RE: Shed of the Week: Audi A4 Avant (B6)
Discussion
When I saw the photos I could almost have been looking at my own car.... except mine is a 1.9TDI 130. Had it for 5 1/2 years and done 70K in that time and it's been great. No rust on my arches and mine is Jan 2003. Other than service items, and a broken window regulator, the only major problem I've had with it is when I drove it into floodwater, hydrolocked the engine which bent a con-rod, necessitating a second hand engine from E-bay (provenance unknown!)
The second engine has been fitted for over 4 years and runs fine, goodness knows how many miles it's done but it goes well and uses no oil. I have cleaned out the EGR and inlet manifold a couple of times, which get a bit sooted up.
I see opinion is divided on the diesel variant of these cars, but in my view it really suits the car and what I want from it. Great family vehicle, perfectly good comfort levels, OK a bit low on refinement, but I'm not too fussed about that when cruising happily down the motorway and returning 55mpg
The second engine has been fitted for over 4 years and runs fine, goodness knows how many miles it's done but it goes well and uses no oil. I have cleaned out the EGR and inlet manifold a couple of times, which get a bit sooted up.
I see opinion is divided on the diesel variant of these cars, but in my view it really suits the car and what I want from it. Great family vehicle, perfectly good comfort levels, OK a bit low on refinement, but I'm not too fussed about that when cruising happily down the motorway and returning 55mpg
Solid shed choice. I wouldn't go for one these days as for a cheap car can't really make sense with low to mid 20s mpg in my book.
I had a 2004 diesel saloon of this generation and the interior and overall look of the car was great for the money. Economy and performance more than adequate too but the s
tty multitronic gearbox really ruined it. I bought mine for £3000 with 118k on the clock about four years ago when I broke my left leg and needed the two pedal option.
Sold it four months later for £2400 once the 'box started showing signs of failure (can't remember the exact issue) my leg was better and I didn't want to deal with the 'box. Shame as in other respects it was a great daily.
I had a 2004 diesel saloon of this generation and the interior and overall look of the car was great for the money. Economy and performance more than adequate too but the s
tty multitronic gearbox really ruined it. I bought mine for £3000 with 118k on the clock about four years ago when I broke my left leg and needed the two pedal option.Sold it four months later for £2400 once the 'box started showing signs of failure (can't remember the exact issue) my leg was better and I didn't want to deal with the 'box. Shame as in other respects it was a great daily.
About 10 years ago we had an A6 of a similar vintage with this 30V lump and the Tiptronic 'box. Not great at all: reliability was poor, (only modern car I've owned that left us stranded on the side of the road) ride was crashy and stiff-limbed and the V6 felt strained and thin after the E46 328 I chopped it in for; and by God it was properly juicy. Throw in crazy servicing costs and schedules and it was undoubtedly the worst car I've owned since a zircon Green MG Metro bought in the late 80's.
Saying that - the interior was great, the Bose sound system was punchy and when it was all fixed and sorted it felt totally fit for purpose heading over the top of the Cotswolds one snowy Christmas morning with 2 small children asleep in the back.
Cars are funny like that, aren't they?
Saying that - the interior was great, the Bose sound system was punchy and when it was all fixed and sorted it felt totally fit for purpose heading over the top of the Cotswolds one snowy Christmas morning with 2 small children asleep in the back.
Cars are funny like that, aren't they?
I have a A4 Avant albeit an older B5. I shan't go on about the PD lump in it, it's been discussed to death already. But all I can say is it's 18 years old, and the damn thing just won't stop working. I fancy something newer/nicer but it costs pence to run so I'd be nuts to change. Aircon, windows, locking etc, all fine. Last years expenses ran to an oil change and £120 to fix the instrument display screen (they all fail eventually), now as good as new.
Anyway here's the thing I'm puzzled about, why is there rust on any Audi of this age? mine is a 2000, lives outside and is used as a daily, driven all year in all weathers and there still isn't a single spot of rust on it anywhere, the guy who fitted the tow bar on it 2 years ago confirmed the deeper darker bits of the underside were all fine too. Every other shed I've owned has grown brown bubbles all over and absorbed some isopon but not this car.
After the apocalypse (and Brexit) it'll still be there chugging away poisoning the cockroaches. It will never die.
