# Audi A4...............



## The Silver Surfer (May 14, 2002)

OK, I'm looking to tap the vast knowledge and experience base of the forum users. 

My brother, who doesn't know the first thing about cars, has tasked me to look for a replacement car for his ageing VW Polo. He covers a fair amount of miles so a Diesel would be ideal. He also does a fair amount of driving on country roads and with the weather up here in Scotland, Quattro would be beneficial.

The Audi A4 appears to be the ideal car (must be an S-line model) and I have come across the following two cars in Autotrader, which are at the top end of the budget limit;










"AUDI A4 1.9 TDi 130 Quattro Sport, 4 Doors, Manual, Saloon, Diesel, 2003 53 Reg, 25,000 miles, Misano Red. 6 Stacker CD, Climate Control. RS4 Body Kit, Sat Nav With T.V, 2 T.V In The Head Rest With Dvd Player, 19" RS Alloys, Black Leather, Chrome Wing Mirrors, Bose Sound System, F.A.S.H, 2 Owners, Exellent Conditoin. Viewing By Appointment........ Â£16,995"

More pics at the dealers website.

This is the second car for sale;










"2004 53 Reg AUDI A4 1.9 TDi 130 Quattro Sport
4 Doors, Manual, Saloon, Diesel, 31,000 miles, Metallic Grey. ABS, Adjustable seats, Adjustable steering column/wheel, Alloy wheels, Climate control, Driver airbag, Electric mirrors, Electric windows, Foglights, Electrically adjustable seats, Lumbar support, Passenger airbag, Power assisted steering, Remote locking, Side airbags, Radio/CD, Sports seats. Full Audi Service History...... Audi Bodykit, Full black leather.....Â£15,795"

More pics at the dealers website. (Fifth car down)

Now firstly, I don't know a thing about the 1.9 Diesel engine in these cars. I've had a look at a few motoring websites and the only info. I have found out is that this engine has been around longer than I have, is fairly noisy when pushed, but is fairly economical? Does anyone on the forum have any experience with these engines in these cars?

Secondly, has anyone on here heard of or had any experience of these two sellers?

Both of the sellers are based in Yorkshire; one being in Huddersfield and the other in a place called Swallownest in Sheffield. (I'm being a bit cheeky here, but I'm hoping there's a friendly forum user living nearby who can go and have a look at these cars for me. :wink: :lol

Any advice, assistance and opinions would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks.


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## CH_Peter (May 16, 2002)

First one seems like a steal. 1.9Tdi Quattro Sport will do 45mpg ish, and quattro is far better than fwd - the car tends to struggle to get the power down a tad - 310Nm of torque. Not many quattro sports to be found generally, and that's a good spec with nav, etc.


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## kmpowell (May 6, 2002)

Must admit the top one does look nice in red. But is the one below any good for you? From a reputable dealer too. 

http://www.fontain.co.uk/vehicle-detail ... 1&ID=68087


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## scoTTy (May 6, 2002)

Fir the extra grand the first one looks the better buy to me. Not sure what an RS4 body kit is though. I guess it's meant to be S4. For the added styling, SatNav, screens, leather, lower mileage etc is seems worth Â£1k more but it depends on the condition.

Try sticking this in other marques (maybe a mod will move it) as there's a few A4 owners in there.


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## The Silver Surfer (May 14, 2002)

kmpowell said:


> Must admit the top one does look nice in red. But is the one below any good for you? From a reputable dealer too.
> 
> http://www.fontain.co.uk/vehicle-detail ... 1&ID=68087


Thanks for the link Kev. That certainly looks like a nice one, really nice colour too. I forgot to mention, at Â£16,995 the first car is the top end of the budget limit. (I'll add this to my first post) Now, if Fontain are willing to take 2k off the advertised price....... :lol:

Scotty, wasn't sure if I should post it in the Other Marques or Off Topic?


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## The Silver Surfer (May 14, 2002)

kmpowell said:


> Must admit the top one does look nice in red. But is the one below any good for you? From a reputable dealer too.
> 
> http://www.fontain.co.uk/vehicle-detail ... 1&ID=68087


Just had a proper look at this one and it's the 1.8T petrol, which is going to be a wee bit heavy on the juice. Immaculate car though.


