Hi Everyone,
I was looking at possibly changing my 2018 Polo GTI+for an A4 Avant, due to wanting more legroom for the kids in the back (I have my seat quite far back in any car i'm in) and we're getting a Labrador pup soon that will grow into quite a big beast in its first year.
Anyway, being familiar with VAGs (4 Polos, 4 Golfs, 2 Sciroccos and an A1 bought new previously), the tech is mostly what i've encountered before. Most of my previous cars listed above were performance diesels.
I looked nationally for a nearly new A4 Avant, had to be 190TDI, wasn't bothered whether it had quattro or not, but it seemed to be fitted for 3/4 of the cars I saw. I was hoping to avoid going into the Luxury car tax, but it seemed almost unavoidable, unless you were going for a Sport spec with metallic paint, no Quattro and nothing else.
I gauged all the prices, and it seemed that £24k was the going rate nationally for a year old Sport, and £25-26k for an S-line, with an addition of about £700 with Quattro.
My Local dealership (Newcastle Audi) had one that seemed to fit the bill, a decent colour (thought black might look a bit like a hearse) and was competitively priced :-
Jul 2019 registered A4 Avant S-Line Quattro "40" 190TDI in Manhattan Grey, serviced in March when it reached 9k miles. They had it up for £25,789. I had already negotiated £15k for my Polo GTI+ with a specialist buyer (verbal non-committing agreement) that I sold my Golf R to previously.
They offered me £15k for the Polo in p/x (to make things less hassle), but nothing for the car. I managed to beat them down to £25200, citing the Luxury tax as a reason I was put off. I feel I could have maybe got more if I was prepared be in the showroom an extra hour, but considering the national prices seen, and how much cheaper it was than RRP (£41.3k), it seemed like a decent deal. It's a cash buy, so i've go to put in £10.2k.
The car is immaculate, doesn't appear to have been uncared for - 19" wheels are unscuffed, no bonnet chips, no sags in the leather/alcantara seats, no other scrapes or scuffs.
The only thing was the front tyres had been replaced with Falkens, the rears were Conti 5 (presume these were the original fit). I queried the Falkens, wondering if the wheels had hit potholes. He explained that as an approved Audi, if even one of the tyres on an axle has less than 3mm tread, they replace both.
Questions-
1. Front tyres wearing down beyond 3mm after 10k miles on a Quattro car seems a bit harsh. On a 2WD car as heavy as the A4, I could see that happening, but when I had my Golf R, the haldex system seemed to promote even tyre wear front to back, even though the 4WD system is heavily front wheel biased, with the fronts after 20k miles on my R wearing to 4mm and the rears being 4.5mm.
Does the Quattro on the A4 (I presume Haldex rather than Torsen?) promote fairly even tyre wear front to back? If so, i'm thinking that the Conti 5s are a pretty soft tyre. I usually put Michelin PS4 on mine at replacement time.
2. There was an offer taking up finance at 6.9% to give 2 free services. In the past, I have taken up finance and then withdrawn from the agreement within the 14 day cooling off period to grab the deposit contribution on other cars (including the A1 bought previously). I know it works for money balance, but is anyone aware of them being able to withdraw the services or will it be in my contract of sale and only money changes hands for withdrawal?
3. If I don't go through finance, how much is a minor and major service on an A4 2.0TDI usually and are dealerships generally receptive to haggling the price down or price matching elsewhere?
4. The salesman mentioned 9k miles interval. Seems a bit odd, all the previous VWs I have had are 10k mile intervals.. Has the salesman got it wrong or is it 9k miles? The car (all my previous VWs) usually notifies me early because the true interval is 15000km (about 9400 miles), but the official UK interval was always 10k miles.
Thanks,
Matt
I was looking at possibly changing my 2018 Polo GTI+for an A4 Avant, due to wanting more legroom for the kids in the back (I have my seat quite far back in any car i'm in) and we're getting a Labrador pup soon that will grow into quite a big beast in its first year.
Anyway, being familiar with VAGs (4 Polos, 4 Golfs, 2 Sciroccos and an A1 bought new previously), the tech is mostly what i've encountered before. Most of my previous cars listed above were performance diesels.
I looked nationally for a nearly new A4 Avant, had to be 190TDI, wasn't bothered whether it had quattro or not, but it seemed to be fitted for 3/4 of the cars I saw. I was hoping to avoid going into the Luxury car tax, but it seemed almost unavoidable, unless you were going for a Sport spec with metallic paint, no Quattro and nothing else.
I gauged all the prices, and it seemed that £24k was the going rate nationally for a year old Sport, and £25-26k for an S-line, with an addition of about £700 with Quattro.
My Local dealership (Newcastle Audi) had one that seemed to fit the bill, a decent colour (thought black might look a bit like a hearse) and was competitively priced :-
Jul 2019 registered A4 Avant S-Line Quattro "40" 190TDI in Manhattan Grey, serviced in March when it reached 9k miles. They had it up for £25,789. I had already negotiated £15k for my Polo GTI+ with a specialist buyer (verbal non-committing agreement) that I sold my Golf R to previously.
They offered me £15k for the Polo in p/x (to make things less hassle), but nothing for the car. I managed to beat them down to £25200, citing the Luxury tax as a reason I was put off. I feel I could have maybe got more if I was prepared be in the showroom an extra hour, but considering the national prices seen, and how much cheaper it was than RRP (£41.3k), it seemed like a decent deal. It's a cash buy, so i've go to put in £10.2k.
The car is immaculate, doesn't appear to have been uncared for - 19" wheels are unscuffed, no bonnet chips, no sags in the leather/alcantara seats, no other scrapes or scuffs.
The only thing was the front tyres had been replaced with Falkens, the rears were Conti 5 (presume these were the original fit). I queried the Falkens, wondering if the wheels had hit potholes. He explained that as an approved Audi, if even one of the tyres on an axle has less than 3mm tread, they replace both.
Questions-
1. Front tyres wearing down beyond 3mm after 10k miles on a Quattro car seems a bit harsh. On a 2WD car as heavy as the A4, I could see that happening, but when I had my Golf R, the haldex system seemed to promote even tyre wear front to back, even though the 4WD system is heavily front wheel biased, with the fronts after 20k miles on my R wearing to 4mm and the rears being 4.5mm.
Does the Quattro on the A4 (I presume Haldex rather than Torsen?) promote fairly even tyre wear front to back? If so, i'm thinking that the Conti 5s are a pretty soft tyre. I usually put Michelin PS4 on mine at replacement time.
2. There was an offer taking up finance at 6.9% to give 2 free services. In the past, I have taken up finance and then withdrawn from the agreement within the 14 day cooling off period to grab the deposit contribution on other cars (including the A1 bought previously). I know it works for money balance, but is anyone aware of them being able to withdraw the services or will it be in my contract of sale and only money changes hands for withdrawal?
3. If I don't go through finance, how much is a minor and major service on an A4 2.0TDI usually and are dealerships generally receptive to haggling the price down or price matching elsewhere?
4. The salesman mentioned 9k miles interval. Seems a bit odd, all the previous VWs I have had are 10k mile intervals.. Has the salesman got it wrong or is it 9k miles? The car (all my previous VWs) usually notifies me early because the true interval is 15000km (about 9400 miles), but the official UK interval was always 10k miles.
Thanks,
Matt