2009 Audi A4 Avant - the new MumMobile

2009 Audi A4 Avant - the new MumMobile

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89forever

Original Poster:

554 posts

72 months

Saturday 11th March 2023
quotequote all
Mrs 89 loved her A3 Sportback, it was low miles, perfect mechanically and had zero issues, was a great Mummobile and suited family life for her and the kids.



until one fateful morning just before the Christmas madness started last year...



thankfully other than a few bruises and phycological damage (a lot of that she's had for years...) she was fine...
1000% not her fault....
So with the A3 dead and insurance sorted, time to start the hunt for the replacement and a list of "wants/needs" was drawn up
1. Must be an Audi
2. Bit bigger than the A3 (one of the kids is smack in the middle of being a full blown Kevin and always complains he's not got enough room, apparently my comments that he can get out and walk where there's plenty more room gives torrents of attitude.
3. Newer tech, so better safety
4. doesn't need a full rebuild...
5. not modified or dicked about with

after that then i wasn't fussed, i would have liked to have found a Q7 but all i looked at were being sold by moron's.
A6's were ruled out as too big and low (Q7 would have worked as the elevated seating position would hide the size of it)
B7 A4's were ruled out as being the same size in the rear as the Sportback, so started looking at B8 A4's, she didn't want a saloon and liked the Avant's as it had a passing resemblance to the Sportback...
It was amazing the amount of garages i spoke to enquiring who just didn't return phone calls or just tried an enormous amount of BS (normally when asked if there are any permanent lights on the dash)
I'll happily go to the other ends of the country to buy a car, distance not being an issue but what really boils my blood is being lied too, anyway...!!!
and then i found a candidate... fairly local (just 90 minutes away) and the guy (a garage) selling it was open and honest and answered every single question and provided walkaround video's etc.
what was it.....
2009 Audi A4 Avant Executive 2.0tdi (makes it a 143bhp)
Bodywork was immaculate
Interior was immaculate
Matching (recent) tyres on all 4 corners
Mileage was high at 170000
No service history at all (but MOT history looked sound and as expected)
1 owner
HPi clear
What I couldn't understand was why was it so cheap, compared to every other A4 Avant (I'm talking half the price of everything else, even the stters).
It had just been listed by the garage and they hadn't prepped it at all (i told them not to bother and i'll take as is).
On the basis of a couple of Whatsapp walkaround videos and images and the sellers honest description i paid him a hefty deposit.
This was the first time in my car buying life that i had (potentially) bought a car unseen, with the condition of sale being he'll stick a 12 month MOT and if it passes with no advisories i'll pay him the balance and collect it the next day.
Now there is a twist, turns out the guy selling the car helps out the garage owner on an as need basis, the owner was currently on holiday but he'll get the MOT done and can handle the payments etc.
Car get's MOT'd, no advisories at all and sails through. I pay the final balance and then the guy asks would i mind collecting the car when the owner returns the following, following day... no problem as the timescales work better for me.



image from the seller...
looks very presentable doesn't it....
Collection day arrives...
The guy i dealt with was a true gentleman, someone who i enjoyed doing business with. Was open, honest etc.... Then i met the garage owner (one man band, little back street garage in an obscure part of Norfolk...!!!), what an absolute C@nt.

Was a very rude individual, and was very angry at me (i mean how dare i buy a car from him) and it turns out that the guy looking after the place for him had priced the A4 way way way too low... ah well i said it's mine now as you have the funds in your account and legally, by contract i've bought it... so go feck yourself...

You know when you have that smug sense of satisfaction when someone is dealing with you and they absolutely hate every fibre of you being there, i could sense that every time he typed out my receipt and handed me my paperwork.
The guy stated that "you do realise that there's no Warranty on this sale" to which that i reminded him that by law he is obliged to give 3 months on any sale etc... but don't worry sunshine you won't hear from me again....

She drove home absolutely fine, slight wobble from the front brakes when pressing in anger but that was it...

[imghttps://i.ibb.co/D14sLwG/1.jpg[/img]

Mrs 89 was very happy with the new steed and i even got a well done...!!!



no lights, a quick run of the diagnostics and no codes at all.... in any module



interior looked brand new, although every surface was icky and needed a deep clean....






89forever

Original Poster:

554 posts

72 months

Saturday 11th March 2023
quotequote all
with the Sportback incident a fading memory, not 3 weeks after we bought the A4 we had a knock on the door early one morning from a very tearful Postlady.... she'd only gone and hit the A4 with her Post Van....
oh FFS



car was filthy having driven the previous day for stuff and this is what greeted me at 8am...