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## Leg (Jan 11, 2006)

Or he could get a 1.8T Sport Cabriolet for Â£16000. 32mpg. Bargain price cos im taking delivery of a TT in March.....

If you need to take the car before my new TT comes thats fine, ill rent somat

http://www.********.co.uk/ttforumbbs/vi ... hp?t=56559


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## The Silver Surfer (May 14, 2002)

Leg said:


> Or he could get a 1.8T Sport Cabriolet for Â£16000. 32mpg. Bargain price cos im taking delivery of a TT in March.....
> 
> If you need to take the car before my new TT comes thats fine, ill rent somat
> 
> http://www.********.co.uk/ttforumbbs/vi ... hp?t=56559


Unfortunately he's looking for a 4-door car. Your's is certainly a nice car for Â£16k. Good luck with selling it.


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## Kell (May 28, 2002)

We had a (B6 - Y reg) saloon with the 1.9TDi engine in it and that was FWD. Never had any problems putting down the power.

Must say that while it was very economical and had lots of punch most of the time, I found that when fully loaded (unsurprisingly) it took longer than I wanted to overtake.

In the end, we part-exed it for an Avant 2.5TDi (150bhp non quattro) and I think we made a mistake with the choice of this one. Had I done a little more research, I'd have gone for a later model (163bhp non quattro) or a quattro (180bhp) as that would have given me the extra oomph I would be looking for.

In short, the engine isn't the most refined, but it was the VAG PD unit which, at the time, was great.

You say you want an S-line version, but AFAIK, the S-line wasn't released until the B7 version (current shape).

If I was buying again, my choice would be between the new 2.0TDi or the new 3.0TDi depending on cash. Or a BMW 330D.


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## CH_Peter (May 16, 2002)

FWIW Â£300 will get you an engine remap on the 1.9Tdi to ~165Bhp and ~370Nm torque (some people quote even higher (180 / 400+, although I find this hard to believe). Not to be sniffed at, but obviously, if money less of an object, then what Kell said.


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## Kell (May 28, 2002)

CH_Peter said:


> FWIW Â£300 will get you an engine remap on the 1.9Tdi to ~165Bhp and ~370Nm torque (some people quote even higher (180 / 400+, although I find this hard to believe). Not to be sniffed at, but obviously, if money less of an object, then what Kell said.


To be honest Peter, If I'd thought about it logically, that's what I think I might have done instead of moving up to the 2.5TDi. It would have been cheaper - and possibly more fun.

Â£300 for the remap, not sure how much extra on the insurance, but even given the premium for Avants over Saloons, it probably wouldn't have cost the 3k it cost us to make the change. Admittedly though, the car we've got is much better spec and the colour we wanted, so overall very happy with it.

However, I do have more probs putting the power down on the Avant, as it's heavier anyway in corners and tends to understeer. Certainly had the EPS warning light kick in a lot more on that than on the Saloon.

Lastly, the one thing that still disappoints me, and is true of even the B7 is the rear legroom. Went for a boys' weekend this w/e in my mate's B7 2.0TDi. Performed well enough, but I had to wedge myself into the back and wasn't that comfy.

On the way back though, he tried to keep up with an older 330D and it left us for dead. Until the corners that is though.


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## CH_Peter (May 16, 2002)

Kell said:


> CH_Peter said:
> 
> 
> > FWIW Â£300 will get you an engine remap on the 1.9Tdi to ~165Bhp and ~370Nm torque (some people quote even higher (180 / 400+, although I find this hard to believe). Not to be sniffed at, but obviously, if money less of an object, then what Kell said.
> ...


Agree - leg room in rear is not the best. Depends what check boxes you believe are essential when you buy the guy, I think. Something for the potential buyer to think about in this case.

I've had a quote to remap for Â£280, 180Bhp / 300ft lb. They say they could bring the power up to 195Bhp  and elec limited 320 ft lb, but that's outside the car's tolerance.

