Have a 2009 g37s with 46k in good condition.

Audi dealership offered me 17k for trade in on a 2012 s4 with 27k miles for $38,000. No nav, no back-up cam, no sport diff., basically a base s4.

Fell in love with the car after 30 min test drive. I'd say it handles better and has more power throughout the rev band than our cars.

What would you do - trade in and buy it? Or sell the car on your own?

 

It's almost always better to do a private sale except having to deal w/ all the lookers. Do you have any friends or associates that may be interested?
If not it doesn't sound like an unreasonable deal, I would try to get some warranty extension though, maybe see if they can tack on another year & 12k miles. The S4s are a nice ride for sure!

 

If you ask me your going backwards in car choice. Going from a well equipped vehicle to a no option car even though it's a S4 is a mistake. If it doesn't have a sport diff it definitely doesn't out handle the G Sport and your comment was questionable.
Also, have you inquired about the maintenance and reliability? I tell all my friends and whoever wants to go buy German, " just because you can afford the car note doesn't mean you can afford the car."

If you're satisfied with that I hope you enjoy the Audi. But in all honesty reliability is what kept me from buying a used M5. Sweet ride but I'm not spending $1-2k everytime something goes wrong.so

 

^^^ What John B said, especially about German reliability. I've seen too many friends, family members who have had numerous, frequent, and expensive repairs on their German cars. I love the looks, ride, and handling, but I still refuse to own a German car. I simply don't want to waste my money.

 

I love the Audi's styling and drove an R8 and a Ferrari on an exotic car weekend demo. I like the Audi A4 and A5 designs but I have read several reports from unhappy owners regarding reliability issues and parts prices. One owner I read about reported his a4 spent more time in the garage than it did in his garage during the first 6mos of ownership. Get a warranty.

 

I have a very close friend that owns a 2010 A5 6MT 2.0T and he loves it. He has only had a couple of issues with wheel bearings, but those were covered under warranty. He has never had any other issues after about 65k miles now.

I can't speak to the reliability of the S model or anything else, but some of the newer cars seem to be more reliable than older models.

That said, I would give your possible purchase some serious thought. No, you don't *have* to have things like Nav or Reverse Camera, but they sure set the tone for a car. You won't push the car to its upper limits every time you get in, but you will very likely use these creature comforts very regularly.

 

Test drove a S4 before I got the G. You want the sports differential. Seriously you'll be kicking yourself tomorrow if you buy that particular car.

Personally, I LOVED the S4. I enjoy the German design and feel, but couldn't justify the significantly higher cost for it compared to the G. Plus I don't think the wife would've given me the blessing when she realized how small the back seat is for our 3 growing kids. I've got a Q7 and it's been as reliable as our QX56. Audi maintenance is definitely much more expensive than the G and QX, but I use my local garage for everything to avoid the insane labor rates at my Audi dealer.

 

Don't forget you will pay sales tax only on the difference if you you trade in your car. Full tax on 38k will eat up a big portion of whatever extra you may make on a private sale.

 

Depends what state he is in. Not all states work that way. In California you pay sales tax on the purchase price and then take the trade off.

 

Everybody's got some valid points here I took it for another spin today and decided to hold off for something else maybe save up for s5 or more equipped s4. But my dads got a collision repair shop he works on audi and Beamer so I'm not gonna let the maint. Hold me back. Maybe it doesn't handle better than the g but I like the steering feel more