The color of today’s Nice Price or No Dice Audi S4 is, appropriately enough, Tornado Red. That’s fitting for a car that should be a blast to drive. Let’s see if its price can cause a dust-up too.
The HBO series Silicon Valley hilariously introduced us to the concept of cars having either “billionaire doors” or “millionaire doors.” Yesterday’s 1985 Subaru Brat had billionaire doors, which went along with numerous other custom touches. Even with those — or perhaps owing to those — the car couldn’t muster much enthusiasm for its non-billionaire $9,500 asking price. That ended up falling in a 75 percent No Dice loss.
Today we’re going to stick with that very same price, $9,500, but we’re going to be applying it to a very different car. Unlike yesterday’s Brat, this 2007 Audi S4 quattro is presented in the ad as bone stock, with all its play toys having been factory installed. The ad goes on to claim the car to be in almost as-new shape overall, and the pictures do bear that out, at least aesthetically.
This is the S4 with the backward V8, and yes that is a nightmare to fix should either the timing chain guides or cam adjusters go south. Here’s the thing though, those issues are not endemic to the entire B6/B7 line of S4 cars. Some engines do crap out over time while others seem to hum along their merry way with no problems whatsoever. This car has 159,917 miles on the engine and the seller claims that it, along with the rest of the car, feels like it’s only done 50K.
The key to keeping the 340 horsepower all-alloy V8 ticking is proper maintenance, especially frequent oil changes. The seller claims this two-owner car to have been extensively maintained over the course of its life and has the receipts to prove it. Still, with the miles and the years, you should expect to do a thorough pre-purchase inspection of the car, including all the mechanicals and the fluids for any signs of hinkiness.
We can do a quick visual inspection now, right from the ad. The car seems to pass that with flying colors. The Tornado Red paint holds a satisfying shine and there do not appear to be any noticeable flaws in either bodywork or trim. At least one wheel shows evidence of a couple of fights lost with the curb, and that does mar the overall image of a car passing as much younger than its years. On the plus side, the tires wrapped around those wheels look to have plenty of tread left on them.
If there’s one thing that Audi has always done right it’s interior design, and this S4 is no exception. Amazingly, the leather upholstery, soft plastic trim, and even the carpets, show little sign of ever having been used, much less abused. This is a six-speed car and the leather on the shifter does have a shine that’s evidence of use, but it’s still clean and unbroken. The same can be said of the Recaro seats which are matched in design and back embroidery by the sculpted rear bench.
The car still carries its emergency kit and even the back-of-seat netting still looks taut and unused. Factory goodies here include heated seats all the way around, power windows, mirrors and locks, and Audi’s premium sound system with built-in navigation. That will guide you to any location that existed in 2007.
There are no warning lights on the dash, and the seller smartly shows the instrument cluster with the temperature gauge reading normal and the fuel gauge needle sitting at full.
That’s all a whole lot to like here. Adding to that, the car has a clean title too. The price tag for the whole ball of wax is $9,500, which the seller says is well below the CarFax value of $11,380. What that seller hasn’t perhaps counted on is the NPOND value, but we’re going to set him straight on that account right now.
What do you think, is this extremely nice S4 worth that $9,500 asking? Or, does that price have you thinking that being nice just is not enough?
You decide!
Phoenix Craigslist, or go here if the ad disappears.
H/T to Don D. for the hookup!
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