Should i buy this avant?

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troopa

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Not sure if im allowed to post an ebay link so remove if needed.

I want an a4 avant 1.9tdi sport and this one has cropped up... High mileage and 4 owners, it has all the extras i would like, but all the gadgets aside is it worth a look. It is due a cambelt soon and had a new clutch and fly @ 120k.
Ive never dreamed of owning a high mileage car before but ive read so much on these cars that im coming round to it for the right motor. But is this it? please help.
2004 AUDI A4 TDI SPORT BLACK | eBay
 
Hi, not sure if you've seen mine on eBay, but here's the item number if your interested 280951912541

Iv had it 18 months and driven it all over the uk... Drives like new,

Only for sale now because I have purchased a Quattro to use as a daily,

Thanks
 
Yes i had seen your one, very nice, however it has higher mileage and none of the extras of the other one for the same price.
 
Yh unfortunately it doesn't have the extras, but has been maintained very well,

Good luck in your search,
 
As long as it's in good condition, mechanically sound, everything works properly & has a good verifiable history don't be put off by the mileage. I've known of several VAG TDI's with well over 200.000 miles on them which are going strong.
 
As mentioned previously, I wouldn't be scared of the high mileage necessarily. However, if you are going to pile on the miles yourself then it won't be long before things may start to go wrong. What annual mileage will you do? I bought mine at 130k miles, knowing I'd only do about 10k a year. However, if I was still in my old job where I did between 20-30k I'd have thought twice about it.

My brother in law and father in law both have octavias with well over 200k miles, and I think they are the pd engines. I can't remember what the cam belt interval is, but is it 60k? If so, it's not that far off needing doing again.
 
Go have a proper look. My engine is about 10k miles less than this one but is going strong and has been across europe a few times, but some people do have issues with theirs.

You will want to be doing the cambelt regardless of mileage, luckily it's fairly simple on these cars but is a good haggling point.
 
I have spoken to the seller and he will have the cambelt done before sale. It does have service history although at a independent.
I am going to look at it as I have looked a few today with lower mileage that were quite frankly not worth the 5k mark up.
I will be doing only 12-13k a year so not to much plus they're motorway miles.
Anything to look out for guys?
 
Going o be looking at this in the week so any help on what to look out for would be super..
 
Looks nice, has all the right options fitted. Wish it had been about when I was buying mine.
You will have to have a good look round it, the price does seem a little on the cheap side.
 
Greeny233 said:
Looks nice, has all the right options fitted. Wish it had been about when I was buying mine.
You will have to have a good look round it, the price does seem a little on the cheap side.
Click to expand...

Theres a few out there around this price with out the extras but much lower mileage. The seller seems genuine. im just wondering whats best to look for on a car of this age.
 
Just look out for normal stuff, ensure all electrics work, all warning lights come on and off like they should do.

Look for blue smoke under load - a little smoke is ok but nothing excessive!!

Rust in wheel arches...??

That's about it unless anyone else wished to add to this...
 
As above check everything electrical is working correctly windows & central locking are prone to problems.
Dual mass flywheel is a big expense so let the car idle from cold in neutral & check for knocking & vibration that stops when you depress the clutch pedal.
 
After owning 3 B6s a few years back I am looking for another one at the moment, for me though I would prefer leather as Audi leather looks old so quickly, think it is because it has a deep grain, and it is dirt in the grain that makes it look hard and shiny.

There is a really nice 2.5 Quattro Tip estate just down the road from me, but I refuse to pay £460 a year in road tax for a £3000 car and for something that takes 9 seconds to get to 60mph!! haha

I couldn't believe it was in that band, so annoying, even more so for the seller I guess. I do think they should make it so when a car gets to 10 years old it has a max of £220 or something.
 
Sorry is that wouldn't prefer leather?
I think those leathers look immaculate for the age and miles they've been used.
Im looking out for others but im starting to see how rare these cars are. Any help on where to look guys?
 
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is it just the avants you want and whats your price limit
 
simon.m said:
is it just the avants you want and whats your price limit
Click to expand...
the car im after is a4 1.9tdi sport avant manual 53-54 as they have the gmbh/sport/s-line kit or whatever it is lol. 5k is my limit. when i started looking about 2 weeks ago there was some nice ones but they went quick.
 
Last edited:
Yeah, I would prefer sports interior but not leather.

The attachment at the bottom shows the leather on that A4 you posted, and to me that looks really hard and shiny.


