Audi’s decision to launch a convertible S4 was interesting to me for a few reasons. First, the concept of a really fast 4-seat convertible is sort of odd to me; I can understand why a roadster would have its appeal, but even then really fast ones are sort of odd. It’s just not very pleasant getting buffeted by the wind at 130 m.p.h. and chopping the roof off tends to make the offending car all bendy. In order to combat that, manufacturers add support and strengthening in the floor – but that makes the car heavier and not handle as well. So, your very fast coupe – or in the case of the S4, sedan – is now a slower, more-ill handling car that musses your hair. On top of that, the idea of Audi’s strength – all wheel drive and adverse conditions – failed to mesh with the intention of most convertibles – sun and fair weather. But the S4 cabriolet pointed towards a future in the S range: Audi’s crack unit quattro GmbH produced them, because they were the only 2-door variant of the S4 at that time. Of course, more recently we’ve seen the introduction of the coupe version of the B chassis, the “A5” and accompanying S5 – but first, Audi went all high performance and made a RS variant of the B7 A4. Great! Then they offered it as a ultra-exclusive, $85,000 2-door, 4 seat convertible. Huh? I mean, the concept of paying 85 large for a trumped up Audi A4 is staggering in and of itself, but then why do it? You already had a S4 convertible. You were about to introduce a new lineup of the “5” series, along with convertibles there – including the replacements for the RS4 – the RS5 coupe and cabriolet. So why do it? Because people with a lot of money bought them, that’s why. And after a staggeringly short amount of time with them, they move on:
CLICK FOR DETAILS: 2015 Audi RS5 Cabriolet on eBay
Year: 2015
Model: RS5 Cabriolet
Engine: 4.2 liter V8
Transmission: 7-speed DCT dual-clutch semi-automatic
Mileage: 598 mi
Price: $84,995 Buy It Now
PLEASE NOTE, I AM AGRESSIVELY SELLING THIS CAR, AND WILL TAKE THE FIRST REASONABLE WHOLESALE OFFER… YOUR WAITING UNTIL THIS AUCTION DRAWS TO A CLOSE, WILL NOT BENEFIT YOU. YOU MOST LIKELY WILL LOOSE OUT TO GET THIS CAR/…. IF YOU SERIOUSLY WANT IT, MAKE A FAIR OFFER NOW. NOT BUT A FEW OUT THERE BUILT THIS WAY!! VERY LIMITED!! AND FIRST YEAR FOR THIS COLOR ON A CARIOLET!!!….
NOTE,UPDATED PICTURES OF WINDOW STICKER AT END OF PICTURES!! L@@K !!!! ALSO, I JUST PUT $2000.00 WORTH OF 3M CLEAR BRA ON THIS CAR!!! THE EXTENDED FRONT END OF THE CAR IS COVERED, ( half way up the hood )THE WHOLE FRONT END AND LOWER FACIA IS COVER, THE ROCKERS, REAR LOWER QUARTERS, HEADLIGHTS, FENDERS, SIDE MIRRORS, AND INSIDE DOOR HANDLES ALSO PROTECTED.,!!!! SEVEN YEAR WARRANTY ON FILM, AND LABOR COMES WITH IT!! In like new condition FIRST YEAR (2015) FOR THE SEPANG BLUE CONVERTIBLE IN THE USA!! ..Every one tells you their car is like new, perfect condition, flawless, and then you get a look at it, and wonder what planet they came from. You wont be dissapointed with this vehicle. No excuses, no apologies, just a flawless car, the way you would expect a NEW 598 mile vehicle to be represented. Then you have me, a perfectionist, to be lucky enough to buy it from. No curb rash, no paint work, no chips, no dings, no chin rash, just a perfect example , of a well cared for car. I have sold 4 cars over the past 12 months, a new 2014 stingray, a 2013 Bentley GTC, a 2013 mustang boss 302, and a 2013 Mercedes sl550. I have references out the ying yang, and all who have bought from me will tell you the same thing, the cars they bought from me far,far and away, exceeded their expectations. If you dont think this one doesnt knock your socks off, , Ill knock off 20k on the spot!!!!!
REASON FOR SALE , JUST GOT MY DREAM MOUNTAIN HOUSE, AND ONE OF MY TOYS MUST GO !!
If you’re looking for a dream house in the mountains, that, too, will be for sale in 9 months after this seller finds his next point of interest. He’ll probably take a loss on it, too – just like the hit he’s taking on this RS5. Without factoring in taxes, registration, and maintenance (hey, he has to clean it – or pay someone, right?), this owner is automatically throwing the best part of $4,000 away. Factor in the other items, and my guess is that figure is much higher. And for what? To drive the car 598 miles? What is that, two and a half tanks of gas? It’s a staggering $6.67 per a mile gone – just in sticker price, and factor in the bra and it’s now $10/mile. It’s no surprise then that the car is perfect, and the color combination is good too – Sepang Blue is just gorgeous. This car really bucks the saying “it’s only new once”. I get that to some people, $5,000 or $6,000 isn’t much money – but like my original question about the genesis of this car; why do it?
Because Audi made money, that’s why.
-Carter
“$84,995 Buy It Now”
Regardless of why this owner is selling – I disagree with the notion that modern convertibles are bendy, slow, and less agile. That might have been the case when Miami Vice was on prime time, but not today. The only way to tell the difference between coupe and convertible made during this millennium is to attach a race ready GPS data device to both and then play it back on a lap top.
Vic, I respectfully disagree. My good friends E46 M3 convertible is very different that the coupe; cowl shake and chassis shudder over bumps, for example. I think you’re right that for most very new cars (R8 v. 911 Turbo top gear episode comes to mind) the difference in performance is negligable, but you don’t have to go back far to see big differences once the roof comes off. That M3 sure sounds amazing with the top down, but it transforms the car from track potential to boulevard cruiser – at which point my “why is it fast then?” argument is relevant, at least in my mind.
