Hey all,

I browsed the FAQ and did some keyword searches to try and find answers, but didn't find this stuff so thanks if advance for your help, and I apologize in advance if these are common questions.

I'm looking at a 2005 S4 6-speed manual w/35K miles. It is a CPO car at an Audi dealership and it has a cleanCarfaxbut I have some apprehensions.

First, I noticed that both headlamp assemblies have massive condensation in them (I found the TSB on this here at Audiforums, so no biggie - I can make sure they take care of that before purchase). Then, when I started it up I noticed a whine coming from under the car that sounded similar to the sound I had heard whensome drivetrain components (clutch bearings?) weregoing out on a previous manual tranny vehicle I owned. The pitch/frequency of the whining sound goes up when you increase the RPMs on the engine. I pointed this out to the salesman, and his reply was "there can't be anything wrong with it; it went through the 300-point inspection when we certified it, so they would have fixed it if there was a problem. Besides, if something does go out they will fix it under the CPO warranty." When I looked at what is covered by the warranty it clearly states clutches aren't covered and I'm sure there are other drivetrain components that are subject to wear that wouldn't be covered. Any insight on this is appreciated.

Also, I'm considering this car to replace my Lincoln Mark LT truck as a daily driver - it averages 10 MPG! So, I'm sure the S4 will get better mileage than that, but can any2004+ S4owners please share their gas mileage? I'm not interested in an econobox, but I'm hoping this car would average ~20 MPG.

Thanks for your help!

Storm

 

i have definetly taken advantage of the CPO warranty in the last year with my car.... about 10k worth of repairs(...cylinder head, etc.)
...the cpo warranty only covers things that would affect emission basically(for those who didn't know)

The whine, i'm not sure....so it sounds like it's coming from the engine compartment? lower/upper? ....alot of times i hear a whine from underneath my car...more from the rear though...it kinda sounds like a high frequency noise from the fuel pump or something....

gas milage...ha! ...not good... i average about 8 -14 around town. ...20 at best on the freeway.

....considering the car only has 35k on it, that sounds like a sweet find....

 

As far as the headlights it could be that someone tried putting high def bulbs in or a brighter bulb and they never sealed the light back up and water could have seaped in.....as far as the whine it could be a shot throwout bearing which your gonnahave to drop the tranny and you should just go ahead and put a performance clutch in....if your buying it from the dealer use both as leaverage for a lower pirice and they should have a warranty that includes drivetrain it will just be seperate from the cpo warranty

 

Thanks, guys. What sort of $$$$ would I be looking at for the clutch replacement?

That gas mileage is a bummer . . . considering I'd only be saving a few MPG andwould haveto buy premium instead of regular, it looks like that equation may be a "wash".

[X(]

 

The engine whine(timing chain) is common on these cars. Listen to any of the exhaust videos on youtube and you can usually hear it. Look at some of the other forums for this car, audizine, audiworld for example. Most of the guys on this forum have the 2.7turbos which are completely different as this forum doesn't split up the B5s from B6s like we have. If it was a clutch noise, it would probably go away as you released the clutch, or at least sound different as the parts were loaded up. Oh, and you can get 20+mpg if you drive more than a couple of miles to work and some of it is highway, getting the car chipped seems to help slightly.

 

You can get 20mpg if it's ALL freeway, but I average about 15 around town.

 

I've been getting about 14 MPG in the city, but I've been having a lot of fun too. The acceleration feeling is my crack. I got 19.6 on a long highway trip (Philly to Cleveland) averaging ~80 MPHand 21.5 averaging ~70 (return trip).

The engine whine is present on my car as well as S4B6Dave said, its common to B6 S4s.

 

haha, yep! [sm=smiley20.gif]

 

Thanks for all the feedback. I drove the '05 sedan w/ manual trans yesterday and then drove an '05 S4 cabrio w/ auto tiptronic right afterward. They both had the same sound, so I'm attributing it to fan noise or something.

I REALLY liked the shift paddles on the steering wheel with the auto. That, and how smooth it launched in sport mode. The bad thing is, the sedan is in the color I want and the cabrio is black, which I really wanted to avoid. My last car before I got the truck was black, andit was amajor pain in the4$$to keep it that way.

I have found another CPO sedan that has everything I want except heated seats; do any of you know if there is areliable aftermarket retrofit or dealer install for the Recaro seats? I definitely want to keep those, so if I could get the existing seats fitted with heaters I'll move on this one. Otherwise, I'll keep searching...

 

I had to have the heated seats installed aftermarket by the dealer (Ricaro seats) They advertised it as having them then when they weren't there I negotiated the install. They told me it would be ~$550 for the install if I hadn't gottent he deal. They work great, BTW.