Is Modding your car worth it?

[Brandon9999]

Hi everyone,
I've run into a situation and would like a little bit of advice.
I was rear ended last week by an idiot and the shop now screwed up the trunk lid and led license plate lights. But anyway, so far I've only modded the appearance of my car. I'm in college and I got a 2007 quartz grey a4 2.0t fwd non-sline automatic. it only had 40k miles so that was the biggest decision for the purchase; along with the fact that it was a company car that was in excellent condition with all service records. I forgot to mention it was only $9000. So far I've don't a lot of exterior/interior mods such as: led taillights, 20% tint, rs6 front grill, debadging, black calipers with s4 type ring logos, s-line trunk lid, led interior lights and foot wells, retrimmed the slightly scratched up fish scale aluminum panels, hoen fog lights, white halogen driving lights, kenwood excelon head unit, kicker amp, kicker 8in sub that was supposed to be free air but after awhile it couldn't handle the stock sub location. I spent 2 hours refitting the Bose location and their "free air sub" kept overheating it's cool.


I was going to purchase niche targa 19in rims, but for right now my tuition is the main priority. I have h and r sport springs sitting in a box because I need to find a place that will put them on for less than $800.

What I'm trying to get at, is the question "Is it worth it to modify performance?" Would the next buyer even care what I've done to the car so far? I've tried hard to not let it be a ricer what so ever. If there would be mods left to do, is there any that are quite easy to do with little tools? I don't have access to a shop nor do I have a friend that is a mechanic. I heard about the rs4 sway bar and the apr chip, but after talking with a guy from my local auto shop. He told me that you don't actually need a chip that is preprogrammed, he told me someone could flash my cpu and program it themselves? I have a small budget, so any input regarding what I should do to the car is greatly appreciated.
Brandon


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[Brandon9999]

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[Brandon9999]

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[Brandon9999]

+cupra r spoiler


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[Brandon9999]

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[Brandon9999]

+the audizine sticker that adds 100hp lol


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[aluthman]

I wouldn't modify a CVT car, but that's just me.

[Brandon9999]

Yea that's the whole problem with it being automatic and fwd, I don't think it's worth doing anything performance wise.


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[aluthman]

I'm talking more from a reliability standpoint. The CVT is not known for holding up well to stock power levels.

[Brandon9999]

I agree to being an unreliable car. Thank god it has a 75k warranty, or the tcm would have been 2500 instead of only 150. I've been thinking its best to stop here and save for an older s4 b7 or rs4 b7 in the future


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[aluthman]

I would agree with your assessment, but get the RS4 instead of the S4.

[Brandon9999]

I can't wait for the $150 oil changes. How reliable are they once passed 75k miles or so? Would 10k be a reasonable price for my car if I sold it as is at 85k miles?


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[aluthman]

You can do an oil change for under $100 if you do it yourself. My wife's Q7 has the 4.2 FSI V8 and I use Rotella T6 in it. It takes about $65 worth of oil and about $15-$20 for a filter. Keep on top of the carbon cleaning and they seem to do just fine at higher mileage. You won't get $10k for your car. You might get maybe $7k-$8k.

[Brandon9999]

Is the carbon build up more of a problem in the rs4's ? I would like to change the oil myself and save the money, I just don't have any jack stands nor a place to set them up sadly


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[JDillon15]

I'd love some more photos of that RS6 grill mod if you had them. Back and forth if I want to do it to my car.

[aluthman]

Is the carbon build up more of a problem in the rs4's ? I would like to change the oil myself and save the money, I just don't have any jack stands nor a place to set them up sadly


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Carbon buildup is a problem in all DI engines. The B7 S4 engine is still port injected, so it's not affected by carbon buildup. I would take carbon cleaning over timing chain replacements any day though. Buy one of those oil sucker machines and you don't need to get under the car. The filter is on top for the 4.2 FSI engine.

[dalmation53]

I wouldn't modify a CVT car, but that's just me.

Oh god here we go again...

[Brandon9999]

Yea Jdillon, I'll upload some more pics for you. I personally love the look of the rs6 full mesh front. I'll have to check if the a4 was ever cleaned for carbon, the last repair was the tcm. Is there actually a rivalry between modding a cvt and nt? Haha


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[Brandon9999]

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[Brandon9999]

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[Brandon9999]

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[Brandon9999]

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[Brandon9999]

It turned out nice

[JDillon15]

Yeah it does look good. Thanks for the photos

[vce1232000]

Id say mod to your desire

[Brandon9999]

Would you say it would be worth it to mod and put the money into the car? God I love Tony's car and some of the other heavily modded cars. Since mine is this the automatic with fwd I just am worried to put anymore work into it


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[Brandon9999]

*changing the profile pic of this thread


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[vce1232000]

Would you say it would be worth it to mod and put the money into the car? God I love Tony's car and some of the other heavily modded cars. Since mine is this the automatic with fwd I just am worried to put anymore work into it

Imo mod it to what you want to spend on it. You always can do what other members do. Part back to stock when ready to sell to re-coup some of your mod $$$$ back.

