Hey guys,
You have a great forum here with a ton of expertise in the ranks. I'm a new member up in New England, just moved here from California, and I'm on the verge of making a big purchase.

I'm about to spend ~~$20K plus or minus a couple Gs on a used Audi A4, and I've got a number of options.

First up is a 2002 A4 3.0QM Sport, 30,000 miles, 1 year warranty left, private party
Second is a 2000 S4 manual, 51,000 miles, with 4 years/49,000 miles extended warranty left, private party
Third is a number of 2002 A4 1.8TQM Sports, certified pre-owned from dealer
Fourth is a number of 2001 A4 1.8TQM Sports, certified pre-owned from dealer

Argh, decisions decisions decisions!
The S4 sounds sexy as hell and it's definitely seducing me but I'm concerned about how hard the guy has driven it. Who doesn't drive an S4 hard? However, is it by far the best option? Does it blow the doors off the other 3 options? Is this a highly highly coveted among forum readers?

My other questions don't involve the S4: First, I don't intend to rice the hell out of my future car. Instead, a couple easy mods like a chip and an exhaust, maybe some performance rims and rubber.

So, what's going to be more fun to drive? A chipped 1.8TQ or the 3.0Q? I know the 3.0 doesn't have much aftermarket going for it yet, but even after the PES supercharger gets applied to the 3.0, is there much that can be done beyond a supercharger to up the horsepower or *fun factor* considerably? Am I going to have much more fun with the 3.0 out of the box?

My last category of questions is about the "Sports Suspension." Should I look for this or should I just spend a couple Gs on coilovers? Is the Sports Suspension package good enough for a fun, spirited drive, or will I eventually just end up upgrading the sports suspension to aftermarket parts, and wasting the extra money spent on a sports suspension package?

I know these are a lot of questions, but they are definitely on my mind and I couldn't find answers to them in the archives. Thanks in advance for your help, and I look forward to becoming a permanent part of this site!

-P23

Also, I know there are a lot of you who prefer the B5 styling to the B6, but I'm actually a bit partial to the looks of the B6. However, is there any mechanical/performance/tuning advantage to the B5 when comparing B5 1.8TQ vs B6 1.8TQ?

 

No doubt about it
S4.

 

Yes it is very coveted
yes it will blow the doors off the others
and you will have a BLAST driving it. Yet it can still do everything the A4 can do with the same comfort
You also have a 4 yr warranty left. Yeah! definatly the S4.
What colour?

 

It's Nogaro Blue with silver leather... Argh, at 22 years old, I know I don't deserve an S4 yet!

-P23

 

the S4 is looking like the best deal the extended warrenty on it is that through Audi or is it one of those lubico warrenties ?

 

yeah, it's looking good, but it's got a fair amount of miles on it. It has a www.warrantybynet.com extended warranty on it, 4 years left, or until the car shows 100,000 miles on it. How about my other questions!? Haha, j/k.

-P23

 

If it didnt have the extended warranty I would stay away from the S4, but as long as the warranty covers blown k03's (which are common on the S4's) then you are good to go. S4 is approaching timing belt change time also (60k or so)btw - 51K miles is not a lot of miles.