I have a problem — I really desperately need a haircut. More importantly, I also really like buying German cars.
I’ve now lived with a B9 Audi S4 for the last year and 20,000 miles, and have spent more money on it than any other car I’ve owned. And I’ve owned something like 12 or 13 vehicles in the last six years.
I don’t just mean that this is the most expensive car I’ve ever bought, though it’s actually tied for that title with my Ram truck. It’s also by far the single most expensive car I’ve had to live with in terms of reliability, maintenance, and depreciation.
My particular S4 was a 2018 model equipped with the Prestige package and S Sport Package, and finished in Glacier White Metallic. The S4 follows Volkswagen’s typical mantra of subtle styling for their performance cars, which I always like. If you look closely, you’ll notice a few minor differences around the edges, but overall the design is very mistakable for a regular A4.
I bet that if I de-badged this car and stuck a 1.8T badge on the back, nobody would bat an eye. Although, to be fair, most normal people don’t really give a toss anyway. The only thing you’d probably notice is the sound, because of course it has a different engine than the A4, a 3.0L turbocharged V6.
This generation S4 has gotten a lot of hate for its sound, and while it doesn’t sound as good as the old supercharged or V8 S4s, it’s not bad for what it is. It has a deeper tone in person that’s hard to pick up on camera. The straight-six in the BMW M340i also sounds better to me, but the burbles and pops on the Audi are not overdone.
Speaking of the engine, from factory it produces 355 horsepower and 370 torque. I had a Unitronic Stage 1+ ECU tune installed, bumping that to 460 horsepower and 480 torque at the crank, pretty healthy numbers for an otherwise stock car. All B9 S4s have an 8-speed ZF automatic and all-wheel-drive.
Hopping inside, you’ll notice keyless access touch points on all four door handles, which I love. Inside, my car had the optional full Nappa leather in black with silver stitching and carbon fiber trim. The interior has held up really well, minus the wear on the seat bolsters, and the design and technology still feel brand new.
With an original MSRP over $64,000, it’s loaded with features, including the digital gauge cluster, heads up display, Apple CarPlay, 360 camera, radar cruise control, massaging seats, B&O sound system, and more. My only real interior annoyances are minor, and I covered most of them in my previous video, linked down below.
I want to preface my reliability complaints by mentioning that I’ve previously owned three BMWs and a Volkswagen Alltrack, all of which were nearly flawless. I also had a VR6 Passat wagon, which… wasn’t, but that was also a much older higher mileage car.
Almost immediately from the get-go, I had to dump over $3,000 into the S4; replacing a wheel bearing that failed at 60,000 miles (somewhat unusual), the coolant sensor, and brakes all the way around. Granted, brakes are a consumable item, but still rather pricey on this car.
The entire time I’ve had the car, I’ve had tons of electronic gremlins. The front parking sensors randomly go off in low speed driving, sometimes the passenger seat inflates and deflates its lumbar and side bolsters on its own (no idea what causes that), and there’s a random parking brake error message, even though the electronic parking brake has always worked perfectly fine. There was an auto stop-start error message, but I disabled the system through OBDeleven and didn’t have that issue again.
More worryingly, it had an intermittent drivetrain fault that producded a boost control code, and sometimes went into limp mode. Initially, I thought this might be due to my tune (the car having trouble regulating the extra boost), but based on the symptoms and noises I’ve started hearing my best guess is the wastegate actuator failing. A wastegate actuator on a turbo Kia Sportage is around $700 with labor, so I can only assume an Audi one would be at least that.
The car also started leaking oil from the failing PCV valve. That breather valve isn’t quite as expensive, only around $400-500 with labor, but not something I had fixed as the leak wasn’t too bad.
The car was also due for tires soon, but again that’s a consumable item that’s not out of the ordinary. Still pricey though, at around $1,500 a set for the Michelin Super Sport summers.
Finally, let’s discuss depreciation. In July of last year, this car was $38,000, which was a fair market value at the time. Thanks to the way the car market has changed (and the fact this car now has an accident on its history) Blue Book retail is now barely $30,000, with MMR (auction value) around $25,000. When you factor in the money I spent on repairs and maintenance, plus the money needed to fix the things currently wrong with the car, that brings the one year ownership cost into five digits. Ouch.
So, do I regret buying the S4? No. Somehow, despite all its issues, this is still a fantastic car in my eyes. I love driving it; it’s super quick, it grips and handles well, and it’s comfortable and easy to cruise in. I love the way it looks, and all the technology it has. It’s been a great daily driver.
The only other car I nearly bought instead of this was a Mk7.5 Golf R, and I honestly think I would have gotten bored of that car much quicker. I certainly wouldn’t have lost as much money, though, because Golf Rs have and always will hold value insanely well.
Rather than throwing away more money into it, I chose to take a loss on the S4 and part ways. After recently purchasing my B8.5 Q5 as a new daily driver, I wasn’t planning on buying another car right away, but the right deal presented itself.
My new toy will be reviewed soon, but I’ll give two hints: it doesn’t leak oil and it doesn’t go into limp mode. On a more serious note, it’s a manual-transmission hardtop convertible and the smallest car I’ve ever had (by 3 inches). A part of my heart will always miss the S4, but my brain and bank account certainly won’t.
| Vehicle Tested | 2018 Audi S4 Prestige |
| Color | Glacier White Metallic / Black Nappa Leather |
| Drivetrain | 3.0L turbocharged V6 / 8-spd automatic / All wheel drive |
| HP / Torque | 355 horsepower / 370 lb-ft (stock) 460 horsepower / 480 lb-ft (tuned) |
| Curb Weight | 3,858 lbs (est.) |
| 0-60 mph | 4.2 seconds (stock) 3.7 seconds (tuned) |
| EPA Fuel Econ | 21 city / 30 highway / 24 combined |
| MSRP | $64,500 |
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