At $28,990, Will This ‘Phantom Black’ 2014 Audi S4 Stand a Ghost of a Chance?
Today’s Nice Price or No Dice S4 comes in an interesting color combination of Phantom Black over a two-tone black and copper interior. That’s all well and good, but it’s what’s underneath the aesthetics that makes this Audi fun. Let’s see if its price tag ruins the party.
2023 Audi RS5 Competition: How it Drives and Handles
Ford’s F-Series has topped the sales charts here in the U.S. for the last 46 years running. The 1989 F-150 we looked at yesterday left the factory just a little over a decade into that reign. Despite the F-Series’ overall sales title, our particular truck couldn’t make the grade at its $10,000 asking price. Based on the comments, that was just too much for a six-cylinder with signs of rust on its bed. Ultimately, that resulted in a 60 No Dice loss.
In contrast to Ford’s success with its perennially chart-topping truck line, the Volkswagen Group has had a number of ups and downs with its upscale Audi brand. At least here in the States. Sales were so bad at one point — following an extremely questionable piece on the marque from CBS’s 60 Minutes — that VW higher-ups seriously considered pulling Audi from the American market.
That would have been a shame and would have denied U.S. citizenry access to cars like this 2014 Audi S4 Quattro saloon. The S4 is a venerated nameplate originally anointing the hot version of the C4 A6 and then settling on the same duty for the smaller A4. In this car’s case, that’s the B8 A4 which ran from 2009 through the 2016 model year.
Giving this S its “Sport” is a 3.0-liter alloy V6 imbued with an Eaton twin-scroll supercharger to lend its Vee some victory. From the factory, this mill was good for 329 horsepower and 325 lb-ft of torque. Here that’s matched with a six-speed manual and Audi’s legendary Quattro AWD system. According to the dealer’s listing, this S4 offers the Audi Quattro Sports differential on top of that.
It also comes with optional carbon fiber interior trim, blind spot monitoring, and a Bang & Olufsen sound system. The list of standard equipment beneath that is painfully long so suffice to say, this Audi is loaded.
At just 71,065, it’s not loaded with miles though. Those work out to about 9,000 a year, which is well below the norm and makes one wonder if this was originally a lease with a milage overage penalty. That may not have been the case, since the engine bay shows the addition of a cold air intake which isn’t a typical leave-behind when turning in a lease. The engine appears otherwise stock and presents as reasonably clean, showing only the aluminum surface corrosion that is typical of cars from the Northeast.
No complaints should be forthcoming with the bodywork, either. The trunk lid has an added spoiler extension, and there are polished exhaust tips poking out from a carbon fiber extractor. Factory alloys are present, however, they have been gussied up with a coat of either black paint or plasti-dip. Other than those additions, the car appears stock.
In contrast to the add-ons in the engine bay and on the body, the only change to the interior appears to be an updated shift knob. The leather and plastics have held up decently, with only some sagging in the seat-back netting to belie the car’s age.
A clean title awaits a potential new owner, as does the dealer’s $28,990 asking price. That’s a little over half what this S4 likely cost back when it was new, a not-too-terrible hit for eight years time.
Is it a deal for this hot Audi though? What do you think, could it pull $28,990 out of a buyer’s pocket? Or, is that too much for an out-of-warranty S4?
You decide!
Edmunds.com out of Willow Grove, Pennsylvania, or go here if the ad disappears.
H/T to Boaty McBeerface for the hookup!
Help me out with NPOND. Hit me up at remslie@kinja.com and send me a fixed-price tip. Remember to include your Kinja handle.
