Replacing an original Allroad - advice appreciated

[Audi household]

Hello, I would be grateful for some pointers and considerations on this.

I have a 2004 2.5TDI Allroad that I have owned for the last 10 years, it is coming up to 200,000 miles and from the whining, I think the gearbox or differential are on their way out so I am thinking about finally replacing the car but at a bit of a loss as to where to jump next. My previous car was a 1997 Peugeot 306 and the Allroad was a massive jump in quality and comfort when we bought it. The Allroad cost £4,500 and had around 120,000 miles at the time. I may have just been a bit spoilt by this old car but the new ones don't seem to be the massive jump I was expecting for the 6-8x price and 16 years of development. I haven't spent time in modern cars so wasn't sure what to expect - my wife has a 2005 A3.

I have been eyeing the eTron online because the second-hand ones seemed relatively cheap and because I don't really drive as much any more. Having been to a couple of dealerships today and spoken to a really helpful advisor and test driven a couple of cars (only had 10 minutes driving each), I am more confused. I sat in a new Q4 eTron but it felt really small and the 2018 A6 Allroad interior wasn't particularly appealing, the boot line also seems more raked and compact than the old one. The advisors were of the view that ICE is still better for long-term ownership, especially when considering second-hand.

The acceleration in the eTron was very satisfying but the car felt quite small relative to the old Allroad (I know it is larger on paper on the outside) and the interior didn't feel as impressive as I was hoping. I also tried a 2020 Q7 50 which felt higher quality and more 'special' than the eTron, whilst also feeling a good size relative to the Allroad, but I struggled with the 'detached/logarithmic' feel of the accelerator and its delivery of power. I may be able to get used to it and it probably comes from over 20 years of driving manual cars but I wonder if anyone else has upgraded from an old Allroad and has any insight as to appropriate replacements.

Money is always going to be a limiting factor and I had hoped to stay under £30k but am beginning to realise that this unlikely to be enough so could look to £40k or so.

Thank you,

Andrew

[Magnet]

Hello Andrew,

Welcome, and thanks for joining. 
Boiling this down:- You aren’t now doing much mileage, yet you are considering putting considerable funds into buying more modern examples - which overall don’t seem to tick the boxes for you. Quite understandable. 
Advice for what it’s worth:- Stick with what you have - it will probably still be whining this time next year, but still proceeding along. 
Kind regards,

Gareth. 

[56Doc]

Hi Andrew,

I ran a 2004 V8 Allroad for 4/5 years and had similar issues with the styling of the more recent versions.

i ended up with a 2015 version. However, the diesel V6 engines mine came with have a few issues that can crop up if they don’t get the proper servicing, turned out mine hadn’t, all fixed now but at a cost (cam chains, suspected service/ heavy foot issues from previous owners) design issue with a coolant leak in the V, which is another costly adventure.

But, I love the car, very comfortable and having been effectively commuting to my mums 144 miles away in all conditions since last October, started travelling at 65 instead of 70-75 and found the fuel economy to be crazy, been seeing 49-50 mpg out of it.

However, as Gareth said, if your current Allroad, (must admit, I loved my old Allroad, drove it through 2’ floods & a foot of snow at times, no hassle at all, did everything I could have asked) , still does everything you want it  to do, then why change it, trade in or even private sale isn’t likely to get you much after so long.

In my case, as my wife drives a yaris hybrid which is used mostly for work, so is getting wrecked and is far too small for me  get vaguely comfortable in even on short trips, I did think briefly about  about swapping mine as it’s not healthy to use it for short trips (DPF) but, nope, love it too much, so I’m looking at a 3rd car for all the local (2-3 short trips a week for shopping, taking the grandkids out, walks etc within 50-60 miles) trips that we do and I’m considering an older EV. 
I’ve been searching & researching for about 4-6 months, looked at Audi, BMW, Mercedes, even Teslas but the Hyundai Ioniq EV or PHEV (old model, discontinued in 22/23, not the newer Ioniq5 or 6), Kona or Kia Niro are coming out top of my list. (My Audi has a dpf, so lots of short trips can kill it easily), 

prices are far less than buying new and the efficiency & reliability of Korean cars is among the best, along with 5 & 7 year warranties respectively, so I’m hoping to find a car still within the warranty period too!

[Audi household]

Hi both,

Thank you for your kind replies. I am grateful for your thoughts, Gareth, there have been a couple of other things to question the longevity of the car, the subframe mounts look quite rusted to me, it hasn't yet been picked up on an MOT but I question that an observant tester would pass it in a year's time - assuming that it is actually an issue. I also found out in January that Audi don't even sell the CV boots any more - the car has always chewed through them fairly frequently so I have changed them a number of times during my ownership but this time there was apparently no stock anywhere either in the UK or in Germany and no replenishment date so I have taken that as an indication of impending doom in accessing parts. I couldn't find a proper aftermarket one but thankfully found a spare in my garage which got it through this year's MOT.

Rear air spring is leaky, suspension arms are due another replacement, driver's door window regulator isn't right again etc. Nothing that is currently stopping it and all jobs I am comfrotable doing (again) but they need time and parts. I spent a long time rebuilding my previous car (the 306) only to have someone drive into the back of it whilst my wife was driving us home from work. It was written off for a fraction of the amount I had spent on the parts and I am just a bit cautious of spending too much time and money only to have it wasted again. 

With my wife's car also being of the same sort of vintage, if not mileage, it just got me thinking about changing it so we aren't without a functioning car as we are in a village.

Dave, I bet the V8 Allroad was a beast - mine is only the 180 diesel but has never lacked power - we took it offroading many years ago and were happily following Defenders around the place.

I will probably get a view on the rust first but, if it is a problem, look at some different versions of the Allroad and maybe just try driving a few more automatics as that seems to be the default now. Probably keeping things cheaper isn't a bad idea.

 

Thank you,

Andrew

Edited March 24 by Audi household

[Steve Q]

I too have an A6 on the C5 platform, mines not an allroad though and I do share your concerns on parts availability. 

Have you looked at the c7 allroad? 

I appreciate you've looked at the current shape A6. 

My other advice would be to go to a local car supermarket like available car (I appreciate its a long way from you) to compare different types of cars to see what you might like.