Any B9 S4 owners on PH yet?

[Harris_I]

Perhaps mine has a software problem then. I hate wasting time at dealers for this kind of thing. There should be some kind of remote internet-enabled reset.

[Novexx]

Mine has activated once in four months & I'm pretty sure it was to do with an illuminated bollard / sign thing at a junction.

Golf 7 before this would occasionaly & randomly give the dash & audible warning, but not go as far as braking.

[TomScrut]

Not had mine come in for ages. Then had it twice in a week. Once doing its job, once I have no idea why it came on but it didn't try slowing me down just gave the warning. Was driving along a straight empty road!

[Occam's Razor]

Forgive me if I'm being dim, but I can't find an S4 on the Audi configuration website? I can't find any S-models for that matter.

I tried out an 18-month old S4 Avant today and liked it just a little bit more than I expected, I was curious how the price stacked up to a new one - but now I'm stumped!

[roadsmash]

They’re not making any at the moment due to emissions IIRC.

[talksthetorque]

Here's more than 2 hours of my life I'll never get back.
Cromer to Newark, mainly single carriageway. Pretty impressive for a 350hp petrol engine, even if I was only using about 40 of them....

[chris333]

Darn it. you beat me.... Portsmouth to Lincolnshire, no rush, no traffic. Thought I'd see how good I could get it.

[TTOBES]

Can any owner(s) confirm if the S4 is or is not available (from the factory) without super sports seats?

Now looking at replacements for the A6 lease which ends in the summer. There is a Daytona S6 Avant currently at Bedford Audi which has more S-Line looking seats as opposed to the super sports seats, but fancy the tech of the S4.

Thanks.

[silentbrown]

TTOBES said:

Can any owner(s) confirm if the S4 is or is not available (from the factory) without super sports seats?

Now looking at replacements for the A6 lease which ends in the summer. There is a Daytona S6 Avant currently at Bedford Audi which has more S-Line looking seats as opposed to the super sports seats, but fancy the tech of the S4.

Thanks.

Supersports seats were standard on B9 S4, but optional on the older B8. As you're aware S4 can't be configured or ordered at present, but I wouldn't imagine that will change when/if the order book reopens.

[TomScrut]

silentbrown said:

TTOBES said:

Can any owner(s) confirm if the S4 is or is not available (from the factory) without super sports seats?

Now looking at replacements for the A6 lease which ends in the summer. There is a Daytona S6 Avant currently at Bedford Audi which has more S-Line looking seats as opposed to the super sports seats, but fancy the tech of the S4.

Thanks.

Supersports seats were standard on B9 S4, but optional on the older B8. As you're aware S4 can't be configured or ordered at present, but I wouldn't imagine that will change when/if the order book reopens.

No I doubt they will become an option. They aren't standard in Germany (or weren't). What's not to like about the SS seats anyway?

[Bluesmurff09]

My wife hates the supersport seats in ours as she's only 5ft tall and can't sit back and fall asleep in them if we are on a long drive. Her head tilts forward because the back of her neck is litraly where the head rest starts. On the old S4 she could raise the head rest to avoid the issue.

[TTOBES]

Thanks all. Yes, checked online before coming here. The seats are nice but would like the option for standard seats to slightly increase rear legroom.

[zayn]

TTOBES said:

Thanks all. Yes, checked online before coming here. The seats are nice but would like the option for standard seats to slightly increase rear legroom.

no such option in configuration to change from sports seat when I got mine last year, don't see that changing for FY19 either.

[272BHP]

Bluesmurff09 said:

My wife hates the supersport seats in ours as she's only 5ft tall and can't sit back and fall asleep in them if we are on a long drive. Her head tilts forward because the back of her neck is litraly where the head rest starts. On the old S4 she could raise the head rest to avoid the issue.

My wife dislikes driving it as she say she can't get the seat forward enough to drive it comfortably. She also hates the looks of the car - as do I. Difference is, I knew what we were getting but she had mistakenly thought an S5 four door that she had seen somewhere was the same car we were getting!

[talksthetorque]

272BHP said:

Bluesmurff09 said:

My wife hates the supersport seats in ours as she's only 5ft tall and can't sit back and fall asleep in them if we are on a long drive. Her head tilts forward because the back of her neck is litraly where the head rest starts. On the old S4 she could raise the head rest to avoid the issue.

My wife dislikes driving it as she say she can't get the seat forward enough to drive it comfortably. She also hates the looks of the car - as do I. Difference is, I knew what we were getting but she had mistakenly thought an S5 four door that she had seen somewhere was the same car we were getting!

If you do anything like put diy stuff (or kids) in the car, the seat backs also mark easily.

[JackReacher]

Giving this thread a bump, as interested to hear how ownership is going. A B9 S4 Avant is on my list for my next car, along with a 340i touring or newer Golf R estate. The Audi seems to be a bit more expensive than an equivalent age/mileage 340i, with 3 year old cars just under £30k at main dealers, where as the BMW is more like £25/26k

So my main questions are,
Interested to know if there are any common frustrations with the car, I've seen pre-sense mentioned, but what else?
whats the reliability like, any common issues to be aware of?
Running costs, how expensive is main dealer servicing? and are there any particularly expensive consumables?
Whats the annual cost of an Audi warranty extension?
Is android auto standard?
Any good options to look out for?
Lastly, and a bit subjective, but can it be fun to drive on a good B-road?

