gflyons Posted September 15, 2005 Report Share Posted September 15, 2005 Hi all, you lot sound like you know what you're talking about, so I'm going to hopefully pick your brains... I'm in the market for an A4, first-time buyer, can afford one for the first time (except for an S4, which is a teeeeeny bit pricey.) Getting a bit confused about the options, so if any of you can shed light on the below, I'd be grateful; 1) Mileage - I'm looking at a 3.0 Quattro sports, 03-reg, but it's got 61K miles - any opinions on wear and tear, and what to avoid/watch out for? 2) Diesel - they're quiet when only a couple of years old, but will I sound like a tractor in 3 years? 3) Which is better - a 2.0SE or a 1.8/1.9TDI Turbocharged? 4) With the new shiny models out this year, what do you think will happen to B6 prices - is it better to wait 6 months? 5) Any recommendations for options? I'll have kid in the back, so the sports pack might be a bit pointless... Cheers ladies and gents. Promise I'll post some pics later. Gez Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badbaz Posted September 15, 2005 Report Share Posted September 15, 2005 Get a late B6 sport 1.9 TDI you won't be dissapointed - plenty enuff power and economy too. If you don't pay for your fuel then get a big petrol, it'll probably be better spec'd Either way they are all fantastically made. Enjoy!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UBM Posted September 15, 2005 Report Share Posted September 15, 2005 I'd second that. The 1.9TDI SE is a good buy, but the GmbH Sport is better and much more impressive looking! The 3L Q will be very thirsty in comparison. The 2.0SE won;t be as quick as the TDI either. But the 1.8T is also a good buy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dadwhitey Posted September 15, 2005 Report Share Posted September 15, 2005 ive got 5yr old twins and they will sleep on some journeys no problem on the sport suspension , and the sport seats are [ QUOTE ] Any recommendations for options? I'll have kid in the back, so the sports pack might be a bit pointless... [/ QUOTE ] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waylander Posted September 15, 2005 Report Share Posted September 15, 2005 B6 prices have already been taken into account with B7 models out [according to local dealers] and the drop was prety negligible Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brn7y Posted September 15, 2005 Report Share Posted September 15, 2005 I agree, 53/04 1.9tdi Sport with gmbh bodykit, also Quattro if you can afford it or find one! My S-line has the hardest, lowest supension next to the S4, and topped with the 40 profile tyre's a cat's eye feels like a boulder (the sacrifices for handling), but my son never has any trouble sleeping, it's harder work keeping him awake!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waylander Posted September 15, 2005 Report Share Posted September 15, 2005 not having the kit, i will it does look lovely so get it if you can; sports seats are great but the normal ones with lumbar support aren't bad either. I took an SE and specced it to a 320D SE and am very happy with it; 320D mates say my engine is quieter i find sports suspension too hard but apparantly the sports suspension added as part of the sports pack is better than sports suspecsion as an option in itself or something like that - remember being told this by someone when i was looking last year. my kids fall asleep in the car readily enough... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian_C Posted September 15, 2005 Report Share Posted September 15, 2005 [ QUOTE ] I'm in the market for an A4, first-time buyer, can afford one for the first time (except for an S4, which is a teeeeeny bit pricey.... Mileage - I'm looking at a 3.0 Quattro sports, 03-reg, but it's got 61K miles - any opinions on wear and tear, and what to avoid/watch out for? [/ QUOTE ] You have your heart set on a B6? Loaded 2000 and 2001 B5 S4 saloons with low mileages - sub 50k - are under 15k now. Significantly cheaper than the 2003 (b6) A4 3.0 quattro you are considering. The older S4 will depreciate slower than the newer 3.0 too. Going back a generation, a 1995 (b4) 80 S2 is worth more than a 1997 (b5) A4 2.8 quattro. Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chav Posted September 15, 2005 Report Share Posted September 15, 2005 [ QUOTE ] Hi all, you lot sound like you know what you're talking about, so I'm going to hopefully pick your brains... I'm in the market for an A4, first-time buyer, can afford one for the first time (except for an S4, which is a teeeeeny bit pricey.) Getting a bit confused about the options, so if any of you can shed light on the below, I'd be grateful; 1) Mileage - I'm looking at a 3.0 Quattro sports, 03-reg, but it's got 61K miles - any opinions on wear and tear, and what to avoid/watch out for? 2) Diesel - they're quiet when only a couple of years old, but will I sound like a tractor in 3 years? 3) Which is better - a 2.0SE or a 1.8/1.9TDI Turbocharged? 4) With the new shiny models out this year, what do you think will happen to B6 prices - is it better to wait 6 months? 5) Any recommendations for options? I'll have kid in the back, so the sports pack might be a bit pointless... Cheers ladies and gents. Promise I'll post some pics later. Gez [/ QUOTE ] 3.0 is a great engine if you can afford to run it. Sounds great, smooth as silk, and plenty of go! ..and there'll be no soot out the back too! despite what everyone says, I think the TDI's still sound like taxis! Alternatively, the 1.8T 190bhp is a great engine too. Forget the 2.0SE though. Guess it depends what kinda mileage you're going to be doing as to how sensible the petrol variants are? