Hello Everyone,

This is my first posting in the Audiforums, and hopefully, wont be the last

I am considering purchasing a Audi S4 2001.5 for 13k. The car is a 6 speed with 67000 miles.

Its blue outside with blue suede interior (sweet).

I test drove it and the car rides great, it has an upgrade ECU(chipped) and a Greddy turbo gauge.

I guess my question is, 1
1) should i get it? or should i get a more reliable 2002+ A4 V6?
2) how difficult is it to work on an audi? I am pretty handy with a wrentch.
3) any advice on this car?
4) the car makes a bit of a wierd noise when in reverse, is that normal?

I read most of the FAQs about the turbos being warmed and cooled off(what does that mean?)

Thanks everyone!

 

1. yes. no.
2. you are golden if u can wrench
3. it's fast
4. don't know

 

To the last question of warming and cooling the turbos. It's means letting the car warm up, oil temp increases above first mark on the dial, before getting on the throttle and always letting the car cool at idle for 2-3 mins before turing it off or longer depending on how long you have been driving or how hard you have been driving.

There great cars just need a little TLC....

 

1. Ultimately, the decision to get the car or not is up to you, but I will say, test drive the S4 then go test drive a B6/B7 A4...youll have your answer. Yes, the turbos are expensive on the S4 and yes there is a chance you might end up replacing them at some point. But all that aside, it is such a blast to drive and mod, and will treat you well if you maintain it well.


2. Let me just put it this way, these are definitely not the easiest cars to work on. Most of the pain in the a$$ factor comes from the lack of room to work. Everything is very tight. Hence the need to remove the engine to replace the turbos. If you have a decent amount of wrenching experience, you should be able to get by with working on the S4. A lot of the DIY jobs are just time consuming.

3. Hard to say, but it sounds like its a good deal. Have you run a carfax? Have you gotten service records from Audi? Has the timing belt service been done? These are good questions to ask. 2001.5 with only 67000 for 13k is a steal, make sure its not too good to be true. Is the exterior Nogaro, lighter, or Santorin, darker, blue and is the interior the blue or black alcantara suede inserts?

4. Tell us more, describe the weird noise. Its normal for the transmission to make a bit of a whining noise as you speed up in reverse if thats what youre talking about.

The turbos, just like the engine, are lubricated/cooled with oil/coolant. Proper care of a turbo car involves giving the engine/turbos a couple of minutes to warm up before driving and especially before getting into boost. This is crucial if you live in a region where the weather gets cold.

After running the turbos, especially after spirited driving, the engine should be left to idle for a minute or two to let the oil/coolant circulate through the turbos to cool them off. Otherwise, you run the risk of engine oil thickening or caking under the high temperature if its left to sit still on the turbos. This is probably the most common reason the turbos die.

 

1. Depends on how the S4 was maintained.. if all the fluids were changed and parts were taken care of it should be fine.. ive had my car for 4 years (purchased with 43,000miles) now still running strong at 86,000
2. The only reason it is difficult to work on is because everything is so jam packed into the car and engine bay. but i have done my T belt in my garage alone and planning on doing turbo swap in the near future. (engine pull)
3. Amazing car w/ chip, exhaust, dps, intake, and DV's.. You will kill alot of cars on the road (M3's, STI's, rx7's)
4. Yes that noise is normal.. it is a sort of whining noise. i dunno but every Audi i drove has it.

 

another thing is that i would remove the greedy turbo gauge, this isn't a ricer

 

Why would GReddy be for ricers? I mean, it's not Omari, but GReddy makes some pretty nice stuff. If you can afford the nice stuff, they make crap too. You would have to further describe the guage.

 

GReddy has been strictly associated with theAsian importmarket.Some of us here think it's for the ricer's, that all... Were not saying they make bad products, just we wouldn't put them on our German cars.

 

I say leave it is if it alrady in there, great company and it comes with the car. If you are worried about how it looks move it to the far left vent.

 

Oh, gotcha! I was gonna say, man, I love their BOVs. But, that was on my brothers 97 TSi AWD. You're right, they do cater to the Japanese market mostly.