[roadsmash]

Interested to know if there are any common frustrations with the car, I've seen pre-sense mentioned, but what else?
Pre-sense definitely needs to be turned down to low. I never had many major issues with it since turning it down.

The passenger side seatbelt rattles against the plastic seat “holder” when no one is sat in it, when driving alone it’s best to plug it in.

I had minor glitches with the sat nav, occasionally it needed to be turned off and on again to sort itself out. I appreciate that might just be my car though.

Nothing much else to report in 2 years of having it.

whats the reliability like, any common issues to be aware of?
Other than the above, nothing, didn’t have any issues pointed out at the service etc. Front tyre wear is quite a bit heavier than the rear in my experience.

Running costs, how expensive is main dealer servicing? and are there any particularly expensive consumables?
The first service cost me under £500 and I believe the next major service is around a third more typically. Depending on location.

All consumables are going to be a bit more than your standard A model... but nothing springs to mind. Being a 3 litre, it does take a reasonable amount of oil.

Whats the annual cost of an Audi warranty extension?
Not sure, someone else may know though.

Is android auto standard?
Yes, as is Apple CarPlay. The standard MMI system is very good, very feature rich.

Any good options to look out for?
VC is a must have, as are folding wing mirrors. Cruise comes as standard but you may wish for adaptive cruise. Other than that, the car is well equipped with heated wing mirrors and heated seats as standard.


Lastly, and a bit subjective, but can it be fun to drive on a good B-road?
I loved it, the torque and pull is incredible. However, the car is very refined, very comfortable, and generally quite efficient at what it does. Some may consider this boring, but I had some great fun on early Sunday mornings.

[silentbrown]

roadsmash said:

Running costs, how expensive is main dealer servicing? and are there any particularly expensive consumables?
The first service cost me under £500 and I believe the next major service is around a third more typically. Depending on location.

Once the car is out of warranty main dealer servicing prices should be fixed. But often you have to ask to get these prices.

https://www.audi.co.uk/account/fixed-price-service...

If you can book directly with the dealer (rather than via a call centre) there's usually scope for haggling too.

[JonChalk]

roadsmash said:

Whats the annual cost of an Audi warranty extension?
Not sure, someone else may know though.

Just renewed mine (17 S5) & it was £391, which compared with about £500-£550 for quotes from RAC and ALA - those included 1 years basic (very basic) roadside. Extending the Audi roadside for 2 years was £155, which includes Europe, same as 3 years you get for free on purchase.

So overall, the Audi warranty and roadside extensions came out pretty competitively, as far as I could tell.

[AlexL94]

JackReacher said:

Giving this thread a bump, as interested to hear how ownership is going. A B9 S4 Avant is on my list for my next car, along with a 340i touring or newer Golf R estate. The Audi seems to be a bit more expensive than an equivalent age/mileage 340i, with 3 year old cars just under £30k at main dealers, where as the BMW is more like £25/26k

So my main questions are,
Interested to know if there are any common frustrations with the car, I've seen pre-sense mentioned, but what else?
whats the reliability like, any common issues to be aware of?
Running costs, how expensive is main dealer servicing? and are there any particularly expensive consumables?
Whats the annual cost of an Audi warranty extension?
Is android auto standard?
Any good options to look out for?
Lastly, and a bit subjective, but can it be fun to drive on a good B-road?

I've had a couple of issues with mine with one being an issue with the interior alarm sensors, no matter how many times you unlocked/locked the car the alarm would go off every time after about 30 seconds. Usually found a 5 minute drive around the block and then parking back up and locking would solve it. No idea what issue specifically was, but I believe it's now solved with a software update.

Also had an issue of the standard LED headlights not auto-leveling correctly when there were 2+ passengers or things in the boot and I might as well of just been driving around with the full beams on. I had to get a headlight control unit or something along those lines replaced, but no issues since.

Virtual Cockpit is an essential imo, also personal preference but the standard 19" alloys are an absolute nightmare to clean in between the spokes so I wouldn't stick with them if I had the choice again.

Overall though I'm really happy with my S4 albeit a saloon rather than the estates you're looking at. It's one of those cars which is quick in every situation I find, whether it's from a standing start, overtaking, or even just giving it a boot when you're entering an NSL zone. It just goes and I think the car sounds quite good (although I have disabled the artificial sound played into the cabin). At the same time, that's what brings me onto my main issue with the car, it is just too accomplished at going fast. Everything is sort of too easy and therefore not as fun as my previous Golf GTI, even if the golf wouldn't see which way the S4 went on a backroad! If fun is what you're after I would go for the BMW, if you want something that is a lovely place to spend time in and fast in every scenario go for the S4.