So i'm now up between:
1. 1988 Turbo, car in unbelievably perfect mechanical and cosmetic shape, 105k miles
or
2. 1990 Turbo, car in great mechanical shape, 97k miles, but a couple moonroof rust spots, wear on the leather, couple of cracked plastics, etc.

Cost is the same, 5k
Both totally stock

I've never had an S5 car, and if nobody tells me it's problematic, I'm leaning toward the 1990.

Thanks for any input, the help I got on a previous post about turbo vs na was very helpful

steve

 

S5

 

go with the s5..turbos are better with the double wastegate and a little better performace wise too.

 

definitely s5

 

assuming the same compression.....

S5. Its got fewer miles and a better turbo. Whatever you spend fixing up the S5 exterior, you would have spent trying to make the S4 look like and S5, lol. And those S4 sawblade wheels are the pits.

if the 88 were 4k, it might be a different story

 

You couldnt have said it better.

 

The most important thing when buying a used car, any used car, is how well the previous owners took care of it.

s4. it's in better shape, s5's look better but have worse build quality. Obviously whoever owned the s4 car took better care of it and in my mind that's a very big deal. Plus s4 cars are WAY easier to find parts for (and has better aftermarket like Rtek 2.1), and you can swap in the s5 tail lights if you want to.

the s4 car is also lighter, and you can easily swap in an s5 turbo for cheap.

Why would you want a car with cracked leather etc? yeah the s5 T2 is more rare... but you will have a better experience owning a car that's been cared for. ;ess bullshit to deal with

oh and the mileage difference is negligible. If the s4 had like 120-130k I'd understand, but 8k? who cares. obviously the s5 car has had harder miles and owners who didn't care for the interior etc

 

-arghx...Arrgh!!
So you see my problem-

What's this about build quality?
And parts being hard to find?

I've not heard about either.
steve

 

S5 my friend.

 

s5's are great cars, but you have things like the crappy seat belts that always break (although there is a recall), the plastic sway bar end links, cheaper/heavier jack and spare, as far as build quality goes. It's honestly not as big of a deal for an s5 turbo car because most of the "crappier" parts in the s5's went to the nonturbo cars, like the fact that none of the s5 nonturbos had an LSD except the rare GTUs model.

and S5 turbos are rediculously hard to find USDM parts for compared to all the other second gen models. there are a decent number of s4 turbo cars around, but try finding say an s5 turbo ECU. 2-3 times the cost as s4. same with like an engine harness, s5 turbo TPS... everything just costs more for those cars. Your oil metering pump could crap out on you (s5 omp is more expensive and less reliable than s4 omp), and then you have to spend $texas on that. The motor isn't all that much better either, although the stronger rear iron is an important difference. also s5 black interior parts are in high demand and harder to find replacements for. just search for s5 turbo parts in the for sale section and see how many you come up with that are actually from a north american car. But then again, the rarity of the s5 turbo is part of its appeal--except nobody knows the difference but a few rotorheads, especially if you swap the s5 tails into an s4 car

I don't want this to turn into an s4 vs s5 thread. I think the most important thing here is that the s4 car in question has been maintained better, and I think that is REALLY important, especially given how close the two cars are in terms of mileage.

 

S5. They are more in demand and have a better turbine. Also the exterior is much better IMO

 

looking to swap mine out soon.

 

anti s4 u dont want it the s5 is way better route 2 go
if u had a s5 already picture driving tha s4 but with no thrill of doing so

 

We should all have such decisions to make... I'm leaning towards the S4.

 

S4 my friend, its in better shape,no rust AKA cancer.

Get the car in the best shape, its a better platform to from off of


hybrid