RE: Shed of the Week: Audi A4 Avant (B6)

RE: Shed of the Week: Audi A4 Avant (B6)

Author
Discussion

Chrismawa

553 posts

99 months

Friday 11th January 2019
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My favourite A4 shape. Looks like a very good shed for the money!

Still miss my old PD:


MX6

5,983 posts

212 months

Friday 11th January 2019
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howardhughes said:
'Owners of the quite rare 220hp 3.0 model, the poor man's S4'

What an absolutely stupid comment.

So an S4 is a poor man's RS4 is it??
It's just a turn of phrase meaning it's the cheaper/lesser model, don't take it too literally as a reflection on ones personal affluence.

bmv6197

72 posts

102 months

Friday 11th January 2019
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Andy JB said:
Interesting with the rust on B6 - shows how build quality/design has deteriorated on each new model.

I've had a B5 (A4) & C6 (A6) owned for many years without any rust developing, yet a later B7 (A4) model looked after very well with front liners removed & waxoiled on purchase rusted in the same place as this B6 - very poor show from Audi, shouldn't they be improving....

Petrol V6's were very nice though & were bullet proof with little maintenance esp without turbo.
Agree - disappointing that this weakness hasn't been adequately addressed by Audi in subsequent models. I'm not sure it's getting worse though - I had a B5 saloon that was in very good nick but the front arches began disappearing at an alarming rate. As has already been stated, once you see it with these, it's probably pretty well set in. I opted for a brand new set of surprisingly excellent Chinese-made non-OEM wings on mine, which were about £150 a side all painted up, and fitted them myself over a couple of weekends (weekends that my wife needed the car, it turned out, so to this day I don't feel I got the recognition I deserved for my thrifty craftsmanship...). 5 years later they still both looked brand new... and 5 years later my wife is still mad at me...

aaron_2000

5,407 posts

82 months

Friday 11th January 2019
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I pretty much always walk away from "easy fix" ads, or "cheap fix costs £5 on eBay" ads, if it's so cheap or quick, why couldn't you be arsed doing it? I wouldn't walk away from this one though, interior looks smart and fresh even today, it looks much tidier than an equally priced E46 usually would too. Put £350 into tidying it up and it'd still look like a respectable car.

Edited by aaron_2000 on Friday 11th January 13:26

carinaman

21,224 posts

171 months

Friday 11th January 2019
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Hopefully B6 S4s aren't as juicy.

The 3 litre is a better bet. It's got a cambelt on front. The S4 has a camchain with those guides that wear and lead to rattling, and EML and failure.

Isn't the camchain on the B6 S4 at the back of the engine too? What's the typical bill for sorting out those camchain problems?

https://jalopnik.com/here-s-why-the-v8-audi-s4-is-...


I'm loving both these 2019 sheds. More the Alfa though.

Tired

259 posts

62 months

Friday 11th January 2019
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I had one of these about a decade ago.

Comfortable, good for long journeys, the 4WD was useful-ish where we lived, but ultimately I sold it because it was immensely thirsty, and not very quick.

Genuine Barn Find

5,782 posts

214 months

Friday 11th January 2019
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carinaman said:
£290 or £315?

They're not £500 plus per year as it was registered pre that date in March 2006. Is it 21 March 2006?
Yup, I got stung by that - a very expensive (school boy) oversight on my A6.

E36Dan

7,543 posts

167 months

Friday 11th January 2019
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I really enjoyed my PD130 FWD B6 A4 Avant. Bose was great, surprised to see a comment in the article discrediting the setup. I thought it was excellent.

Arese1973

51 posts

85 months

Friday 11th January 2019
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If I was after an estate with four wheel drive and six cylinders, it would be a legacy H6.

rallycross

12,747 posts

236 months

Friday 11th January 2019
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Tired said:
I had one of these about a decade ago.

Comfortable, good for long journeys, the 4WD was useful-ish where we lived, but ultimately I sold it because it was immensely thirsty, and not very quick.
Me too, my one was a 2004 3 litre sport estate but it was the auto version, a nice car to cruise around in and a nice cabin to be sat inside, expensive to fix, not much good if pushed hard (not really what its for), and not that quick and heavy on fuel.

