Audi a4 avant thoughts?

[Wizard1992]

Hi all

I recently posted that I was after a fast petrol estate, I couldn't find anything really within budget that I fancied and to be honest most cars I looked at seemed like a downgrade on my current car, so I decided to stay put.

Unfortunately my current car has been wrote off in the last week so I'm now back looking.

I've recently found a red a4 avant petrol 1.8 t for sale for just over 3.5k and the dealer will put a new cambelt on for me. Car has full service history and is currently at 85k miles.

Is there anything I should look out for ? The car drove well and the gearbox seemed OK.

Also test drove a 2.0 tsfi but the despite the car being beautiful and lovely to drive, there was hardly any paperwork or service history and the car was a import, already had my doubts as I know these engines like to drink oil so I decided to walk away.

[stogbandard]

If it’s the 20v 1.8t - I had one in my 1999 Passat that I bought, funnily enough at 85,000 miles. Kept it in the household for 15 years and took it to 285,000 miles.

Oil wise I found myself topping up with 50-100ml of oil every 1,000 miles. I thought it was quite a torquey engine and pretty good on fuel if you used that torque more than the power.

[Jamescrs]

I had one around 7 years ago albeit mine was a 140 bhp 2 litre TDI, It was a well screwed together car, I thought the infotainment system for the time was decent, probably looks a bit outdated now but I imagine it can be upgraded.
Drove nicely, wasn't particularly dynamic but a nice place to be.

Unfortunately I only had mine a couple of months before it was stolen in a burglary and I didn't want them coming back so I bought a Volvo V60 to replace it which was no where near as nice as the Audi

[carinaman]

If you get one check the drain holes below the bottom of the windscreen. There's one in the middle underneath where the battery can be on some models. if they block you can get water rising up as far as the pollen filter and then into the car and there's some computer mounted on the floor underneath the carpet that then gets soaked.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApEozhh85DQ

I think that fragile cover panel went on the change from B6 to B7.

[Wizard1992]

Thanks for reply, no one has told me avoid it so I'll take that as a positive, are the cvt autoboxes fairly reliable ?

Apart from the gearbox which I don't know enough about I've always thought the older audi engines were quite solid and well built.

[stevemcs]

Cvt isn’t the best, make sure there is history of the oil being changed. Being the older 20v it would also be worth pulling off the sump and cleaning the pick up pipe.

Check passenger footwell for water, make sure all the doors lock and unlock and also all windows work.

[georgeyboy12345]

What model year is it? Is it a multitronic? Avoid if so

[Wizard1992]

georgeyboy12345 said:

What model year is it? Is it a multitronic? Avoid if so

It's a 57 plate mate are these any good ?

[Enut]

I have a 57 plate 2.0 petrol Avant quattro. It's the houshold work horse, treated badly (tip runs/dog transport etc) left outside (other cars are garaged), I got it 4 years ago with 104K miles and it's on 117K now. It does like a bit of oil and has been chipped so it's pretty fast (in a straight line). It threw up engine management light last week and went into limp mode so I starting looking at replacements however it proved to be a coil pack and was sorted out by the local garage for a couple of hundred quid. I was quite relieved as I quite like the old thing!

I would recommend.

[Summit_Detailing]

I'd also recommend the 1.8T having had a couple of Octavia VRS' back in the day, decent 'real world' performance combined with sensible economy.

Pretty basic and sturdy drivetrain, both cars reliable in my ownership, the usual VAG weak points of this era apply - coil packs (as above poster), coolant temp sensor and suspension components - all of which are cheap and easy fixes.

If I needed a cheap estate to whizz about in a 1.8T would definitely be on the shopping list.

Cheers,

Chris

[Wizard1992]

Just a quick update and to let you know how i got on

I didn't end up with the audi a4, didn't get round too putting a deposit down as I was working that week due to the bad weather.

I then spotted a c class estate that had been reduced considerably and was now within my budget so decided to take a look at it and was surprised how nice it was.

Finally brought it home yesterday, couple niggles to sort and needs some paint but drove very well on the drive home

[valiant]

I do think that model was the last of the good looking C-class estates. Went a bit awry after that and a bit too blobby.

Nice motor. Enjoy!

[ZX10R NIN]

Glad you got sorted OP.

[TwistingMyMelon]

Good cars those Mercs.

[Richard-390a0]

Check the rear subframe for corrosion.

[Rob 131 Sport]

Wizard1992 said:

Just a quick update and to let you know how i got on

I didn't end up with the audi a4, didn't get round too putting a deposit down as I was working that week due to the bad weather.

I then spotted a c class estate that had been reduced considerably and was now within my budget so decided to take a look at it and was surprised how nice it was.

Finally brought it home yesterday, couple niggles to sort and needs some paint but drove very well on the drive home

That looks like a lovely classy car. I had these as loan cars when my E class was been fixed and really liked them. You get a similar quality to the E Class but it was far more dynamic.