Anyway here's the thing I'm puzzled about, why is there rust on any Audi of this age? mine is a 2000, lives outside and is used as a daily, driven all year in all weathers and there still isn't a single spot of rust on it anywhere, the guy who fitted the tow bar on it 2 years ago confirmed the deeper darker bits of the underside were all fine too. Every other shed I've owned has grown brown bubbles all over and absorbed some isopon but not this car.
After the apocalypse (and Brexit) it'll still be there chugging away poisoning the cockroaches. It will never die.
This shed looks almost too good (nice) to be true. My own experience is that sophisticated Audi and VW products over 8 or 9 years old can be risky purchases. However, at this price level (£1300) you could forgive it a lot. Hell, you could easily spend that on one month's car rental. With 12 months MoT I'd be very tempted.
The only thing that would potentially worry me is the timing belt and water pump. From my understanding, these are pretty big (i.e. expensive) jobs on V6 A4 and A6, requiring dismantling most of the front of the car, and requiring some pricey special tools. There are YouTube videos detailing the whole process, and it doesn't strike me as something that most DIY mechanics would like to do on their driveway in winter.
I'd still take the risk at that price though! Top shedding.
The only thing that would potentially worry me is the timing belt and water pump. From my understanding, these are pretty big (i.e. expensive) jobs on V6 A4 and A6, requiring dismantling most of the front of the car, and requiring some pricey special tools. There are YouTube videos detailing the whole process, and it doesn't strike me as something that most DIY mechanics would like to do on their driveway in winter.
I'd still take the risk at that price though! Top shedding.
DickyC said:
Russ T Bolt said:
Once it got to 3 years old it went in to the garage every other month for small annoying faults to be fixed.
But the worst thing by far was dealing with Audi dealers for servicing.
Am I lucky or you unlucky? I had two Audi 80 Quattros and I'm now on my second B6 Quattro and I've had so little trouble with any of them. I wonder if it's because I buy them a bit older? Maybe I buy them when all the faults have been sorted out.But the worst thing by far was dealing with Audi dealers for servicing.
Just to add, I had a manual which didn’t work well for some reason. Clutch, bite point, transmission was just awkward. Probably would have worked better as an auto.
Russ T Bolt said:
If you haven’t had the coil pack problem you have been very lucky, although you don’t mention which derivatives you have had.
Just to add, I had a manual which didn’t work well for some reason. Clutch, bite point, transmission was just awkward. Probably would have worked better as an auto.
Both 80s were Quattro and petrol and - I think - predated the coil pack with the old coil and distributor system. Of the A4s, it's one of each (plus a 2WD petrol but I'll come to that). I looked for quite a while to find the first one. I wanted a high spec car with the low spec engine as I was doing some miles. Eventually I found a 112K S-Line Avant Quattro with half leather, cruise control, bells, whistles, window boxes and venetian blinds and the 1.9TDi. It was lovely. Six speed box with synchro on reverse! Ran it until I had a job change. Sold it to my youngest daughter and then, with another job change, bought a newer 2.0 TFSI 2WD Avant. Hated it. Horrible engine. Powerful enough but horrid; kept spinning the wheels. Swapped it for my old diesel Quattro. Daughter was pleased anyway. She didn't like the diesel. My maintenance is done by a freelance mechanic I know. By now I was sharing care for my old mum 200 miles away and the mileage shot up again. At 200,000 miles it was vibrating a bit. The mechanic invited me to 'come and have a look' underneath. Prop shaft, front driveshafts, exhaust knackered all at once. The prop shafts are expensive. I looked for a 3 litre Quattro Avant but there weren't many and they were comparatively big money for their apparent rarity. Didn't want a diesel, didn't want a 2 litre and so settled on a petrol 1.8T Quattro Avant. It has few bells and no whistles but it's great. No real problems. There were a couple of niggles but sorted them out quite quickly. Knowing I'd only get £120 at the scrapyard, I gave the old car to the mechanic. He's using it a few miles a day and will continue to do so until something goes bang and then either repair it or scrap it. Someone will have the interior out of it anyway. I'm disappointed for folk who have bad experiences with them. It has to be a Quattro, though. I've had no rust problems with any of them and love the cars' deep pockets of ability. In time I'll have an S4 or an RS4. Not long now to retirement and less miles. Got to be done.Just to add, I had a manual which didn’t work well for some reason. Clutch, bite point, transmission was just awkward. Probably would have worked better as an auto.