I have to say this one is quite tempting as manual and looks good value, wings are easy to replace. Glad its 220 miles away or I might be making an offer over the weekend.



AC123

1,115 posts

153 months

Friday 11th January 2019
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Another PD130 owner here. Use it as a dog & farm car. Bought on 165k for £1200, now on 190k. 60mpg average and plenty comfy for a 15 year old car.

Dion20vt

252 posts

161 months

Friday 11th January 2019
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Good sheddin'! My brother has just purchased a same age a4 saloon with the "S-Line" 1.8T 190bhp engine, it pulls well and was a steal at £1k! Same situation with the two front wings, plus the roof gutter has the odd tiny blister developing!

blade7

11,311 posts

215 months

Friday 11th January 2019
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The 1.8T quattro version makes a lot more sense.

anonymous-user

53 months

Friday 11th January 2019
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Tired said:
I had one of these about a decade ago.

Comfortable, good for long journeys, the 4WD was useful-ish where we lived, but ultimately I sold it because it was immensely thirsty, and not very quick.
Cars like this show how much powerful 6 cylinder diesels change the game in the 00s. You'd easily get 50% - 75% better economy than this from a 3 litre 6 pot diesel, more accessible performance, and really quite good refinement compared to the four banger rattlers. Rendered middling power petrol engines like this redundant.

Chrismawa said:
My favourite A4 shape. Looks like a very good shed for the money!

Still miss my old PD:

Each to their own but that is a tracksuit with wheels to my eyes. And a 1.9 PD rattler to move it slowy and smokily down the road, no less hehe

Edited by dme123 on Friday 11th January 16:37

greenarrow

3,551 posts

116 months

Friday 11th January 2019
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I agree with all the comments about the PD130 engine, having owned an A3 with this engine. Really punchy and capable of huge mileages. In straightline terms an A4 (or Golf/A3) with this engine is still on the pace today compared with average diesels.

I also like this shape of A4 In that it was the last before the new grille came in. Less aggressive, nice and understated. I think these make a good shed.

cerb4.5lee

30,189 posts

179 months

Friday 11th January 2019
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dme123 said:
Tired said:
I had one of these about a decade ago.

Comfortable, good for long journeys, the 4WD was useful-ish where we lived, but ultimately I sold it because it was immensely thirsty, and not very quick.
Cars like this show how much powerful 6 cylinder diesels change the game in the 00s. You'd easily get 50% - 75% better economy than this from a 3 litre 6 pot diesel, more accessible performance, and really quite good refinement compared to the four banger rattlers. Rendered middling power petrol engines like this redundant.
As much as it pains me to say it(I love petrol) I do have to agree. I had a E90 330d for 6 years and then had a E90 330i for 4 years a couple of years later. After having the 330d the 330i just didn't seem to make sense, the 330d felt faster and had much more effortless performance with much better economy. It helped me understand why N/A petrol engines have mostly died a death.

Schermerhorn

4,342 posts

188 months

Friday 11th January 2019
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I had a B6 Avant 1.9 TDi for 3.5 years and loved every minute of ownership; just get in, turn it on and drive it without worrying about a single thing. Exactly what you want from a daily driver.


RicksAlfas

13,355 posts

243 months

Friday 11th January 2019
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carinaman said:
Xaero said:
I'm not an Audi fan, but that's a great car for the money. Would be very tempted if I was in the market. How much are they to tax?
£290 or £315?

They're not £500 plus per year as it was registered pre that date in March 2006. Is it 21 March 2006?
£315 per year on this one according to https://cartaxcheck.co.uk .

PorkRind

3,053 posts

204 months

Friday 11th January 2019
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Tired said:
I had one of these about a decade ago.

Comfortable, good for long journeys, the 4WD was useful-ish where we lived, but ultimately I sold it because it was immensely thirsty, and not very quick.
Yeah i dont get why theyre so thirsty, I can get 30 mpg from my c63 on a run adn mostly 17-22 mixed.. Single figuress when hooning..

rallycross

12,747 posts

236 months

Friday 11th January 2019
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anonymous said:
[redacted]
just another example of poor content not even understanding the basics of fixing simple stuff like a crusty wing....