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gizze Posted September 16, 2005 Report Share Posted September 16, 2005 I had more fun with my 2.5tdi than I did in the 3.0 petrol, the petrol returned around 24mpg average and the tdi returned 34mpg average. The V6 TDi is very smooth too, very different to the 1.9TDi. What is your budget? Are you buying cash or are you going to get finance? You may be surprised at what you can get for a certain monthly amount, you don't save much at all by going 2 1/2 years old instead of 12 months old. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garreth64 Posted September 16, 2005 Report Share Posted September 16, 2005 [ QUOTE ] I had more fun with my 2.5tdi than I did in the 3.0 petrol, the petrol returned around 24mpg average and the tdi returned 34mpg average. The V6 TDi is very smooth too, very different to the 1.9TDi. What is your budget? Are you buying cash or are you going to get finance? You may be surprised at what you can get for a certain monthly amount, you don't save much at all by going 2 1/2 years old instead of 12 months old. [/ QUOTE ] I'll second the 2.5TDi. I've had my 20 month old 2.5TDi Quattro Sport Avant for two weeks now and I love it If fuel economy is your prime concern, the 1.9Tdi is the obvious choice. However after driving both, I personally found the 1.9 to 'dieselly' for me. The 2.5 V6 is smoother and sounds much nicer on the go, it also seems to pull a lot harder to the limiter as well as being a lot rarer. I'm still on my first tank of fuel but it looks like I will get over 500 miles, which I recon equates to about 37mpg. I've been driving it reasonably gently, as hard acceleration does seem to reduce the miles on the display somewhat... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A3Floyd Posted September 16, 2005 Report Share Posted September 16, 2005 Here's my little Darling She's a TDI130 Sport with 100k miles 1) Mileage - I'm looking at a 3.0 Quattro sports, 03-reg, but it's got 61K miles - any opinions on wear and tear, and what to avoid/watch out for? 61k is not high on these cars. I brought an 02 reg A4 TDi with 99k miles on the clock and it looks like it's done just 30k miles. The interior looks brand news bar some scratches on the inside door pull. The leather wears better than any other Audi imo. Dont know why but it does. So my advice is not to worry about miles. 2) Diesel - they're quiet when only a couple of years old, but will I sound like a tractor in 3 years? They do sound like a tractor sometimes, more so in the winter but once warmed up they're ok. Still nowhere near as sexy as a nice V6 though. 3) Which is better - a 2.0SE or a 1.8/1.9TDI Turbocharged? Simple - TDI every time. The 4 cylinder petrol engines are gutless in comparison, even the 1.8T feels sluggish compared to a TDI130 but that said, the 1.8T is a very fine engine and well proven. If you get bored they're easily tunable if your into that stuff. My advice is to avoid the 2.0 engine. they're the cheapest engine on the market and thats for a reason Plus you've got to consider reselling it in the future. A TDI will be much easier to sell on compared to a 2.0 petrol. 4) With the new shiny models out this year, what do you think will happen to B6 prices - is it better to wait 6 months? I think it will be another 18 months or so before the B7 models start hitting the used car markets in enough abundence to start hitting the B6 residuals. The previous model (B5????) is still holding strong so i wouldn't be too fussed. 5) Any recommendations for options? I'll have kid in the back, so the sports pack might be a bit pointless... Leather, Leather, Leather!!!! The baby has already been sick in the back a few times and i'm so glad i never got cloth or alcantara! Sports pack is fine, it doesn't stiffen up the suspension too much and still gives a very smooth ride - baby Robert is very happy in the back of ours Other nice options are Bose - good for when the kiddy isn't in the car and also quite good for playing those naff nursary rhyme CDs that my wife insists on playing Armrest is always a nice to have too. Dont fuss about the DIS (remember it doesn't come standard on the Sport-pack) as I found that with the DIS i was constantly watching the MPG figure more than the road! Other than that, it's just a matter of colour and year. The A4's with the GMBH kit look very good and those 17 inch wheels set the car off perfectly. If i was looking again, i'd definately look for one of these. Happy hunting Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chav Posted September 16, 2005 Report Share Posted September 16, 2005 [ QUOTE ] 3) Which is better - a 2.0SE or a 1.8/1.9TDI Turbocharged? Simple - TDI every time. The 4 cylinder petrol engines are gutless in comparison, even the 1.8T feels sluggish compared to a TDI130 but that said, the 1.8T is a very fine engine and well proven. If you get bored they're easily tunable if your into that stuff. My advice is to avoid the 2.0 engine. they're the cheapest engine on the market and thats for a reason Plus you've got to consider reselling it in the future. A TDI will be much easier to sell on compared to a 2.0 petrol. [/ QUOTE ] Hmm. can't say I thought the 1.8T 190 felt sluggish! They are completely different cars with completely different driving styles of course. But there's no way you can call the 1.8T 190 sluggish if you take it to 4-5+K RPM. Nice whoosh too. Petrols need revving... that's the whole point! No one can say the V6 petrol sounds crap at 5K+ RPM though. yum, scrummy dubby! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian_C Posted September 16, 2005 Report Share Posted September 16, 2005 Think Floyd was refering to the basic 150 / 154 / 163 bhp output 1.8 Turbo engine. Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A3Floyd Posted September 16, 2005 Report Share Posted September 16, 2005 [ QUOTE ] [ QUOTE ] 3) Which is better - a 2.0SE or a 1.8/1.9TDI Turbocharged? Simple - TDI every time. The 4 cylinder petrol engines are gutless in comparison, even the 1.8T feels sluggish compared to a TDI130 but that said, the 1.8T is a very fine engine and well proven. If you get bored they're easily tunable if your into that stuff. My advice is to avoid the 2.0 engine. they're the cheapest engine on the market and thats for a reason Plus you've got to consider reselling it in the future. A TDI will be much easier to sell on compared to a 2.0 petrol. [/ QUOTE ] Hmm. can't say I thought the 1.8T 190 felt sluggish! They are completely different cars with completely different driving styles of course. But there's no way you can call the 1.8T 190 sluggish if you take it to 4-5+K RPM. Nice whoosh too. Petrols need revving... that's the whole point! No one can say the V6 petrol sounds crap at 5K+ RPM though. yum, scrummy dubby! [/ QUOTE ] I wasn't actually talking about the 190. The most common 1.8T in the A4 is the 150/160bhp version. It's all a matter of opinion. Like i said , the 1.8T is a brilliant engine but compared to the TDI, it felt sluggish in comparison due to the huge torque in the TDI. The 1.8T will leave a TDI standing in the real world but it 'FELT' sluggish. For example, I lent my mate my old S3 for a few weeks in exchange for his 450bhp Cobra replica. the first time i floored the cobra it felt sluggish mainly cos i didn't get that surge that you get with the S3 due to the turbo but the cobra made mincemeat of the S3 when we tried them together. So... the cobra felt sluggish compared to the S3 in the same way that a 1.8T feels against a TDI <Phew...> At the end of the day - i wouldn't go for a 2.0 Check out the oil burners and the 1.8T as they're all good engines. The reason i've always like the 1.8T is that you get good economy out of them for a petrol engine. Even my S3 averaged very high 20's most of the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gflyons Posted September 16, 2005 Author Report Share Posted September 16, 2005 Dumb question, but what's "gmbh sports"? I'll be doing relatively low mileage, so the MPG difference between a TDI and big petrol shouldn't kill me (famous last words.) Leaning towards a T-charged petrol, got this irrational dislike of diesels.... I'm probably going to spend about 15K (I know it's not much, but hey, you've gotta start somewhere), cash not finance. Not sure what you mean about the 12M v 2.5YR thing gIzzE? Cheers to all for the words of wisdom! Gez Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A3Floyd Posted September 16, 2005 Report Share Posted September 16, 2005 some a4's came with the gmbh bodykit - god knows why it's called gmbh though! basically, you get a very nice front/rear bumper extensions, sill extentions and a slick rear spoiler (on the avant) and the 17 inch alloys usually. It's all body coloured too unlike the normal A4s (see pic of mine above) so it looks much sportier. 15k should get you a nice example - 1.8T's are a little harder to come by but they do pop up often enough and the engines are a real gem. The only problem i found was that it was hard getting one in the colour i wanted (Denim blue or dark grey) with leather. Just a matter of waiting for the right one to come along. Mine was EXACTLY what i was looking for, right colour, engine, leather and spec so i snapped it up straight away. I only paid 11.5K for mine, couldn't afford much more than that what with the new house and baby!!!! Still, i'm well happy with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A3Floyd Posted September 16, 2005 Report Share Posted September 16, 2005 GMBH: Normal: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gizze Posted September 16, 2005 Report Share Posted September 16, 2005 What I meant was, if you are buying cash fair enough if you have £15k you have £15k. If however you are going to finance the car you may as well buy one that is a year old rather than 3 years old, it won't cost alot more. Most finance houses will only leave a small ballon on a car that is already 3 yrs old, if any. However look at N16E_NS S-line he is selling at the mo, on an Audi forecourt that would be £19-21K. He said he would take £16450 for it if he had to. You could call Lombard tell them it is £20k and you are putting a £3500 deposit down, tell them you want to finance the car over 36 months with a £9k balloon at the end (same as Audi would give on one of theirs) this would give you monthly payments of around £280 a month. After 3 years sell the car for what? £10-11K pay the £9K off and use the rest as a deposit on the next one. So you have a really nice car worth £25k for £280 a month with none of your own money tied up. If you wanted to put down a deposit you could reduce the balloon and there for get the monthy payments down to bugger all. A mate was going to spend £15k on a 3 year old avant, and he actually bought a £20K avant instead, 4 months old, he put down the £15k and left a £3k balloon after 36 months meaning his monthly payment was not worth thinking about, but it meant he got a new car with all the added things that come with it like new tyres, will only need the cheap service, full warranty etc. etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gizze Posted September 16, 2005 Report Share Posted September 16, 2005 Actually you should look at N16E_NS' S-Line, it looks stunning, and for the moeny he is asking it is a steal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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