To pull up on a detail for those saying the S4 is a poor mans RS4. This wouldn’t be true of the B6 generation as they never did an RS4 - this came back in the B7 shape.
I still think these are peak Audi when it comes to understated and muscular looks, this and the C5 A6. Not sure I’d go for this v6 though, give me the 1.9tdi or S4.
I still think these are peak Audi when it comes to understated and muscular looks, this and the C5 A6. Not sure I’d go for this v6 though, give me the 1.9tdi or S4.
georgezippy said:
Anyway here's the thing I'm puzzled about, why is there rust on any Audi of this age?
I mentioned it a few pages ago. There was an issue on these cars with the wheel arch liners rubbing against the inside of the front wing wheelarch, rubbing whatever protective coating was on there away, then they rust from the inside out. It's off-putting, but never serious or terminal.I owned a 2003 saloon A4 3.0 Quattro with Tiptronic box. It was an SE but it had a Sport pack on it, so half leather sport seats 3-spoke steering wheel 17" alloys etc.
I did 100% a-b roads..basically no motorway work or dual carriage ways and I never bettered 19mpg. It regularly said 17mpg on the computer.. it was a heavy car and felt it what with the big engine, gearbox, 4wd system and lots of kit all packed into a heavy dull Audi chassis. I would try to use the steering wheel buttons for the gears as much as I could but you could never throw it in and out of corners.
It needed a gearbox switch as it went into limp mode (obviously not a concern with the manual version) and a recurring EML that a couple of dealers couldn't (or didn't want to) fix - still no idea to this day what it would been, but at the time assumed was the emissions?? Had an issue with the fuel filter a couple of times and even a couple of electrical issues. What seemed to be original paint flaked off the front bumper to easily. Offloaded it before it needed a cambelt and some other parts. Only had it 6-7 months and did 9k miles.
Overall it was a nice car to sit in, made a reasonable noise (when revved) and would go if you kept your foot down, but too thirsty and too dull/frustrating to drive. Was my second Audi but it put me off Audis before the explosion of them absolutely everywhere now.
I did 100% a-b roads..basically no motorway work or dual carriage ways and I never bettered 19mpg. It regularly said 17mpg on the computer.. it was a heavy car and felt it what with the big engine, gearbox, 4wd system and lots of kit all packed into a heavy dull Audi chassis. I would try to use the steering wheel buttons for the gears as much as I could but you could never throw it in and out of corners.
It needed a gearbox switch as it went into limp mode (obviously not a concern with the manual version) and a recurring EML that a couple of dealers couldn't (or didn't want to) fix - still no idea to this day what it would been, but at the time assumed was the emissions?? Had an issue with the fuel filter a couple of times and even a couple of electrical issues. What seemed to be original paint flaked off the front bumper to easily. Offloaded it before it needed a cambelt and some other parts. Only had it 6-7 months and did 9k miles.
Overall it was a nice car to sit in, made a reasonable noise (when revved) and would go if you kept your foot down, but too thirsty and too dull/frustrating to drive. Was my second Audi but it put me off Audis before the explosion of them absolutely everywhere now.
Everyone seen this? Chris Harris and his skanky old S4 against a younger RS4 with predictable results. Then he has the S4 breathed on a bit.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KfMY96v_Gc&t=...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KfMY96v_Gc&t=...
A nice shed, but if this type of thing floats your boat, you'd be better off with a B5. The pre-facelift version was just called the A4 Avant quattro, as it was the only petrol-engined A4 Avant with the quattro drivetrain.
The 2.8 was probably the best naturally aspirated Audi V6. Very tough, though sometimes they leak a little oil. A bulletproof manual gearbox and drivetrain. 140kg lighter than the B6 with a shorter wheelbase. Essentially, more durable and more fun.
Also, in terms of build quality, the reality is that the peak occured sometime before the B6.
The 2.8 was probably the best naturally aspirated Audi V6. Very tough, though sometimes they leak a little oil. A bulletproof manual gearbox and drivetrain. 140kg lighter than the B6 with a shorter wheelbase. Essentially, more durable and more fun.
Also, in terms of build quality, the reality is that the peak occured sometime before the B6.
janesmith1950 said:
If I wanted an Audi within which to survive the apocalypse, it'd probably be a late 80s 80.
A good call! Tougher still than a B5. I'd probably go for a C4 (100 Avant 2.8E quattro) The post-apocalyptic environment would be more tolerable with internal re-circ climate control.Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff