Audi A4 Avant B5

[Garett]

I'm going to look at a '51' plate A4 Avant tomorrow, judging by other cars for sale it must be one of the last of the B5's as the saloon B6 was out by then.

Its a 1.9 TDi SE, with a new clutch and cambelt, in fact ad is here, saves me chirping on about it.
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2010...

Can anyone give me any info on what to look for? The engines seem to be fairly solid, any electrical gremlins or potential large bills to watch out for?

£3k seems like top money for one of these, I'd be willing to pay more towards £2600 myself, although it does look a good car.

Edited by Garett on Sunday 9th January 21:49

[wiliferus]

Link doesn't work......

And you might get a better response in the VW, Audi section!

But for whats its worth, i can't advise you on values, but they're a bloody good solid car.

I've got a 1996 B5, paid pocket change for it, its got 180k on the clock and its never misses a beat. Its cost me £60 for a thermostat housing in the last year, and thats it. Real world 50mpg, comfy, great motorway cruiser, and still looks ok!

Check suspension ball joints, cv joints, cam belt change, and water pump. The second two are quite costly apparently, as i understand it most of the front of the car has to come off to change them.

HTH

[Garett]

Sorry, should have checked before I posted! Its now repaired.

I put the same topic in the VAG section but had no reply in a couple of hours, impatient I know but I'm going to see the car tomorrow and thought I'd reach a wider audience in here.

Cheers for the info, it seems to be last of the line so its quite pricey for a B5 but all the B6's of the same price have about 50k miles more on them. Compared to other VAG cars like Golfs and Boras it seems better value and is probably better made, I looked at both and thought they didn't feel particularly solid.

Edited by Garett on Sunday 9th January 21:52

[Revol]

I've just bought a 96 A4 avant 1.8T sport as a second car.Only problem I've had was a duff rear wiper motor.Seems a common fault on the B5 avant.Same motor was used in Passat,Lupo,A3 so plenty in breakers/ebay.Check front suspension as there are a lot of links in there,it'll rattle on road bumps if anything is worn.Mine had it all replaced at about 115k.Audisport.net is fairly active in the B5 section if you want a little bed time reading.

[wiliferus]

Look very tidy and quite well loved by the previous owner. Cam belt has been done so thats a bonus. Just check for water leaks for the pump, and the usual bits and bobs. You might find a few pixels from the digital display are gone - really common issue, but no biggy if you can live with it.

I'm a bit biased as i've got one and i love it. Parts are cheap as chips from GSF if you're happy to get your hands dirty.

All in all the B5 Tdi is a pretty common sense buy IMO.

Good luck and keep us posted!

[ridds]

Bad light or drivers door a different shade?

Also, poor photo or a hole in the drivers seat?

[Garett]

ridds said:

Bad light or drivers door a different shade?

Also, poor photo or a hole in the drivers seat?

Yes I noticed both of these things too, I shall inspect more closely tomorrow.

[*Al*]

Beat you to it i've just bought it! Thanks for the ad.

V
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Only joking! Good luck!

[Garett]

Well my ploy has worked then because its actually my car for sale!

(Its not mods, honest!)

[lost in espace]

Cig burn on drivers seat, and the drivers door colour looks iffy but prob the light.

[volvoforlife]

oh my god how old/ugly is that dashboard?!

[Garett]

volvoforlife said:

oh my god how old/ugly is that dashboard?!

Depends how high your standards are, I currently drive a Saab 9000, which is the most modern car I've owned so its positively 21st cetury in comparison.

[tomsugden]

I had the S4 version of this - the pixels tend to go on the screen on both the radio and the display between the speedo and rev counter. It can be replaced, but not easily, so I would check that.

[mercfunder]

volvoforlife said:

oh my god how old/ugly is that dashboard?!

Doesn't look much different to the current Audi dash.

[Garett]

I took the car in the ad for a test drive, it was a nice car, went, steered and stopped well enough and was faster than I thought it would be being a derv. All in all it was mechanically sound but its body work let it down, it had quite a deep scratch on the drivers door, looked like someone had been at it with a scouring pad on the bonnet and lower rear N/S door and the front bumper had a big scratch on the corner. The service light was also on and it was due one. I Offered £2k originally but he walked away, then said £2.5k, lowest he would go was £2.8k so I walked away. I would have paid that if the paint work was in top notch condition.

Quite nice cars though, feel much better built than the Golfs and Boras of the same age. It's a shame they're a bit sparse inside too, but I have been spoilt by by Saab 9k so its hard to find anything with that level of quality and kit for the money.

[volvoforlife]

Garett said:

but I have been spoilt by by Saab 9k so its hard to find anything with that level of quality and kit for the money.

Exactly... the amount of stuff you get from the Swedes for the money is really exceptional. I'm sure you could find a really nice Volvo for the money as well.

[Garett]

volvoforlife said:

Garett said:

but I have been spoilt by by Saab 9k so its hard to find anything with that level of quality and kit for the money.

Exactly... the amount of stuff you get from the Swedes for the money is really exceptional. I'm sure you could find a really nice Volvo for the money as well.

Yeah well I'm looking at S60 D5's too, the only thing putting me off is big bills if things go wrong with them, and insurance is coming out at nearly £900, when I'm paying £550 on the Saab! Audi would be £700, pretty ridiculous when the Saab is more powerful and probably easier to get into/nick!

Just look at the spec of standard kit, even on the basic S60 and you can't even begin to compare them to the Audi.

Edited by Garett on Monday 10th January 18:24