I have 17k saved up from my job for the past year

I have 17k saved up from my job for the past year.
what's the market on old s4s? or should i play it safe and get a honda accord 2015?

17k... Get a used civic.

why?

if you can afford maintenance then get an S4. they're sweet cars. If you're just looking to drop your life savings on a car that'll cost you nothing to run for the next 5 years, get the Accord.

Use the 17k to buy an e46 m3. It's not an understeering pig

Get 17 miatas

if you had to guess, what would the average be?
more expensive, that was going to be my original car, I could take a loan and pay it off within 2 months, but still.

Buy a used lexus for ~10k

save the rest

tires, brakes, mechatronics unit if buying a dsg, fuel injectors and water pump when they go, possible sports diff problems, etc. $1-2k in maintenance a year on average. start modding it and that number starts rising fairly quickly.

OP, I'm debating between the GLI and Honda Accord Sport. Let me just say that the Honda Accord is a very common car, but there are good reasons for that. It is very hard to find a manual in decent shape if you are planning on looking for that.

You have 17k. That's enough for an e46 m3. It won't be low mileage or mint but it would be a good driver.

There was another thread about a guy wanting an RS4, he called up the dealer and they told him the timing chain has to be changed each 100k miles and costs 17k in repairs due to the engine having to be dropped and separated from the transmission.
Upper class german car maintenance is insane.

>17k

Thats a made up figure

Is it? He supposedly got a quote from the dealership.

Yeah it is

Considering authorized dealers put 300-500% markups on parts and then charge extra for labour, I could see it being in a few thousands, maybe not 17, but still an awful lot.

t. acquaintance got a 500€ bill for a 7 series oil change

A timing chain on a F30 320d costs about 3.000 euros at a dealership ( depends if you have xDrive or not ). And it's a 2.0L 4 cylinder.
Now imagine how much a 4.2L V8 can cost.

I thought only the S4 had the timing chain guide problems.

Anyway, don't get an Audi with a V8 with timing chain. The 2.7T has plenty of power potential with a regular ol' timing belt facing the front. The V10s are apparently also reliable enough.

It's about 10k€ so just as expensive as other cars where they drop out the engine for the 100k service (S85 for example)

V6 Accord unless you want to get fucked in the ass by maintenance.

V6 Accord is automatic only.

Accord are for people who given up.

not in coupe form

If you're dead set on getting the understeer machine that is an S4, get the V6. Much more tuning potential than the V8 and no 10k timing chain service every 100k miles.

S2k

you have to be really dense to think that an e46 m3 is as good as a b8 s4

You're right, it's much, much better.

bmw fanboys are actually this delusional.
Don't get me wrong, the e46 m3 is a good car, it's just fucking old now.

Get a lightly used shit box

You can't afford it. What's in your savings, retirement and checking accounts? Debt to income ratio?

only debt I have is student loans, and that's 35k.
I started working at my career a year ago, started at 45k, now 47k. Live with my mother, since my job is across the street. basic 401k, etc.

Yeah, you can't afford it. Pay off the loans first and work on the retirement and emergency funds first

I mean, he probably can. He lives with his parents. If you can save $17k in a year then you can probably afford a used S4 if having a nice/fun car is a priority in your life. He already says he has a 401k, if he's maxing out his employer contributions then that's pretty good for someone in their first year out of college, probably early 20s.

Sure there may be better financial options, but when cars are your hobby then you have to throw some caution to the wind occasionally. Nothing any of us do here would be considered smart financial decisions. Ever bought a set of sway bars? bigger turbo? short shifter? tsk tsk, should have tossed that money in your retirement account.

>2001-05/06
>old
Underage b&

Get a saab.

...

i like how this already retarded meme has gone full retard, become self aware, and is now a willing mockery of itself. audi is a vw has become the bobcat goldthwait of Veeky Forums memes.

Theyre a step up from vw. vw fools you with the nice motors, clean exteriors but the build quality is shite. Audi is a step up but still shite. Porsche is what you really want but theyre money

porsches arent even comparable my dude. most porsches arent awd, only seat two people, dont have turbos (gay), etc. they cost more than twice as much and give you less than half the functionality. your only car and daily driver isnt going to be a porsche, especially if you have a family or live anywhere you get snow or rain which is literally everywhere. obv theyre better at what they do, but they dont do what someone who owns an audi needs their daily to do.

it's not an S4 but for what it's worth, i love my audi.

haha lol

Not really a problem with the V8 RS4s. S4s do need it. And only once if it's done with the correct parts. Had it done on one I bought about a year ago. Pic related.