A4 2.5tdi any good..?

Author
Discussion

meesterb

Original Poster:

58 posts

182 months

Thursday 11th October 2012
quotequote all
I am in the market for a 54 plate (or similar) A4 tdi and I was assuming that the 130tdi engine would be the best all round bet but having just noticed the 163 bhp 2.5tdi I am wondering whether this engine is worth considering? Does anybody have any experience of this engine in terms of performance, reliability and economy...?

Also I notice that a lot have auto gearboxes, are these reliable? Do they make the car much less economical?

Would appreciate your input.

Tame Technician

2,467 posts

203 months

Thursday 11th October 2012
quotequote all
meesterb said:
I am in the market for a 54 plate (or similar) A4 tdi and I was assuming that the 130tdi engine would be the best all round bet
Yes, it is. 1.9 TDI not very high tech or refined compared to what others offered in 2004, but as close to bullet proof as any Turbo Diesel will ever be.

meesterb said:
2.5tdi I am wondering whether this engine is worth considering?
No!

meesterb said:
Also I notice that a lot have auto gearboxes, are these reliable?
If front wheel drive auto box is "Multi Tronic" - God No!!, not at all.

If 4 wheel drive, OK ish, less troublesome, but failures do happen and gearbox's cost more than the car, "Tip tronic" box's hamper MPG slightly 3 or 4 mpg down overall, a bigger hit in town where the torque converter isnt locked up.


Seeker UK

1,442 posts

157 months

Thursday 11th October 2012
quotequote all
Tame Technician said:
meesterb said:
I am in the market for a 54 plate (or similar) A4 tdi and I was assuming that the 130tdi engine would be the best all round bet
Yes, it is. 1.9 TDI not very high tech or refined compared to what others offered in 2004, but as close to bullet proof as any Turbo Diesel will ever be.

meesterb said:
2.5tdi I am wondering whether this engine is worth considering?
No!

meesterb said:
Also I notice that a lot have auto gearboxes, are these reliable?
If front wheel drive auto box is "Multi Tronic" - God No!!, not at all.

If 4 wheel drive, OK ish, less troublesome, but failures do happen and gearbox's cost more than the car, "Tip tronic" box's hamper MPG slightly 3 or 4 mpg down overall, a bigger hit in town where the torque converter isnt locked up.
Against TameTechnicians advice some months ago, I bought a '52 2.5TDI Quattro Sport Tip. A very nice car to drive but in 5 months:

1 - New cambelt, thermostat, waterpump - £700
2 - Service including replace ATF fluid - £300
3 - Repaint wheel arches after paint was pulled off when front was removed for cambelt change - £150
4 - 4 New tyres - £600
5 - Fix cracked oil cooler - Replace radiator, new coolant, new expansion tank, flush and refil auto box - £650

Then one of the injector sensors went on the blink dropping fuel consumption from 28 to 23. I didn't want to know how much that would cost.

Never again.

PaperCut

640 posts

146 months

Friday 12th October 2012
quotequote all
What's the budget? Early B7 2.0 TDI 140 can be had quite cheaply now.

Otherwise the 130 1.9 is the best all-round A4 TDi.


Bitzer

4,229 posts

167 months

Friday 12th October 2012
quotequote all
Early B7 2.0 TDI could also be a money pit with its porous head issues, failing turbos, oil pump design.

You'd be better off with the 1.9 in the B7 if its an earlier car.

AtticusFinch

26,957 posts

182 months

Friday 12th October 2012
quotequote all
Seeker UK said:
Against TameTechnicians advice some months ago, I bought a '52 2.5TDI Quattro Sport Tip. A very nice car to drive but in 5 months:

1 - New cambelt, thermostat, waterpump - £700
2 - Service including replace ATF fluid - £300
3 - Repaint wheel arches after paint was pulled off when front was removed for cambelt change - £150
4 - 4 New tyres - £600
5 - Fix cracked oil cooler - Replace radiator, new coolant, new expansion tank, flush and refil auto box - £650

Then one of the injector sensors went on the blink dropping fuel consumption from 28 to 23. I didn't want to know how much that would cost.