This was the leather on my E Class when I sold it, a year newer, but was pretty much perfect, still had that nice soft matte look and feel to it.

e320_9.JPG
 

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This was my A6 avant at 4 years old and 40k miles, and that was already starting to go hard and shiny and there was nothing I could do about it.

A6_interior_2.jpg


This was my S4 at under 20k miles, again starting to show signs of getting old, I just think Audi leather has not be that good over the years....
 

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gizze said:
There is a really nice 2.5 Quattro Tip estate just down the road from me, but I refuse to pay £460 a year in road tax for a £3000 car and for something that takes 9 seconds to get to 60mph!! haha
Click to expand...

What 2.5 is that to cost £460 a year?
 
Mine's a manual, 216kg/com I think in band K, last year was £260 and I'm expecting my renewal, due anyday to be £270. Maybe the tiptronics fall into the next band? Ouch.
 
Yeah, 225 is the cut off and these are 238g.

Just makes it completely undesirable imho. In a year it will be 25% of the cars value.
 
I had actually agreed to buy a 2002 A6 2.5tdi Quattro Tiptronic Avant, and he said that it was £145 to tax that for 6 months, so I am not 100% sure, as surely the A4 would be less if anything.

I think I might call him tomorrow and see what he says.
 
Seems that the tax bracket was going to change this year, but they have held it back, so anything before 2006 is currently capped at bank K, so £270 this year.
However this may change next year and then it will be £470.

I am going to see the car in a bit so will update. She said the history is a bit patchy, so will have to see what it drives like I guess.
Last time I bought something with a few missing services in the book, turned out my 86k mile car had been into a main dealer 4 years before and had 160k miles on it then, so always a bit weary these days.
 
gizze said:
Last time I bought something with a few missing services in the book, turned out my 86k mile car had been into a main dealer 4 years before and had 160k miles on it then, so always a bit weary these days.
Click to expand...

Ask the current owner for V5 document reference then you can check its MOT history give you a clear idea of mileage and how well its been maintained from year to year.....
 
Yeah I will do.

I will ask my mate at Audi Norwich if he knows anything about it too.
 
Went and had a look at it tonight.

Had a big scratch down the side, front door, rear door and wing, not deep but would need a spray.

Interior was ok, but not great, leather was not too bad, but some of the switchgear was worn as was the centre console surround.

Drove pretty well, but the tip gear felt very crunch going from P to N to Drive etc.
Sure that is probably just the linkage needs greasing or something?
The gearbox felt ok I think, a bit rubber bandy but think that is just typical of older autos, after living with the new BMW 8 speed and Mercedes 7 G tronic 'box going back to a design that is nearly 15 years old will always feel strange I guess?

Suspension felt pretty good.

Had the older RNS-D nav, which is a ball ache, would want to fit a Pioneer App radio and having that in there makes it a bit trickier.
Not a selling point as far as I was concerned.

I reckon it was worth around £2700, £300 to sort scratch, £100 for climate panel, and another £100 to replace a couple of trim pieces.

She was not prepared to drop below £3200 which is just too rich I reckon. My mate picked up a 110k mile 2002 1.9tdi Quattro that was immaculate, and made this look a bit tatty, and he paid £2800 for it.
Plus the 2.5 is no where near as bullet proof as the 1.9.

It was showing 26mpg on the DIS and she has never reset it.
 
audi upgrades
Unless you can get it for a price you're happy with then I guess it's all immaterial anyway.

26mpg is heavy even for an auto, but it's quite probably that the DIS isn't accurate.
 
pauldazzle said:
Any sign of auto gearbox problems & I'd be running away not walking away.
Click to expand...

I agree, but it pulled through the gears nicely, and seemed to change back down with no issues.
The rubber band sort of feel I think is just older gearboxes, my old Merc was the same, as was my older 530i.

My main concern was the fact going from N to D felt a bit stiff, would this be a gear box issue as such or just the fact it may need greasing etc.?
 
I wouldn't consider a high mileage auto. i've rarely heard of manual gearbox problems on VAG forums, but that isn't the case with autos. Multitronic seems particularily prone to issues & very expensive to repair. IMO you'd be crazy to take any chances.

gizze said:
I agree, but it pulled through the gears nicely, and seemed to change back down with no issues.
The rubber band sort of feel I think is just older gearboxes, my old Merc was the same, as was my older 530i.

My main concern was the fact going from N to D felt a bit stiff, would this be a gear box issue as such or just the fact it may need greasing etc.?
Click to expand...
 
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