VAG TDI Buying Advice

[Tay]

Anyone who can offer any help it would be much appreciated, as my searches havent really found me the answers I'm looking for.

Basically I'm looking at buying a VAG Tdi car for commuting, be it A3, A4, Golf or Leon I am not sure on that side of it yet, but I need some advice on which engine to go for? I had heard there is one type of engine which is stronger and more reliable than the others, and I need to understand a little better the benefits of whichever engine this is. I have read about the common rail engines, being newer technology as opposed to previous older direct injectoion engines, but not being as reliable... Is this the case?

Does anyone have any recommendations regarding which car to go for? I'm not really bothered about having the most powerful version of the engine, just don't want a pathetically slow 90bhp model.

Thanks,
Chris

 

[yendall24]

try and find yourself a 1.9tdi 130bhp only found in the b6 a4 . there is a 1.9tdi in the b7 shape but that is only 115 bhp still a damn good reliable engine not the most refined i admit but serviced regularly with the correct engine oil it is capable of starship mileages and a genuine 50 plus mpg which i get regularly on a motorway run

 

[audilad9]

Think you'll find the 130 bhp in not only the A4 but A3, A6, VW, Seat and Skodas also.
Great engine. Recommend it.

 

[yendall24]

Think you'll find the 130 bhp in not only the A4 but A3, A6, VW, Seat and Skodas also.
Great engine. Recommend it.

yes i am aware of that what i meant to say was it is not available in the b7 a4 or the newer shaped a3 which i think is 105bhp

 

[audilad9]

Cool, just making it clear for Tay as he isn't sure what make or model of car he's after yet, not necessarily an A4.
However being a tad biased, I say get the B6 A4 too

 

[Tay]

Thanks for that guys, are there any well known potential issues to these 1.9tdi's?

I would be tempted by an A4 avant if its not too expensive, or maybe a seat Leon if it has the right engine.

 

[yendall24]

well i can tell you how much i love my car it an a4 1.9tdi sport avant 04 reg in briliant red with black leather . i owned it for 3 years then i stupidly sold it and bought a wait for it skoda octavia 2.0tdi vrs estate biggest mistake i ever made it was a bag of c$$p so i sold that and bought an a4 2.0tfsi quattro s line avant lovely car in quartzs grey .lovely car i just did not like the the petrol engine they drive so much differently to a diesel whhich i was used to so after 4 weeks i sold it . then the search began for another a4 1.9tdi . i was searching on ebay and autotrader but everything i was seeing eather had starship mileage or was a silly price so i phoned the lad i sold my a4 1.9tdi to just to ask if he was happy with the car and if he was ever thinking of selling it to give me first refusal and to my surprise he told me that they was going for a mortage and the more deposit he could put down the better the interest rate he got and yes it was for sale reluctanly as his wife loved it. but told me he had spent 895 quid on the paint work so we struck a deal and i paid him 400 quid more than he bought it off me for they had covered less than 2000 mile since buying it off me when i went to pick it up it was like putting on an old pair of slippers if you know what i mean i was over the moon the paintwork looked great and i instantly knew i had done the right thing its by far the best car i have ever owned and i have owned about 24 of them. so thats me done for another 3 to 4 years i love the car it costs 170 quid a year to tax does 50 plus mpg on a run and drives lovely after 130000 miles happy days

 

[Tay]

It seems everyone loves there 1.9 tdi A4s here, I'm definitely going to look into that car as an option

 

[davc]

Not an Audi but my previous car was a 1.9 PD150 Golf. Provided they are serviced regularly with the correct oil they are amazing engines, and yes they are generally more robust than the current generation common rail ones.

There were horror stiories of the early PD's suffering failures of the camshafts and followers due to the oil being too thick for the galleries but I used Castrol Long Life III/Edge in mine without issues. Even @ 100k there was no visible signs of wear on the cam/followers.

A mate of mine had a B6 TDI Quattro Avant a few years back and it was lovely car.

Would recommend a PD130 in whatever body style you fancy as they are not as laggy low down as the 150bhp due to the smaller SMIC and ultimately there will be more of them on the used market.