I Promised Pictures...

[serumk]

The wife came along and let me use her Nikon D80 to take some pictures of the new S4.

Let me know what you think!











http://photos-f.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-...41069_7341.jpg


K. Andrew Serum

[Eddie Man]

Very Nice and Clean !!!
Welcome to your friendly neighborhood Audizine :)

[serumk]

Thanks! I haven't been here long, but appreciate how helpful and friendly everyone is. = )

[fitzS4]

yea we are all nice untill you say something stupid then you are exiled for ever....na im only kidding welcome and you have any plans for the s??

[s42k5b]

nice car and camera

[serumk]

yea we are all nice untill you say something stupid then you are exiled for ever....na im only kidding welcome and you have any plans for the s??

LOL. Thanks.

I do have plans -- at the moment, however, I'm waiting for my ticking time-bomb of a clutch to bite the dust. It's got 48,000 miles on the original clutch, and it doesn't feel right to me.

Once that's out of the way, I'll probably start with the snub mount - the amount of driveline shock is quite impressive! After that, maybe cat-back exhaust. After that, who knows? The world is my oyster.

K. Andrew Serum

[Justchill30]

Nice whip. My friend has a d80 and she swears by it (she had a rebel)

What is a snub mount and why change/modify it?

Hope not to brash but I would love to know around what you paid for that year with that many miles. Im in the market and I am trying to compare auction prices of 04's with retail prices of 04's? Does it have any kind of warranty from the dealer or aftermarket??
thanx

[Johnnada]

to be safe, just make sure you use the search tool on the site before asking questions.

People on here hate when the same questions are asked. :)

[serumk]

Nice whip. My friend has a d80 and she swears by it (she had a rebel)

What is a snub mount and why change/modify it?

Hope not to brash but I would love to know around what you paid for that year with that many miles. Im in the market and I am trying to compare auction prices of 04's with retail prices of 04's? Does it have any kind of warranty from the dealer or aftermarket??
thanx

A snub mount is firmer engine mount that is helpful because it reduces driveline play, and noise-vibration-harshness.

I'm happy to help. I bought the car from an independent dealer in Cleveland for $19,900 with 46,500 miles. No warranty, because I work for a car dealership and can buy warranties at cost. (I probably won't, however, as they're still expensive, and this particular car has a history of being trouble-free) I would caution you, however -- perhaps my car was not carefully reconditioned, and a fully reconditioned vehicle would probably cost a bit more.

When I bought the car, I got stranded on the way home. Luckily, when the check engine light came on, I was visiting my family in my hometown, and could take it to a service shop I was familiar with. They found the intake manifold was warped, causing a massive vacuum leak. After they resealed that (Audi TSB says to reseal the intake manifold rather than replace it), the mass air flow sensor turned out to be faulty and needed to be replaced. $825 total. Furthermore, when I was stuck in Michigan, the weather was insane, as usual, for this time of year, and I had to spend quite a bit to switch out the summer tires that were on the car for some snow tires.

All in all, an expensive trip!

I hope that helps you find the car you're looking for!

K. Andrew Serum

[RAudi Driver]

Welcome to the Zine. who is the smuck in the pic? Just Kidding! It's actually nice to put a face to a username. Your mod list sounds nice. I would jump on the catback asap as you don't want to miss a minute of music that an exhaust makes on the 4.2.

Remember to always post a pic with the mods that you do.

What kind of lens does your wife have on the Nikon?

[ngng]

nice car, bad camera ;) nikon ftl!

[serumk]

Welcome to the Zine. who is the smuck in the pic? Just Kidding! It's actually nice to put a face to a username. Your mod list sounds nice. I would jump on the catback asap as you don't want to miss a minute of music that an exhaust makes on the 4.2.

Remember to always post a pic with the mods that you do.

What kind of lens does your wife have on the Nikon?

Thanks, Ed. I noticed that nobody ever shows their faces on the forums, and knew I was bucking a trend!

I have wanted an S4 for a very long time, but I remember listening to a Milltek exhaust on an online video one day not so long ago and having my mouth fall open, which has never happened before. lol!

I'm not the photography expert in the family, so I'm not sure all of the lens specifications, but the brand of lens we were using was "Sigma." You can't really appreciate the clarity in the low resolution pics, but I remember looking at some of the pictures she took and being absolutely amazed, because there is NO comparison between the picture quality of a point-and-shoot digital camera and a digital SLR.

I had to work a lot harder to clean the car up, because I knew any little piece of dirt would show!

Regards,

K. Andrew Serum

[serumk]

nice car, bad camera ;) nikon ftl!

Me to my wife about a year ago: "You spent HOW MUCH on a CAMERA?"

