Looking at 2012 S4, what should I know about these cars?

[Live2Ski]

Title pretty much says it all. The car I'm looking at has 32,000 miles with the 6spd manual. This car will never have any mods put on it. What is the general reliability of these cars? I had a 2006 A4, sold it a while a go, wife wants another Audi. Ive seen that the mpgs, of these cars is actually pretty good considering the power they have. Thanks for any help. Yes, I did search.

[S4NJ]

Reliable


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[EHesh14]

Thermostat is pretty much a ticking time bomb

[pfft]

Thermostat is pretty much a ticking time bomb

With that being said, not more than $1k to have Audi repair. I'm not saying that's great but not devastating. It's definitely more inconvenience.

With the manual you avoid any possible DSG issues. Engine on the car is very reliable and one of Audi's best.

[Live2Ski]

Thanks for the replies. Can the thermostat be replaced with one that is of better quality and will last longer? How often are you guys going through these thermostats?

[grovlet]

FYI - There is also a recent Fuel Rail Recall Issue - and they may replace the Thermostat as part of the recall - if not I thought others had luck paying a small extra fee to have it done then as well - since they are literally right there when doing the recall work.

I bought my car with 52K - and have put 6K miles on it with simply adding gas..... They are very reliable and you should only be concerned about finding an independent shop for service unless you prefer the dealers ridiculous prices....

[AKPS4]

These are all recalls or warranty fixes. '12 was the best year. I am and am not bias. I also have a 12 6MT with 35k miles. I expect to get 130-150 with just routine maintenance. I do have a long list of mods though and in need of a new clutch.

[roadawg]

Not much to be said, they are basically like any other car. t stat is the only thing that really breaks, but it should have reared its ugly head years ago and been replaced already because they all failed basically right away before 5K mies or so.

[MrFunk]

12's are the best IMO. Last gen of the B8 body still with the proper hydraulic steering... (13's and 14's had steering issues which I think - I hope - have been resolved in the 15's and 16's)...
If the Fuel Rail recall has been taken care of (high chance if car is at a dealership) then they would have done the thermostat at the same time. Other than that these are very reliable. Most reliable car I've ever owned in fact... and I have a long history of VW and Audis.

[UnstableOS]

12's are the best IMO. Last gen of the B8 body still with the proper hydraulic steering... (13's and 14's had steering issues which I think - I hope - have been resolved in the 15's and 16's)...
If the Fuel Rail recall has been taken care of (high chance if car is at a dealership) then they would have done the thermostat at the same time. Other than that these are very reliable. Most reliable car I've ever owned in fact... and I have a long history of VW and Audis.

+1

[cspcrx]

+2
I love my 12 and had the recall done. They did all three parts of the recall on my car, rail, T-stat and PCV at no cost. I purchased mine used with 14k and it now has 54k, so far very happy with the car.

[jimrobbington]

What every one has said is true, but start saving now to replace the clutch/flywheel, because it's shit and will go out unexpectedly.

[Sceanzo]

If you buy it at an Audi dealership, they legally can't sell it unless the recalls are completed. At least in NC

[Factis]

Wtf are you guys doing that your clutch and flywheel are needing replacement? 35k or 'giving out unexpectedly'... I don't think this is true of the b8 from this year at ALL. Plenty of people doing 80-100k on stock clutch assembly with or without stage 1+.

It can be a nice upgrade, but if you're burning out your clutch... that's probably your driving habits or beating the shit out of the car.

EDIT: Get a CPO with extended warranty and you really never need to worry about anything posted here thus far if you don't plan on modding the vehicle.

[bpollock]

I have 104K on a 2010 6 speed. As others mentioned thermostat will go (mine went at 90k luckily was still under CPO warranty.)

I still have stock clutch however some people burn through clutches every 30k – being fairly gentle in between full throttle 1-2 shifts may be the best way to preserve the clutch.

I would make sure the car you are looking at has the sports diff

[14S4GWM]

Wtf are you guys doing that your clutch and flywheel are needing replacement? 35k or 'giving out unexpectedly'... I don't think this is true of the b8 from this year at ALL. Plenty of people doing 80-100k on stock clutch assembly with or without stage 1+.

It can be a nice upgrade, but if you're burning out your clutch... that's probably your driving habits or beating the shit out of the car.

EDIT: Get a CPO with extended warranty and you really never need to worry about anything posted here thus far if you don't plan on modding the vehicle.

CPO won't cover the clutch

[Factis]

CPO won't cover the clutch

Not what I was implying. It's a wear and tear item, of course it won't. Shouldn't even be in this thread regarding reliability issues. CPO will cover the fuel rail, tstat and PCV.. which are the only real concerns I think.