Details exchanged and off she went, Mrs 89 was livid.... (i wasn't too happy), so now dressed and the days plan changed, gave the panel a quick wash to really assess the damage.



yeah that's not gonna buff out... bugger.
and then this is where the (not really) fun started, the insurance was going to deem it a write off.... no your bloody not...
It's taken since December last year to the beginning of March to finally have them agree to it being repaired at a shop of my choice, without the car going on any HPi register and them paying for it fully as it was absolutely a non fault of ours...
She goes into paint Monday, they guy doing it is happy for me to remove the bumper and lights and refit so there are no mask lines... he's got her a week....

Then a full deep clean, detail and make her sparkle....

So with the arrival of my S5 we are a fully B8 family lol

89forever

Original Poster:

554 posts

72 months

Saturday 11th March 2023
quotequote all
Once the insurance debacle had been finalised and i knew she wasn't getting written off i started ordering parts as with there being no service history i wanted to benchmark all service items...

Parts ordered
Brake discs front and rear
Brake pads front and rear
Brake flexi's front and rear
Cambelt kit and all tensioners
Water pump
Thermostat
All filters and fluids

Should keep me busy once paint is sorted...



all parts ordered from Autodoc and arrived quickly and without fuss.

Macron

9,807 posts

165 months

Saturday 11th March 2023
quotequote all
Good job the post lady fessed up! I saw a DHL guy whack someone this week, no doubt he knew and he fecked off. Naturally I got his plate and told the owner, but it's amazing how many folk are either oblivious or morally bankrupt.

S5 thread too?!

89forever

Original Poster:

554 posts

72 months

Saturday 11th March 2023
quotequote all
Macron said:
Good job the post lady fessed up! I saw a DHL guy whack someone this week, no doubt he knew and he fecked off. Naturally I got his plate and told the owner, but it's amazing how many folk are either oblivious or morally bankrupt.

S5 thread too?!
It shows that there are some decent people in our sad world, not as many as we need....
Well done to you for passing the details on...

Very much an S5 thread lol

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

V 02

2,002 posts

59 months

Saturday 11th March 2023
quotequote all
Poor taste/tacky of me to ask but very curious to know how much (or a rough ballpark if you don’t fancy it) it cost as it seems like you got an incredible bargain!

89forever

Original Poster:

554 posts

72 months

Saturday 11th March 2023
quotequote all
V 02 said:
Poor taste/tacky of me to ask but very curious to know how much (or a rough ballpark if you don’t fancy it) it cost as it seems like you got an incredible bargain!
Lol… I did and no I don’t….

I never discuss what ever I’ve paid for a vehicle (if ever I sell it they may be watching lol)

89forever

Original Poster:

554 posts

72 months

Sunday 12th March 2023
quotequote all
So with it being paint day tomorrow i wanted to remove all the parts so as to minimise time spent at the shop and to minimise tape lines where possible



bumper cover off, side brackets off and lights removed (they'll go back on whilst i drive it to the bodyshop)
every area has been cleaned, degreased and wiped down again to save time and remove the risk of dirt being sprayed over



quite clean under there and no horrors, there was evidence that the bumper cover has been painted before as when i removed the lower black trim there was a definite mask line and the paint was peeling off. Hopefully that won't cause paint guy an issue...

and since i bought the A4 she has always had 1 of the rear parking sensors missing. At some point in her life she has been retrofitted with an aftermarket Cobra parking sensor kit which thankfully all works. So a new sensor has been bought to replace the missing one which will get painted to match...



hopefully paint guy will get a good colour match... i see no issues as he'll keep it until he does...

89forever

Original Poster:

554 posts

72 months

Monday 13th March 2023
quotequote all
I’m now sat like an expectant father….
The A4 has been dropped off for paint…
It’s that sickening feeling that it’s out of my control lol
I’m confident that she’s in safe hands but still….!!!!!

89forever

Original Poster:

554 posts

72 months

Wednesday 15th March 2023
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today has ben a dent pulling type of day...



bumper and parts are in primer...

89forever

Original Poster:

554 posts

72 months

Thursday 16th March 2023
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even in primer she’s looking a 1000 times better

89forever

Original Poster:

554 posts

72 months

Tuesday 21st March 2023
quotequote all
and we now have paint....







i've not seen it in the flesh yet but so far from what i'm told the colour match is perfect... Role on Thursday when i can get over to collect her and then get her put back together and give Mrs R her car back...

89forever

Original Poster:

554 posts

72 months

Thursday 23rd March 2023
quotequote all
Done, dusted and all back together.....

