Funny you don't have this same attitude toward Lexus issues. Have you owned an Audi?

 

That shows you how much individual cars of more or less the same design can sometimes vary in reliability. The A4 and A5 are mechanically similiar (though not identical) under the skin, once you discount the number of doors and the body-style.

 

Yes, except in the case that I mentioned above, not applicable.

The A4 I mentioned was "previous gen" and has no common parts shared with the current A5.

 

+100

This is what I tell people all the time. Lease it so you have a warranty (and sometimes free maintenance) - then get rid of it.

 

Thank you for your thorough reviews. Great stuff! In reference to my "modding" comment, come on. I can't just leave that car bone stock now could I?

So far, I guess the general consensus seems to be to make sure to obtain a warranty on these Deutchland beauties if I plan on purchasing or just lease it. Maybe that seems to be why I see so many low-midrange mileage S5s for sale. Avoid private sellers?

 

check audi forums

apperantly, oil still likes to be burned... expect this to be affected by driving style.

 

Thanks.

That, of course is your decision, your money, and your warranty that you might risk voiding (you brought the warranty-void issue up yourself). I'll respect your decision, but, to me, though, modding makes little sense unless you are going to use the car in motorsport-events, in which case, of course, the warranty (and sometimes insurance) are also voided.

Some S5 buyers decide, later, that the S5 doesn't have enough spunk for them, and decide they want something else. We had an S5-buyer, for example, not that long ago, right here on CAR CHAT (I don't remember his name) who spent over 50K for a new S5 and then decided that he wanted a more powerful Cadillac CTS-V instead. He started a whole thread on that one prospect alone.

 

My friends father has a 2010 S5 with a milltek exhaust. He takes it to the golf course and work on nice days but really it blends in as they're a dime a dozen around here. He traded in his 2005 Audi A8 fully loaded with low mileage for around $20k when he bought the S5. Talk about depreciation in value. If I remember correctly the A8 had some problems too, and it wasn't driven all that much either. Regarding the S5 I don't find it all that attractive of a car, and for that money you could get something faster that looks better IMO.

I know someone else who snagged a 2002 A6 with the V6 (3.0L?) for a great deal and from what I've heard it's served him pretty well. It has a nice interior and fairly good performance. Not sure how I feel about the rear end styling though.

On the other hand I know a few people who have B5 S4's. One of my friends has a 2000 and put a stage 2 chip on his and now the turbo's roar. This is going purely off what he told me since I'm not into Audi's at all, but it went from whatever the stock bhp was (250?) to around 300bhp and shaved half a second off the 0-60 time (mid 5's down to right around 5). I've ridden in the thing and it hauls ***, and apparently it's pretty good in the snow too.

Would I buy an Audi? No. But I could see how you could like some of the older S4's and A6's. The older A8's are great looking cars too IMO.

 

I'm interested in hearing about this too... I've been crazy about the A5/S5 ever since they released it over here. It tops my list of cars I'd be likely to buy next. I know that Audi's reliability hasn't been great, but I heard they've been much better in recent years. I'm not sure if that applies to the A5/S5 platform or not though.

 

I've followed the S5 forums closely since the beginning, and the S5 with V8 has not had any major problems. However, the 3.0T V6 on the early S5 cabrios and early S4's have had a high failure rate of blown thermostats (with coolant gushing out). Audi has been replacing the bad plastic part with a metal one, but parts have been slow to come. There's been no recall, but the Audi forum people think their should have been one. Again, this is only with the V6T and not the 3.2 V6 or the V8.
By the way, the S5 Coupe will get a facelift in a few months. When this happens, it will lose the V8 and gain the V6T as the standard engine.

 

That seems to be another one of my concerns. Thank you for bringing this up. It seems as if Audi give their cars face-lifts every 4 years. An example would be the A4 and their 3 face lifts in the last 10 years. It's overly frequent. A V6 turbo for the S5 is much more desirable for my boost addiction. Maybe I'll wait a bit.

Thanks for the info.

 

I love the S5. I always see one near my school. I didn't realize they came with V8's.

I was always under the impression that Audis were more reliable? I don't know anyone personally who owns an Audi.