[nickskeeta]

2011 owner with 30K and no factory warranty, I got a notice in the mail for the Fuel Rail recall and Audi installed the updated Thermostat at the same time. Everything was free and only took a day.
Im APR Stage 1 and 30k on stock clutch, no issues so far.
As others mentioned, this is the most reliable car I've owned so far.

[b8audis4]

Yes, you shouldn't have any issues. On a DSG you could have a failure there, and on a sport diff car you can have a failure there. But other than that, and the thermostat which was mentioned, very reliable.

[ASDBS]

love the 2012.

[onlyaudis]

with any upscale performance car that sold for in the 55-60K range new, there is always the possibility of a very expensive out of warranty repair. The B8 S4 hs been fairly reliable according to the Audi service managers and independent Audi techs I know though. 2010 cars had more issues than the later cars, and 2013 had their share of electric steering issues. less oil burning and carbon issues than many of the other current Audis. I bought a 2012 with only 18K miles on it, and had a tranny service done right away. I did get a 4 year 48month platinumn warranty for a couple grand so I do not have to worry about a catastrophic failure, even if the odds are very low that the car will have one. The 3.0 Supercharged engine is one of the best engines audi ever made.

[Dr GP]

You should know that all S4s do not have a Sport differential which IMHO is THE option that makes this car special. Make sure the S4 you buy has one. The water pumps have all failed and been replaced by now . A very few owners have had to replace their WPs more than once. The T sat can also fail and the PVC valve has been known to fail which causes excessive oil consumption. All can be easily fixed. The IC radiator is prone to be punctured by road debris. Can cost up to $800 to repair. Some have had it done under warranty, others not covered. IMHO, the weak links in these cars are the DGS trans and the clutch assembly in the manuals. On my third B8 S4 with MT. Current one has 60K miles. Have not replaced the clutch assembly yet. But I recommend getting an extended warranty. If you have a DSG, it will be covered under warranty. Clutch will not

[Live2Ski]

So the '12 was sold. Found a '13 with same miles. CPO car with extra 2 years 50,000 mile warranty. Has drive select with sports diff. Car seems pretty loaded.

What about oil changes in these cars? Whats the interval? How hard is it? I have always changed my oil in all my cars. Is this one a pain to do? What are you guys paying to have it done?

[LurkAllDay]

Audi recommends every 10k, I perform it every 5k.

Oil changes are cake with an extractor. Filter is topside.

[jygesq]

So the '12 was sold. Found a '13 with same miles. CPO car with extra 2 years 50,000 mile warranty. Has drive select with sports diff. Car seems pretty loaded.

What about oil changes in these cars? Whats the interval? How hard is it? I have always changed my oil in all my cars. Is this one a pain to do? What are you guys paying to have it done?

better car as it has sport diff and dsg has been revised in 2013, possibly DSG issues were sorted out in the latest (2013) version ,Go for it!

[chaos2984]

Audi recommends every 10k, I perform it every 5k.

Oil changes are cake with an extractor. Filter is topside.

This. Plan for 5K for the oil change and if you change it at 6K due to whatever or couldn't get to it, don't worry to much. I just changed mine at 5500 and it came out clean looking with a slight tint of brown.

But YESSSSSS get an oil extractor. Save yourself the hassle. I was lazy and being a cheap ass and didn't buy one for my first one and draining the oil is outright dumb on this car. As soon as you crack the drain plug loose it starts to leak and then you have to tighten the crap out of the plug with the new crush washer to get it to seal properly. Worst drain plug design that I have seen. But from now on I will be buying a extractor.

Also what he didn't say, buy an oil dip stick they are about 12 bux and the car doesn't come with one.

As for the year's 12 is the best of the best pre facelift. But if you can afford a 13 or higher get one of those. Me personally I like the upgrades and restyling. Most of the DSG issues are practically gone with the redesigned DSG in the 13 and up. The steering issue is fixed by either a vag com mod or a new rack. But it seems to be hit or miss. I have a 14 and have 0 issues and like the Electric PS. I've had mine for 10K miles and no issues as of yet besides the ones that it came with when I bought it new. But they were all stupid.

[Tweakophyte]

These are all recalls or warranty fixes. '12 was the best year. I am and am not bias. I also have a 12 6MT with 35k miles. I expect to get 130-150 with just routine maintenance. I do have a long list of mods though and in need of a new clutch.

This... and I am biased. Hydraulic steering ftw.
My clutch has an intermittent flutter, but does not slip at all.
Make sure you get a model with a sport diff.
I am at 47K miles and had the fuel rail recall service. They also replaced my crankcase pressure valve and my oil consumption has gone to zero... so far... whereas it previously was burning about 1qt over 5K miles. You can check the VIN and the recall online.