Leasing S4 (but plan to own): Mods?

[joefig44]

I just took delivery of a brand new 2015 S4 Brilliant Black SD Progressive with Black Optics and window tint.

I got a great lease rate (0.9%) which is the only reason I leased, but treating as financing and plan to own for the long term.

Apart from the tint, I got some new wheels swapped out on the stock tires which are the 2014 ones 5-arm spoke gunmetal and kept the stock hyper silver flowery ones for winter tires later this year.

So I have audi care and also don't want to void my warranty at all as it is brand new.

With that in mind, what would be the next best mods to make?

[Okan509]

I just took delivery of a brand new 2015 S4 Brilliant Black SD Progressive with Black Optics and window tint.

I got a great lease rate (0.9%) which is the only reason I leased, but treating as financing and plan to own for the long term.

Apart from the tint, I got some new wheels swapped out on the stock tires which are the 2014 ones 5-arm spoke gunmetal and kept the stock hyper silver flowery ones for winter tires later this year.

So I have audi care and also don't want to void my warranty at all as it is brand new.

With that in mind, what would be the next best mods to make?

anything cosmetic if you want to keep your warranty.

[drevil2k2]

Wow, that is a great lease rate. Is there a promo now or was it a dealer specific deal with loyalty, etc.?

Anyways, depending on your dealership, exhaust and suspension are ok.

More invasive items - ECU tune, DSG flash and intake might get you a TD1.

If you SA is cool, will let you know if they plan to hook up their computer to your car.

[joefig44]

Normal 3.9'was down to 2.9'on promo -1% due to audi loyalty rate, -1 more percent from a promo of buying existing dealer inventory due to eastern Canada winter holding up new inventory arriving off boats from Germany.

Apparently there were cars frozen to the ground out in Halifax.

What is an SA?

On the suspension, a place told me I'd lose all the nice ride feeling I get in the stock S4 if I lowered it. Is that true?

Finally, regarding exhaust, I really don't want the car sounding really loud. I wouldn't mind a bit more grumble, but I hate cars that are overly loud on the street.

[drevil2k2]

Forgot to say congrats! and good timing with your lease rate.

I heard that there was over 1/2" ice on all the cars at port. Mercedes tech was ranting on the current flux of vehicles recently thawed and now requiring prep.

SA is service adviser.

Everyone has their own preference with suspension.
Some say getting coilovers will give you a sportier ride with good height adjustment for winter and summer driving. Depending on the brand of coilovers, the ride will vary.
While getting lowering springs might make the car more bouncy but maintain stock feeling. Personally, planning to either get Bilstein PSS10 coilovers or H&R OE springs.

Exhaust - very subjective. More low growl rumble - maybe AWE or Milltek with resonated downpipes (if you don't want drone with your DSG and want a quieter exhaust).

Depends where you are in Canada, you could attend some local meets; see and hear what you might like to upgrade or just keep as it.

[RJRAUDI]

I am currently leasing my S4 and also plan to buy it out at the end. So far I am doing mostly cosmetic mods: RS4 Grill, Tint, LED interior Lights (this weekend) , clear bra, set of wheels (future). The only performance mod I've done so far was the Roc-Euro intake. I love the whine the car makes and I made sure to ask my SA before I brought it in for servoce. It's a simple install and can be swapped back to stock without much trouble if needed.

[Maitre Absolut]

"Lease to own" - you'd be surprised at the deals to be made if you "Own to own" in the first place. And lease vs finance vs own won't have any incidence on your warranty and decision to mod the car - in all cases you would like to keep it intact.

Anyways, you want to mod the car but are afraid of a harsher ride and louder exhaust. Basically 0/2 on the most basic mods. Ask yourself why you want to change parts for aftermarket? What are you looking to get out of it?

Why not keep it stock?

[Konrad]

Also have Audi care. PM me if you want, running some mods already. You can also check out my build thread.

Cheers,

[bhvrdr]

So I have audi care and also don't want to void my warranty at all as it is brand new.

With that in mind, what would be the next best mods to make?

If you really want to be safe you need to stay away from suspension mods, exhaust mods, intake mods, short shifter mods, or tuning mods. All of these are specified by AoA as grounds for TD1 and dealerships are under orders to manually enter them into their system. Some dealers don't manually enter them and some do. Roll the dice.

I'd do things like wheels, cosmetics, or easily reversible mods such as piggy back tunes, intakes, etc.

Mike

[The Fat Kid]

I can't be bothered to completely understand leases, but I suppose the numbers could be rigged to make leasing to buying a good deal.