Frankly, anything around what others quote (165Bhp ish), would be fine by me and certainly give it that slight extra kick it needs. It has all the torque , but feels somewhat weedy, horses wise.


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## ag (Sep 12, 2002)

The A4 is not really adequate for 4 adults or 5 people for longer trips. For two adults and 2 kids it is ideal.

The saloon handles, and puts its power down better than the Avant. This, especially if lowered sports suspension is specified.

The V6 engine offers far better low down torque, and consequently low speed traction in poor conditions. It is also a far nicer engine to drive. The down side is that it consumes 40% to 50% more than the 1.9tdi.

The 163BHP 2.5 V6 is leagues ahead in terms of driveability and performance than the 150BHP.

Any of the 1.8T versions are good and offer considerably better value for money than their diesel counterparts, at the expense of inferior economy and, probably, resale.


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## The Silver Surfer (May 14, 2002)

Many thanks for the replies. 

Went to the local Audi dealer this afternoon after arranging a test drive of the nearest model we could find to a the actual model we wish to go for. The car was 2004 1.9TDi Avant Quattro in Mauritius blue, with just under 14k on the clock.

I was suitably impressed with the car. Even at start up the engine was not as noisy as I expected it to be. The performance, whilst not electrifying, was more than adequate and the car was reasonably punchy on the motorway.

I was also impressed with the build quality. There was little in the way of rattles or noises. My Audi TT was nowhere near as good, having more rattles than a Mothercare store! :lol:

Kell, you are right about the S-line not being available until the current facelifted model. I asked the salesman about this very subject and I was told that what is now dubbed as 'S-line' used to be 'Sport' on the pre-facelift cars. Certainly, from what I have seen, the older Sport models have, what appears to be, the same bodykit/spoilers as the current S-line and also have the slightly lowered suspension and sports seats. According to the salesman, the standard size wheels for the Sport model were 17", with an optional upgrade to the 18" size.

My brother has two young boys, so rear space in the A4 is more than adequate.

My initial thoughts on the car in the Misano red colour were that it was a wee bit too bold and not exactly discrete, however whilst at the dealers we saw a visually identical car (apart from the 19" wheels) to the red one in my first post and it looked very nice in this colour. 

After some some deliberating, we decided to contact the seller of the red car in Sheffield, however the car was sold two days ago.  The grey car has been ruled out as it is a wee bit too dull, so the search goes on.


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## CH_Peter (May 16, 2002)

Good luck. You will find you need to move quite quickly on Quattro Sport models, as they tend to go quickly, especially the well specced models.

You might find this link useful: http://www.audidiesels.com/

Peter


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## The Silver Surfer (May 14, 2002)

CH_Peter said:


> Good luck. You will find you need to move quite quickly on Quattro Sport models, as they tend to go quickly, especially the well specced models.
> 
> You might find this link useful: http://www.audidiesels.com/
> 
> Peter


Thanks for the advice and link Peter.


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## L7 (Aug 27, 2004)

So far as the family car we've had 2 x A2, 1 x A4 2.0 fsi avant, 1 x Allroad 2.5 v6 tdi, 1 x A3 2.0 tdi sportback fwd and now we have a A4 1.9tdi quattro sport avant with full spec inc the MMI twatnav and after just returning from a 2400 mile france/swiss/germany/france road trip i have to say that the car was spot on.

In the Alp's there wasn't as much snow as last year but some of the roads were completely covered in about 6inches of solid ice and the car was rock solid.

Go for the red one it looks 8)


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## CH_Peter (May 16, 2002)

I've just had the 1.9Tdi remap done. Impressed, to say the least.

http://www.********.co.uk/ttforumbbs/vi ... hp?t=57023


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## L7 (Aug 27, 2004)

Re-map is next on the list for our's, would be interested in you fuel figures in the future.


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## CH_Peter (May 16, 2002)

L7 said:


> Re-map is next on the list for our's, would be interested in you fuel figures in the future.


Noted. 

I've read anything from 5mpg less to "a slight improvement", but to be honest, I'm so impressed, I would give up the 5 mpg.