Mrs R is very happy and i am pleased with the work done. In this day and age where it feels like every company or person is trying to stitch you up or rip you off it is refreshing to find good people who do good work.





now means i can go back to tinkering on mine as she has no need to drive my S5 any more...

The A4 needs all the service parts doing i have bought which will be the next round of jobs, just need a couple of consistent dry days and the motivation to do it lol

salmanorguk

185 posts

91 months

Thursday 23rd March 2023
quotequote all
Firstly, congratulations on the car and getting through the rollercoaster of a first few months - hope its plain sailing from now on.
Really like these, and the paint looks amazing, and would like one for a daily.

Secondly, hope your wife is okay from the accident and no lasting issues.

Lastly, if you dont mind me saying, absolutely love the irony in the A3 crash pic, which has the "please drive safely" board just out of shot.

89forever

Original Poster:

554 posts

72 months

Thursday 23rd March 2023
quotequote all
salmanorguk said:
Firstly, congratulations on the car and getting through the rollercoaster of a first few months - hope its plain sailing from now on.
Really like these, and the paint looks amazing, and would like one for a daily.

Secondly, hope your wife is okay from the accident and no lasting issues.

Lastly, if you dont mind me saying, absolutely love the irony in the A3 crash pic, which has the "please drive safely" board just out of shot.
I pointed out the irony to the other half at the time, which she chuckled at…. Didn’t mind at all lol
Thank you, she’s fine… even more a nervous driver/passenger now which isn’t ideal….
For the money it’s a cracking amount of car for her to use…. just hopefully no more abuse and we can just use lol

HughG

3,537 posts

240 months

Thursday 23rd March 2023
quotequote all
I've always bikes the B8 avant, about 6years ago I was weighing up options between B7/Seat Exeo (based on the B7) or B8, ultimately ended up with the Exeo as although I'd have liked it I couldn't justify the extra cost of the B8 at the time.

Paintworks looks good. I found a good local bodyshop a few years ago, they are few and far between.

89forever

Original Poster:

554 posts

72 months

Thursday 23rd March 2023
quotequote all
it was the first time i used this guy, i'd use him again... i really didn't want to have the grief of dealing with an insurance approved bodyshop.

clio007

542 posts

224 months

Friday 24th March 2023
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You could have let it got written off and been paid out and purchased the car back of them and repaired it

You probably would have been up two grand

89forever

Original Poster:

554 posts

72 months

Friday 24th March 2023
quotequote all
clio007 said:
You could have let it got written off and been paid out and purchased the car back of them and repaired it

You probably would have been up two grand
I considered it but Mrs 89 didn’t want that

89forever

Original Poster:

554 posts

72 months

Monday 3rd April 2023
quotequote all
blessed with a strange yellow glow in the sky this morning i wanted an early start to tick a few jobs off on the A4.

So i set off on the mission of doing the brakes, that would entail all 4 discs, all pads, all flexi lines and a full rebleed.
Plus the inevitable clean up of any crud found
Engage hover mode...



and yup, the undersides are disgusting




as needing access to the scuttle for the brake fluid res that was equally disgusting




I wanted to get the mechanicals sorted first so starting on the front set, i ordered all the components from Autodoc ensuring that i had ordered against the pr codes, strangely the front discs and pads were the wrong size, doubting myself i went and checked what i ordered and sent an email to Autodoc, they confirmed that they had sent me what they sent so as not to delay my order (their words)... thanks a fecking lot... by sending me the wrong parts, which were not what i ordered you've actually delayed me worse than if you'd waited for the parts i wanted.... The annoying part is there was no communication to say asked whether i was happy with a other parts....
Thankfully the ones fitted have enough life left in them for now, so all hub faces hit with a wire attachment on a grinder, the calipers were given a thorough clean and the new lines fitted and everything was reassembled (not many images of this as dirty hands and phones don't mix).
Thankfully the rears were correct, so all built up and new lines attached. Despite the crud and the mileage she's not in bad condition under the skirts, nothing bodged or knackered and all correct fasteners still in place, i was impressed.

Then onto the fun stuff of cleaning.... i wasn't in the mood today to remove the liners so cheated and just hit them faces seen with TFR and the jet wash... god they were muddy...

Much better




and the scuttles came up just as well




i can see blue paint down there now...

Tomorrow sees the bleeding work once everything has dried today and also this set of horrors...



if i'm honest they need a refurb but that's not practical currently.

In other news the rear wiper arm fell off, seems some idiot broke it and attempted to glue it on... just buy another fecking one you imbred moron. So i ordered a new arm which arrived today and of course once i'd opened the wrapping the cover which hides the nut was broken....



i guess it's just one of those days...!!!