As far as CVT goes. I believe JHM claims there is a CVT Stage 3 JHM BT kit thats holding fine out there. Imo Audi CVT are hit and miss. Some have alot of miles on them and zero issue's.

Living in Denver as your profile says. I would have tried to get a quattro thou

[Brandon9999]

Yea The car was only $9k for 42k miles and full service with a two year warranty from Land Rover Denver. I had a 99 4Runner that was totaled at the time and I had to get a car pronto and when I saw the price and the quality I said yes pretty fast. I'm worried that eventually I want to mod the car to show quality at those coffee and car meets. Over summer is when I like to do a lot of the work. My favorite mods have been removing the Sirius control and hiding the amp and the rs6 grill that I fabricated. I really don't have experience with the mechanics of the car. I'm worried that the color isn't the best nor the whole transmission. I've been thinking about just hanging onto it before it hits 100k then selling it to get a car that I can mod for several years. Everyone that hears it's a fwd laughs and doesn't believe me that Audi even made a fwd car. Surprisingly studded snow tires and traction control have been amazing.
Random note-
Would it be better to save for the s4 or rs4 b7 down the road in like 3-5 years or use the money to completely revamp an a4 b7. Should I be looking at a newer model? I just love the look of the b7s but they would be nearly 20 years old


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[Brandon9999]

What's your thoughts, should I paint the rims....I've been lurking on the forums and some members have done them nice. Not plasti dip or black but I'm thinking gunmetal....I don't want to be a ricer


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[AudiA4_20T]

Brandon, you're a pretty young guy so this is what I'd recommend.

I initially started and spent tons of money trying to make the fastest B6 A4. In hindsight, this was a lot of wasted money, but I did everything myself and used it to learn a methodology.

I've taken this knowledge and applied it to multiple areas of my life. Working on cars helps you troubleshoot, find root causes, never half ass things, appreciate quality, etc. it's a great hobby to have but mods are never really going to appreciate and there will always be a faster car. If you're doing it to take knowledge and skills, it's priceless.


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[dalmation53]

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If you don't wanna spend so much money do it like i did.coilovers,hids,wider tires,paint calipers, drilled slotted rotors and ceramic pads and jhm tune and bam. All stock

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[vce1232000]

The S4 and RS4 are the levels for the B7 platform. With that said most of them would have been pretty . So expect to spend some $$$$$ for upkeep. Maybe not all. But imo many of them.

[Brandon9999]

Thank you for all the input and the words of wisdom audia4_20t, dalmation53, and vce. I love the car and the quality is there even in stock. Really it's the appearance and I literally take pride in the work I put into the car to make it look better, I love that. Im looking at some of the b7s the members have and it looks like people can easily drop $10k into the car. I love the look of those gun metal grey rims Dalmatian. I guess the biggest problem is I'm probably never going to want to mod it further for it being a 2.0t fwd auto in quartz grey with no packages. I guess what it boils down to, is do you think I should stop here? No more mods and instead save money for down the road when I want to hopefully find another b7 Audi model that has the manual transmission and is a Quattro in hopefully black, red, or I saw one in an amazing blue.


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[Brandon9999]

I gotta get rid of these h and r springs I should've done coil overs when I bought them


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[dalmation53]

I have a CVT as well with 100k miles on it and is been workingperfectly awesome. I drive it in tip with the 7 gear ratios and enjoy it. yeah the wheels i painted with a compressor and gun. took them off sanded them primed and paint. and it has a matte clear coat. I don't like shiny wheels. and calipers were painted with compressor too.

[DannyDeez]

No offense but I can't believe you paid $9k for that car. I know the low mileage is great, but fwd and automatic = :(
I can't even sell my 6 speed quattro for $8,500.
http://www.audizine.com/forum/showth...Manual-Quattro

On another note, at least your car looks nice! Do some exterior and comfort mods and call it a day. Performance isn't worth it on these cars imo.

[Brandon9999]

I have no idea how their value drops like a rock..they are more aesthetically better looking than the new a4s imo. I truly do regret not buying one even if it had more miles for a different color, transmission, and Quattro......= lots of :(. I think that's practically all I can do for the exterior without breaking the bank for now with suspension and rims etc.


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[80sGuy]

I can't wait for the $150 oil changes. How reliable are they once passed 75k miles or so? Would 10k be a reasonable price for my car if I sold it as is at 85k miles?


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If you want reliability, do NOT mod anything. Keep it stock.

[80sGuy]

No offense but I can't believe you paid $9k for that car. I know the low mileage is great, but fwd and automatic = :(
I can't even sell my 6 speed quattro for $8,500.
http://www.audizine.com/forum/showth...Manual-Quattro

On another note, at least your car looks nice! Do some exterior and comfort mods and call it a day. Performance isn't worth it on these cars imo.

Dealer prices.