As per mods: My sales guy told me I would be TD1'd for exhaust, but not sure that is true. You could always buy the ~$4k Armytrix exhaust if you want to toggle between silent and beast mode. Milltek and AWE are what I am considering, but not doing anything in the near future.

Your coilover selection will depend a lot on your use. My top choice are the PSS10s, but there a lot of less-expensive options out there if you just want a lower ride.

We are expecting a kid soon, so my S4 might just stay completely stock and it'll still be a blast to drive.

[Arctic Audi]

I'd suggest communicating and building a good relationship with your SA. Each one is different. Once you do that he/she will give you the straight details on modding.

FYi...My SA is the one who suggested I tune my former B7 to stage 1 GIAC. Same dealership and a different SA, and he told me he won't do anything to my B8 S4 because it voids the warranty.

Just my $.02

[Diocletian]

I have never heard of being automatically TD1ed for exhaust and/or intake? I thought that was only for ECU tunes?

[The Fat Kid]

I have never heard of being automatically TD1ed for exhaust and/or intake? I thought that was only for ECU tunes?

It happens far less frequently than being TD1'd for a tune, but they can TD1 you manually. Also, your current SA might be totally cool with doing every mod out there, but he could be replaced with someone looking to crack the whip even if you have an aftermarket intake.

I think a few B8 people with the paint-chip-fender issue were denied warranty work because they had aftermarket wheels/tires.

[Mr.Tan]

I have never heard of being automatically TD1ed for exhaust and/or intake? I thought that was only for ECU tunes?

you can only be TD1 for exhaust/intake if they manually enter it... depends on the mechanic/SA that you have and whether or not they feel like being a dick.


honestly OP, if you are really worried about warranty i'd just do cosmetic things. I've kept mine stock because i dont want to take the risk, i enjoy the comfort of knowing i wont lose my CPO warranty. My SA told me I could do intake/exhaust, but im still hesitant.

[joefig44]

"Lease to own" - you'd be surprised at the deals to be made if you "Own to own" in the first place. And lease vs finance vs own won't have any incidence on your warranty and decision to mod the car - in all cases you would like to keep it intact.

Anyways, you want to mod the car but are afraid of a harsher ride and louder exhaust. Basically 0/2 on the most basic mods. Ask yourself why you want to change parts for aftermarket? What are you looking to get out of it?

Why not keep it stock?

On your first sentence, could you reiterate? I do not understand your point here. Are you saying I should treat the car as if I own it and it shouldn't affect any mod decisions?

I leased it vs. financing because the lease and finance rate were both the same...0.9%, and frankly I can do something else with the $400+ I don't pay them every month...like invest it.

Why do I want to mod it? because I think lowering it looks cool, but not at the expense of ride comfort. Because I would like it to sound better than it does, but not overly brash.

[Maitre Absolut]

On your first sentence, could you reiterate? I do not understand your point here. Are you saying I should treat the car as if I own it and it shouldn't affect any mod decisions?

I leased it vs. financing because the lease and finance rate were both the same...0.9%, and frankly I can do something else with the $400+ I don't pay them every month...like invest it.

Why do I want to mod it? because I think lowering it looks cool, but not at the expense of ride comfort. Because I would like it to sound better than it does, but not overly brash.

I mean the voiding warranty part is valid, regardless of whether you financed or leased.

I didn't question lease vs finance, i questioned leased to own vs finance. In the former you are effectively financing over 7-8 years. Oh and don't get me started on the claimed 0.9% rates. They'll give you cash for not taking it - it's not a real 0.9%.

Anyways, concerning your mods, you must realize a tradeoff is always involved. I can only suggest to find someone local to see how a lowered ride drives and what an aftermarket exhaust sounds like.

[The Fat Kid]

I leased it vs. financing because the lease and finance rate were both the same...0.9%, and frankly I can do something else with the $400+ I don't pay them every month...like invest it.

I put leases in the "funny math" category; they have a lot of fine print and moving parts.

I financed most of my car, but not for the typical reasons:

A. I received an extra $500 on top of my $1,000 Audi-loyalty reward and figured out how to structure my payments to only pay ~$400 in fees/interest; why not make $100 instead of writing one big cheque?

B. I already have an 800+ FICO score and my only area of weakness is, oddly enough, having too few open lines of credit; taking out a large car loan actually helps me.

It is all about understanding the rules of the game and then figuring out how to play.

[Lamprey]

Dunno about you, but I thought that brushed silver trim around the instrument cluster didn't look good. So, I had it painted to match the gloss black of the other interior parts.

http://i686.photobucket.com/albums/vv228/Lamprey13/Audi/trim_installed.jpg