Wife to me after the 1st Audi repair bill arrived: "We're even."

[cellg8]

nice car! looks cold over there...

[serumk]

It's actually warmed up a bit -- been in the 50s!

[AudiOso]

Beautiful car. My 04' was silver. Very cool camera, it takes awesome pics. Best of luck to you with your ride.

[ngng]

Me to my wife about a year ago: "You spent HOW MUCH on a CAMERA?"

Wife to me after the 1st Audi repair bill arrived: "We're even."

LOL

[ZachPDX]

Car looks super clean! Welcome to AZ!

[Audi0s]

I would totally recommend a warranty. Aside from the peace of mind, I dont know if youve taken a good look under and around the engine bay, but that thing is crammed in there. Being a tech myself, Id much rather have it done right by an Audi trained tech, than do it myself, and not know the proper procedure for doing things. I was reading a TSB and they want a tensioner torqued, so its not spring tensioned, its actually bolt tensioned. Unheard of. Also many shaft driven accessories, A/C compressor for one, hence the awesome engine noise. Of course, Im all for learning, but I would only be comfotable with another Audi tech there watching. And the early 04s, like mine, burn coolant, mysteriously. Ive gone through quite a bit in the 5k since I owned the car. BTW, you got a good deal, I paid 21 for moro blue over silver one with 46500 in Oct. Also, nows about the time to do a tuneup, plugs air/fuel filter, OLF, and fluid flushes as well. Anyway best of luck!

[ZachPDX]

I would totally recommend a warranty.

x2

This is my 2nd audi.... learn from my lesson.

[serumk]

I would totally recommend a warranty. Aside from the peace of mind, I dont know if youve taken a good look under and around the engine bay, but that thing is crammed in there. Being a tech myself, Id much rather have it done right by an Audi trained tech, than do it myself, and not know the proper procedure for doing things. I was reading a TSB and they want a tensioner torqued, so its not spring tensioned, its actually bolt tensioned. Unheard of. Also many shaft driven accessories, A/C compressor for one, hence the awesome engine noise. Of course, Im all for learning, but I would only be comfotable with another Audi tech there watching. And the early 04s, like mine, burn coolant, mysteriously. Ive gone through quite a bit in the 5k since I owned the car. BTW, you got a good deal, I paid 21 for moro blue over silver one with 46500 in Oct. Also, nows about the time to do a tuneup, plugs air/fuel filter, OLF, and fluid flushes as well. Anyway best of luck!

Thanks for the heads-up. On Saturday I decided I'd check to see if the air filter was clean, and was quite impressed at how difficult it was to get to. I had known that everything was rather crammed in, but you really don't know until you get your hands dirty. It was very difficult to get to screws, etc.

I have been giving the warranty some additional consideration. I don't have a problem with paying for minor problems, but I'd like to have some protection against a catastrophic problem. I can get a 4 year/48k powertrain warranty with a $100 deductible for about $2,750 or a more comprehensive version of the warranty with a $100 deductible for about $3,650. There are some shorter durations, but in reality, I'd probably keep the car at least 4 years, anyway. I think I have to convince myself that I'd pay that much or more in 4 years before I'll bite.


K. Andrew Serum

[serumk]

x2

This is my 2nd audi.... learn from my lesson.

What happened to your first?

[FastB7S4]

I have been giving the warranty some additional consideration. I don't have a problem with paying for minor problems, but I'd like to have some protection against a catastrophic problem.

Get the warranty. Minor problems will still be major withdrawls from your bank account.

[s6sputnik]

Cheers and welcome!!!

[Fuffler]

Nice - Is that you or the wife in the photos?

[FastB7S4]

Nice - Is that you or the wife in the photos?

Ouch!

[serumk]

Nice - Is that you or the wife in the photos?

LOL - dang! Now I know why no one puts themselves in their car pictures!

[serumk]

Get the warranty. Minor problems will still be major withdrawls from your bank account.

Hmm.... can you give an example of a minor, yet expensive-to-fix problem?

[FastB7S4]

well, i don't have any first hand examples. i'm only going by what i've read. seems like everything costs at least a few hundred at the minimum. so far, the only issues i've had were a bad coilpack, airbag light, and flickering right headlight. i haven't had the headlight checked out yet, but will do so when i take it in for the next service. i know it's a common problem and usually fixed by replacing the HID module. that just sounds expensive if not under warranty. as far as the other stuff, there's no price on my invoice. it just says fixed/replaced under warranty.

[Maverick]

Hmm.... can you give an example of a minor, yet expensive-to-fix problem?

o nothing is a minor fix on audi, unless it's a burnt bulb or something.

factory warranty is a very good thing to get/have