Anyway, have to get through a couple of tanks of fuel before the consumption will settle (according to the remapper), and, of course, there's the temptation now to drive that bit harder for added grin factor (a clio sport got an amusing surprise off a roundabout on the way home) - which doesn't help the consumption. :roll:


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## L7 (Aug 27, 2004)

I can believe that :lol: once i'd finished doing all the stuff to my TT i was only getting low low 20's as I drove everywhere grinning like some demented fool enjoying the re-map etc


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## The Silver Surfer (May 14, 2002)

L7 said:


> Go for the red one it looks 8)


Unfotunately the red one sold a week ago.



L7 said:


> ........ and now we have a A4 1.9tdi quattro sport avant with full spec inc the MMI twatnav......


"MMI"?? I take it that's Multi-media something?

Is the Sat-Nav any good on these cars and is it worth having? Can it be retro-fitted easily?


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## L7 (Aug 27, 2004)

We were lucky picking ours up 12months old and fully spec'd with the 18" 9 spokes /bodykit / leather and bose etc. The satnav is the top spec full european with flip down screen and the 2 memory card slots for mp3, we travelled across europe without a single hic-up. But saying that personally I wouldn't base a purchase on the sat-nav alone, if the car hadn't got it I would still have made the purchase and just spent the money on a portable device IIAC the salesman reckoned the nav was a Â£2k option or there abouts 

All I know is that trying to find a Avant Quattro 1.9tdi avant was very difficult as most were 2.5 with auto/tip/multi boxes and if we did find a 1.9 man' it didn't have leather or it was too old 00/01 etc.


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## CH_Peter (May 16, 2002)

L7 said:


> Re-map is next on the list for our's, would be interested in you fuel figures in the future.


Fuel comsumption seems to have remained almost exactly the same. How pleased am I?


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## Merlin66 (Jan 10, 2005)

The Silver Surfer said:


> Kell, you are right about the S-line not being available until the current facelifted model. I asked the salesman about this very subject and I was told that what is now dubbed as 'S-line' used to be 'Sport' on the pre-facelift cars.


Incorrect. The last of the old models were available in S-line trim. I should know - we have one sitting in the drive. Its the 190PS Quattro, goes like stink (for a 4 cylinder car).


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## IanWest (May 7, 2002)

Not sure if it is any use but my Dad will be selling his 51 plate A6 2.5TDI quattro SE Estate next month.
Can get you some more info if you are interested. It is a six speed manual.


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## L7 (Aug 27, 2004)

CH_Peter said:


> L7 said:
> 
> 
> > Re-map is next on the list for our's, would be interested in you fuel figures in the future.
> ...


Thanks for that, pleased to hear it stays the same 8)


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## The Silver Surfer (May 14, 2002)

IanWest said:


> Not sure if it is any use but my Dad will be selling his 51 plate A6 2.5TDI quattro SE Estate next month.
> Can get you some more info if you are interested. It is a six speed manual.


Unfortunately, we're looking for something less than three years old and not quite as large as an A6 estate.

Thanks for the offer anyhoo.


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## Kell (May 28, 2002)

Merlin66 said:


> The Silver Surfer said:
> 
> 
> > Kell, you are right about the S-line not being available until the current facelifted model. I asked the salesman about this very subject and I was told that what is now dubbed as 'S-line' used to be 'Sport' on the pre-facelift cars.
> ...


Seems you're right.

Must have been the very last ones was it?


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## Kell (May 28, 2002)

double post - sorry.


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## garyc (May 7, 2002)

Kell said:


> Merlin66 said:
> 
> 
> > The Silver Surfer said:
> ...


That is so much better looking than the 'new improved' fish face grill ****** headlight version.


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## gcp (Aug 8, 2002)

Thought your post should have read:



Kell said:


> On the way back though, he tried to keep up with an older 330D and it left us for dead. Until the corners that is though, *when we understeered into the verge*.


Sounds like your still wishing you'd gone to the dark side Kell :wink:


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## Kell (May 28, 2002)

gcp said:


> Thought your post should have read:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


It was damp, the Bimmer driver didn't have the balls to boot it around the roundabouts. :wink:

And to be honest, having been in CLives 535D, then yes I'd love to do it, but I can't afford to get that car.


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