Never again.
You can't really blame service items, cambelt, water pump, tyres etc on a 2.5 TDI engine can you!!

That being said if you want a reliable & cheap to run 1.9TDI every day.

Dr G

15,159 posts

241 months

Friday 12th October 2012
quotequote all
...or shoddy paintwork.

Seeker UK

1,442 posts

157 months

Friday 12th October 2012
quotequote all
Dr G said:
...or shoddy paintwork.
Well, a lot of A4s of that vintage suffer from shoddy paintwork around the front edge of the front wheel arch.

Seeker UK

1,442 posts

157 months

Friday 12th October 2012
quotequote all
AtticusFinch said:
You can't really blame service items, cambelt, water pump, tyres etc on a 2.5 TDI engine can you!!
No, you're right but I was including them for completeness to give an idea of costs of owning that sort of car.

I would say though that Jaguar aside, IME, Audi is one of the most expensive (and involved) cam belts to change - I mean, taking the whole front off FFS?

KevinA4quattro

11,553 posts

279 months

Friday 12th October 2012
quotequote all
Seeker UK said:
Well, a lot of A4s of that vintage suffer from shoddy paintwork around the front edge of the front wheel arch.
Indeed they do. frown

Sparta VAG

436 posts

146 months

Saturday 13th October 2012
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A second "nooo!" from me.

Little known fact but the camshafts on the 2.5 TDIs are made from something similar balsa wood, only less robust.

Anything VAG-related from that era with the word "multitronic" on must be avoided at all costs.

I nearly fell into that trap but this thread saved me. You'll be glad you read it:

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=293...

Tame Technician is very knowledgeable on these matters.


SuperchargedVR6

3,138 posts

219 months

Monday 15th October 2012
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My friend's 2.5 TDI has also been troublesome. Turbo stuck on full boost, windows, central locking, alarm etc all failed due to a faulty "convenience ECU" which Audi couldn't fix, control arm bushes don't last long (and there's lots of them on the Quattro), tyres don't last long and the mpg isn't great either.

All in all, I would never own one of these either.

istoo

2,365 posts

201 months

Monday 15th October 2012
quotequote all
i had an 03 A4 2.5tdi quattro sport, bought as a replacement for my 2.8coupe quattro. as it theoretically sounded similar. but it just wasnt. Rest of the car was not bad, but engine-wise i got nervious. Two pals had theirs go belly up, fuel injection pump is a big one, four figure failure. Turbo was OK on mine at 90k when i sold it and was mechancailly OK but the fear of something going wrong just troubled me. In terms of speed was actually slightly slower than my mates 130 tdi sport from 0-60 but quicker above that. it used to average a solid 42mpg which fluctuated by 2-3mpg either way at the most. For the capacity it wasnt particularly good at anything, OK fuel, OK speed, OK cruising. It is old school technology and it showed, horrible lag from a standing start where you fight the traction control and ESP to get moving, but then its fine. The 3.0tdi is a much much better engine. And ironically the previous 2.5tdi (five pot) is a much better engine. This was one that never quite made the mark. The 1.9tdi, in 130tdi guise is the tdi lump of the naughties, just does everything well for what it is. I had mine for 18 months did 20k in it, it was well specc'ed comfy but ultimately too small for my kids in the back. Agree with others comments if you can stretch the 2.0tdi is a good unit, but from what i have seen personally not as efficient as its precedessor!

The only reason i bought a quattro was geography of where i live and work.

In short, its an so-so engine, but Audi/VAG have some much better ones!

Jack_and_MLE

620 posts

238 months

Monday 15th October 2012
quotequote all
What is the issue with the 2.5tdi?

Mine is on 190000 and going strong, no issue what so ever in my A6 and it has been remapped, still on original turbo

Had issue with multirtonic which was reapaired 100k ago no issue this

Jack