A4 Avant buying advise

[Ninja]

Hi all,

I'm looking at spending around 14k on an Avant..... lots of models available but I'm not sure on the gearboxes...are the manuals better than the autos for reliability?

My heart says a 3.0d Quattro but I don't want anything to go horribly wring and have £1000's in costs????

Any advise,  greatly received. 

Thank you all

[spartacus 68]

Interesting.

2014 is B8. Solid cars. Personally stick to 6-speed manual (177PS diesel turbo). Good workhorses. If you can get Quattro, then all the better plus get one with a decent sound system. Avoid panoramic, it will leak like a sieve.

You want history and lots of it. 2.0TDI is fairly bullet proof. Suspension can be an issue, so budget for an overhaul given this is a 10 year old car. Meyle HD, you get kits, that will transform it.

Weak points, alloy engine cradle, rear spring mounts, sticky brake calipers (I’m picking faults here), subframe corrosion. Plus points, and one to include, get xenon headlights. Avoid old technology halogen that will be lucky to light up your porch.

Edited Saturday at 10:39 PM by spartacus 68

[Steve Q]

Che k buyers guides on YouTube. Che k service history for proof of Cambelt and water pump changes, gearbox oil services etc. Make sure heater works and is consistent through all vents for heat as this could be a sign of a blocked heater matrix. Make such a works properly as a compressors can be expensive. 

[Ninja]

Thank you both...I'll avoid the pan roof if they are problematic and check the heaters and AC as suggested.

It was a 2016/2017 i was looking at so the B9? Manual boxes much more reliable than the autos? 

[spartacus 68]

Sorry, I’ve picked you up wrong Ninja. It’s a B9 you’re looking for with £14k to spend.

If you still want 3.0TDI, then Tiptronic gearbox is the one to go for. That will be mated to 272hp (200kw) 6 cylinder engine. Pulls like a locomotive.

I’ll be honest, your budget needs increase. You’d be looking at closer to £17k which would get you 16-17 plate on around 75k miles.

History is absolutely critical. Avoid cars on long service regimes with oil changes every 18k miles. In addition, specification varies. Audi were tight as a gnat’s chuff with extras and they started adding bundles such as sound and comfort packs.

When I looked for mine, I wanted it in Allroad Sport version, (as I’d come from same car in B8) with panoramic (panoramic leaks aren’t common on B9), electric towbar, leather, heated front seats, Sat Nav, and virtual cockpit. Colour was important too, I didn’t want black. I found a mint example in Scuba Blue, but Gotland Green is very rare colour option. I found one at the other end of the country but couldn’t live with a cream leather interior!

Here’s 2017 brochure: https://autocatalogarchive.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Audi-A4-Allroad-2017-UK.pdf

I’m spanner handy so have VCDS for servicing.

Good luck with your search.

Edited Sunday at 08:46 AM by spartacus 68

[Ninja]

Thank you...very useful.

Tiptronic...is that the S Tronic? 

Like I said, not sure whether to go for the 2d manual or 3d auto? its reliability is tye key factor really.

[spartacus 68]

No S Tronic is dual clutch, 7 speed used on 3.0TDI 218hp model. Tiptronic is single clutch with torque convertor and 8 speed.

Both need serviced. S Tronic every 38k miles. Tiptronic then Audi will say sealed for life. I don't buy that as there's a ZF8 maintenance kit specifically for it, so I did it earlier this year when it turned 60k miles.

Absolutely critical these boxes are maintained as auto gearbox replacement is ridiculously expensive.

On quattro, the rear diff gear oil should be changed too anywhere from 60-80k miles.

[Cb1992]

I have a 2017 B9 avant (190bhp 2.0tdi) 2WD with the 7speed DSG. Car is on 124k miles and gearbox has never skipped a beat. Gearbox has had all its regular gearbox oil changes though when due, so would at least look for that in the service history, and a timing belt depending on age/mileage.

 

On thing to note is these cars suffer from adblue fault, where it throws up the EML and requires sorting. You will see regular threads including mine. Not sure if this was rectified with the facelifts but worse case scenario you need a new adblue tank system which is pricey. Not sure how common it is in reality as out of the thousands of these cars on the roads even the 50-100 threads online isn’t much in comparison but definitely something to look out for in the service history if it’s been replaced.

I have really enjoyed the A4 though and has been very reliable for the most part. The 2.0tdi 190 isn’t really fast, but not slow either and good compromise for economy.