I am still not sold. Even if you in a drag race against the identical model coupe, the delta is so close you better have your A game ready when the light goes green. Also, the current generation of sporting convertibles will run rings around yesterday’s generation of sport coupes. Look at your friends E46 M3. It will out lap E36 gen coupe. Buy a coupe for the track. Buy a convertible without any reservations if you want to keep your license and enjoy the sunshine – cheers.
Something fishy about this one… Did you see the end of the ad where he says he can save you $7k? I wonder if it has anything to do with the Montana license plate the car is wearing. A little googling reveals the car is in Atlanta GA and Jim Ellis Audi is in Atlanta GA and is currently offering 10% off msrp. Montana is more than 598 miles from Atlanta and has no state sales tax. I wonder if any of these facts are related.
Great article as usual Carter and I agree about convertibles.
@Nick – very intereating sleuthing! I think you might be on to something regarding it not being plainly or totally factually laid out (as is often with car sales!), but not sure it’s on the taxes…usually you are taxed (by “usual” I mean the 3 cars I have bought from states outside my own) from the state/county in which your “home address” is registered. I put that in quotes because I know a guy or two to have an address of some kind outside the of the county they live in, for a tiny bit of help.
Why is he talking about his “other toys” when he has a Chrysler minivan and an RX300 in the background?
Why must Audi branch beyond estates and sedans for RS cars? This is poseur junk!
@CarterJ/Carter – this is definitely a known thing and I agree about the convertible usually being aimed at a certain non-hardcore demographic.
@vic – you are correct that successive generations of the same model get increased torsional rigidity, however in any particular body era of the same car, convertible chassis are generally measured to have 10-50% less torsional rigidity measures by nm over deg force. You can Google “SAE automotive rigidity” for some basic #s, (this isn’t a widely reported stat, but enough info is out there to suss out some facts) it’s also mentioned when magazines test new generations of cars.
Will all consumers notice this all the time? No. (PS – they probably won’t notice it either in your “drag strip” example…those that I’ve raced on have been short, straight, and smooth…). 😉
Lastly – this seller “sounds” like a car salesman just in his use of CAPITAL LETTERS!
as far as out of state sales….in NY you pay the sales tax on the sales price once you go to register your car that you purchased out of state…
as far as performance verts’….I’m not a drop top guy so it is all lost on me…though I have driven an RS5 as it was a consideration before staying with BMW…and for a heavy car it scooted along quite well 🙂
Love GCFSB and especially Carter’s posts but have a little construction criticism. “why a roadster would have it’s appeal” should use “its” and “So, you’re very fast coupe ” should use “your”. Keep up the good work.
Stern, thanks for the reminder that I should do a better job of proofreading my posts 🙂 – and you missed one! I had missed a “d” off of a word. Often I write these posts in a hurry in between classes, but then go to class and complain that my college students make silly typos. I guess I should take some of my own advice. Thanks for following and I appreciate the corrections!
@Stern – it takes an awfully cocky guy to give writing critique within malformed or otherwise incomplete sentences. 😉
@Ry, no – honestly, I appreciate getting called out when I’ve missed something no matter what the circumstances are!
Eh, tried to be gracious in my post and certainly got a gracious reply from Carter.
Most people are much more gracious than I, I’ll be the first to admit it! 😛 I’m just saying your critique would have been less ironic if the quotation marks were all placed properly. 😉 Also I feel obligated to defend anyone/any site that has such a voluminous amount of great daily content that is grammatically and stylistically better than 99.5% of the professional communication I receive in my inbox, and it’s mostly a hobby for them. lol
Compliments on both counts – both in someone willing to defend us and someone willing to take the time to properly point out a problem that shouldn’t have existed. To me, they both make for a better site and I appreciate both opinions, so thanks Ry and Stern! We really strive to keep our copy consistently good (and don’t always succeed, I’ll concede). I’m surprised no one has yet mentioned the number of commas, hyphens and semi-colons I use – ha! We appreciate all the comments, encouragement and support of the site – so thank you guys all for taking the time to even pay attention! Now, back to bashing cars.
Thanks Carter! I love the commenters (and writers) on this site, seriously – most intelligent, fun group I’ve interacted with online.
I was just kind of scrutinizing this guy’s ad, because it does seem so weird that he’s selling it with so few miles on it. . .does anyone else think these phrases, either on their own or as group, are somewhat odd?
1. “I have sold 4 cars over the past 12 months, a new 2014 stingray, a 2013 Bentley GTC, a 2013 mustang boss 302, and a 2013 Mercedes sl550” (That’s a lot of late model Dupont Registry type stuff!)
2. REASON FOR SALE , JUST GOT MY DREAM MOUNTAIN HOUSE, AND ONE OF MY TOYS MUST GO !! (So are you a car flipper or are you pruning down your toys by one, or did you need to sell 5 toys??)
3. I can also show you how to register this vehicle, and save at least 7k (Huh? inside an s-corp or LLC? or you could lease it and write that off? but regardless, it’s odd that he’s working this into the sales pitch here, I feel like someone is selling me a fake watch somewhere in the big apple)
If I was a betting man – I would bet that these might be goodwill “buy-back” cars, like not so bad they are lemon lawed, but the dealers want to keep the customer happy. . .there’s a dealer around me that takes all the buy-back cars from a certain huge BMW dealer here (and usually the Carfax stays clean). Despite this guy having different marques he’s sold, I think it’s something, if not exactly like I suggested, going on. Just a wild guess. . .
Favorite quote: “I’ve got references out the yin yang.” (Countless trustworthy people say this daily, trust me.)
Last post on thread, promise! 😉