The beauty of the used car market, as it applies to Shed of the Week at least with its £1,000 price limit, is that every now and then a new arrival comes on the scene. Something that has never previously lowered itself to the ignominy of a three-figure price tag.
This week's Audi Allroad is such a beast.
Air springs are now steel, at least
Some folk reckon they'd rather have a Subaru for the sort of work that might tempt you into Allroad land, but the upside of a nicely-running Allroad is the plush cruising and classy interior.
This one is from the first year of production and it has been pre-biffed for your convenience so a few extra dents won't matter. Plus, as our Matt points out, it is half the price of a sunroof on an SQ7.
What's the catch? It must be reasonably sound, because your man selling it is offering a full MOT once the deal is done. But it's a complicated car. You need to know what might lie in wait. And in all honesty that's quite a lot.
Shed owned a petrol Allroad for a while. When he sold it he experienced that feeling of relief that owners of boats get when they manage to unload their craft onto the next unsuspecting landlubber.
Petrol Allroads are not light on their feet or cheap to run. Consumables get consumed at quite a rate. If you get 20mpg from the twin-turbo 2.7 petrol auto, you're doing well.
Best like fuel stations...
You need to be particularly aware of things you wouldn't normally think twice about, like tyre wear. Shed's Allroad got a puncture. All the tyres were medium worn, so he did what you're supposed to do with quattros when one worn tyre goes: he booked it in for a full set. Reason being that if you replace just the one tyre and its circumference isn't within about five per cent of the other three, the transmission will tie itself in knots.
Unfortunately Mrs Shed was the one who drove it to the garage. When she got there and noticed that the other three "looked fine" she took it upon herself to cancel three of the new tyres. The inevitable happened and Shed made her go down to the docks to earn the money needed to pay the bill. Sailors do like a larger lady but even so it took a few weeks of serious grind to sort that one out.
The major biggie on Allroads however is the air suspension. This is a cool thing giving you Range Rover-style ground clearance when you need it, but the bags are notorious for leaking, and replacing the front ones in particular can be a swine of a job if you're unlucky with the pinch-bolts. Replacement bags by Arnott are cheaper and (allegedly) better than OE items, but you're still looking at £1,250 plus fitment for a full set, or probably £500 a corner all in.
The beauty of this Shed is that the air system has been replaced by a steel setup, which is great news and a big worry gone. Plus it might improve the wallowy handling that came as standard.
You could have straightened the wheel!
But then there's the five-speed Tiptronic gearbox, which doesn't have the best reputation for reliability. And then there's the 2.7 twin turbo engine. The vendor is honest about the engine oil leak, which is a 2.7 T speciality. That could be coming from the valve covers or cam adjuster seal and is manageable, obviously, depending on your tolerance for topping-up. Less manageable for the Shedman will be turbo replacement. Chastened owners report a life expectancy of around 120K miles for the factory items.
There's also the potential for coolant leakage from a crossover pipe and pump inconveniently located underneath the intake manifold. On top of all that you'll be on an 80K belts-and-pumps replacement schedule, which given this Shed's mileage could mean an imminent bill.
Other than that though, it's all good, ha ha. Now do you see why it's £850? Still, you might be lucky. If you are, buy yourself a lottery ticket at the same time as you spring for this temptress.
This is a 2.7 Bi-Turbo Allroad with 151k. on the clock, excellent engine, belts all changed in last year, new rocker box gaskets,full leather interior is very tidy, Suspension has been upgraded with S4 shocks & coils now sits at a sensible height for on/off road ability and handles very well.
Well maintained vehicle with bills to prove but has the familiar minor oil leak this model suffers from, body has some minor scuffs thanks to passing careless motorist, hence price ( personal plate is not included in the sale) by the way.
Now selling as replaced with a boring small family car.( wifes idea!)
Will have new mot when sale agreed.