is on the heavier side but still handles better than a vast majority of the cars on the road and is in the upper bracket in that regard.

You do always have your forum arm chair racers which will claim they can feel the difference (where? on the bend getting on your local on-ramp or local backroad sweeper?).

Top Gear had the two cars back to back on the track and they put up identicle numbers, I think the S4 was faster by a hair.

It's a great car but the reliability scares me, seeing the chain tensioner go first hand.
 
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