I have been searching for a used car for a few weeks. My two favorite cars are the Subaru Impreza WRX STI and the Audi RS6. I am only considering AWD cars.

I intitially started doing web searches for an Impreza under $20,000 with less than 60,000 miles. I kept getting Audi A4 and A6 listing with my searches and started paying attention.

Now, I am considering either an A4 or an A6. I plan to chip whatever model I get.

I am 35. Not a street racer but one of the first things I look at in a car is its handling, and 0-60 and 1/4 mile times. I like to enjoy driving.

I was wondering what the performance and long term reliabily of a lightly modded A4 1.8T or A6 2.7T is? Stock they are even beat by the 2006 Civic Si (not AWD so who cares right?). What about modded?

I love the Audis. I love the way they look, which is why I like the RS6. My fondness for the Subaru WRX is based entirely on its performance and handling. The RS6 has both styling and performance, but waaaayyyyy out of my range. As is a low mileage S4. <---- maybe my next car.

Any feedback you can give me would be great. I am also posting this in the A6 forum because I want to get a balance from A4 and A6 drivers.

 

theres not too much traffic in a6 land. But i would say go with the b5 S4 for that money you could find one with descent miles and for a good price. plus you cant beat the styling and the performance combo of the S4 for that amount of money.

 

you could feasably buy a '00/'01 S4 for under $20,000 with under 60K on the clock. And you would have a really nice, performance oriented car from the get go. Sportier suspension, much more power, and even nicer lines. I don't know what year range you're looking in, but a B5 S4 would be the direction I'd point you in to best suit what you're looking for. And in my humble opinion, quattro definately outdoes the AWD subaru. Plus the interiors are far more luxurious, and comfortable.

As far as reliability, do all the preventative maintenance, and keep up with it, and she shouldn't give you any problems. The most common issues people have comes from neglecting to service their vehicles properly. Lightly modded, and not driven extremely hard, it should last for quite some time.

 

i agree, 2001-ish b5 s4 will be under $20k and with a small amount of money, i.e. chip, exhaust, dv's and maybe intake you are pushin i think over 300hp-ish and 389ft/lbs of torque.

 

What price range are you looking at? For $20k you can get a very nice B5 (2000-2002) S4. When chipped, they get a nice 300 hp. There's a few stage 3 S4's (around 400hp) for sale on audizine.

 

$20,000 is my max. I am currently trying to get one under $16,000. If I found the perfect car I would certainly consider it above $16000.

I really appreciate the quick feedback. Thank you. I am searching specifically for A4s, A6s, and, S4s now. Looks like for $16000 I can get a 2003 A4 less than 45,000 miles, 2003 A6 less than 60,000 or a 2001 S4 less than 75,000. This is the higher end for the price/mileage I am finding.

Friendly forum, thanks again.

 

just do a quick search of autotrader etc... i just did one and found a 2000 s4 for $16500. they are out there

 

where you're located also has alot to do with pricing of audis. If you are willing to travel, you may find a better deal on an S4, I've seen them as cheap as 15,000 in the seattle area with about 70K on them. But yes, an S4 chipped would be ideal from what it sounds like you're looking for.

If you buy an A4, and you could have bought an S4, you'll be kicking yourself in the end, the A4's are awesome cars (I love mine), but had I the money at the time, I would have bought an S4.... Granted I paid half of what my cars book value was, so I can't complain.

 

I should add that nearly any car I get will outperform every car I have ever owned:

1985 Honda Civic
1989 Toyotal Corolla - right side drive- but while I lived in Japan so not cool to have a right side drive car
1988 Toyota something also rsd but not sold in the U.S.
1973 Volskwagen Thing - still own it
1990 Jeep Wrangler
1986 Honda Accord
1999 Toyota Echo

 

you have a thing, sweet

but yea i think you would be more then happy with an s4, mileage wise.. if well taken care of these cars will last for quite some time, the 0-60 times on all audi's are nothing spectacular because they are quite heavy, but thats the price you pay for higher luxury.. very worth it in my opinion