I am in the process of purchasing a 2010 Audi S5 4.2 prestige coupe. I have heard great things about the car and not-so-great things. I need to know if buying an Audi that's 5 years old is going to be a money pit?? It was previously leased and have about 50K miles on it. I'm taking it to a local mechanic to get it inspected and whatever he decides will determine if I buy the car.

What is everyone's experience owning an Audi? Good, bad, indifferent?

 

Moved this to the S5 subforum for you. You should get some better input from these guys.

 

In general and on average, no these cars are not money pits.

Make sure you maintain them though. Google "2010 Audi S5 Maintenance Schedule" and print out the scheduled maintenance sheet, then stick to it with the exception of using extra high quality synthetic oil and lube (e.g. Royal Purple, Amsoil, or better). Oh, and buy the darn oil dipstick that Audi didn't include with your car, it's like $10 and check your oil level manually.

If you have a good reliable local independent Audi shop, you might be able to save some money with maintenance you choose not to do once the car is out of warranty.

I've had my 2010 S5 6MT for 3 years now and haven't had anything really go wrong with it, but since I track it 3-5 times each season (1000+ track miles each season), I do lots of fluid changes (oil, brake, coolant, ...).

Some reports indicate that if you baby the car and never push redline, you may actually be increasing the likelihood of things breaking.

YMMV, but in our local Audi community, the V8 S5 isn't typically a lemon. The tiptronic transmission (auto trans) can be a weak point but some 6MT (manual trans) have had issues with premature failure. The problem rates are very ow, but if it's your car, you'd be upset.