Roadtrip to France.

[wilky423]

Hi all,
Fairly new here, picked up an A4 B7 saloon last week after having a couple of other models over the years (A3/A4 Avant).

Love the ride, now its a 2004 in silver/grey.
Not really good at the mechanical side of things but willing to learn as time goes on, however my question is this.

I'm booked up to take the family over to France at the start of September, just East of Paris for a week.
I only work a few miles away so not really had chance to take the wheels out for a good run yet.

I'm not sure on all of the cars history, but I do know it had a cam change about 3 year ago & tyres look good.

Can you experience guys/gals, give me any advice on what can be done so I don't end up with a big headache breaking in down in France, i.e. plug change, oil/filter etc.

Cheers in advance.

Steve.

 

[45bvtc]

Hi all,
Fairly new here, picked up an A4 B7 saloon last week after having a couple of other models over the years (A3/A4 Avant).

Love the ride, now its a 2004 in silver/grey.
Not really good at the mechanical side of things but willing to learn as time goes on, however my question is this.

I'm booked up to take the family over to France at the start of September, just East of Paris for a week.
I only work a few miles away so not really had chance to take the wheels out for a good run yet.

I'm not sure on all of the cars history, but I do know it had a cam change about 3 year ago & tyres look good.

Can you experience guys/gals, give me any advice on what can be done so I don't end up with a big headache breaking in down in France, i.e. plug change, oil/filter etc.

Cheers in advance.

Steve.

I purchased a 2016 SQ5 with 19k miles a couple of years back, Steve, took the £s instead of the 'warranty' from the from the non-Audi dealer and took the car straight to my 'known' Audi dealer for a full service. That was back in March 2019 and I haven't needed to do anything to it since. I'd recommend such before taking your A4 to 'just east of Paris' and that from someone who regularly toured France top-to-bottom and side-to-side regularly in a 1971 Lotus Elan, lol...

 

[Pie-eyedpiper]

What engine have you got?
Petrol I gather.

 

[wilky423]

What engine have you got?
Petrol I gather.

2.0 tfsi

 

[Pie-eyedpiper]

Lot of guys here with those with varying experiences. They should be able to give you lots of info what to look out for.
But the obvious would be oil, plugs, brake pads, etc all the basics really.

And if you ever want to lower it I have some new Eibach springs for sale........

 

[AlpineCab]

Aside from the general service ie oil, plugs, filters:-
- Double-check brakes and brake lights. Traffic can very dense and very stop-start as you get close to Paris and there is a lot of sudden lane-changing.
- Check the cooling system. You'll be doing 130km/h all the way to Paris then suddenly the traffic grinds to a halt and you could be held up for around an hour or so - plenty of time for any coolant problems to manifest themselves!

Keep an eye out for speed cameras, urban speed limits are relatively low and DVLA shares your info with the Gendarmerie on request. There's very little margin of grace. By law, drivers need to have yellow hi-vis vests, spare bulbs, and stickers for the headlights - all of which are handily on sale at the UK terminals

Bonne Route!

 

[wilky423]

Aside from the general service ie oil, plugs, filters:-
- Double-check brakes and brake lights. Traffic can very dense and very stop-start as you get close to Paris and there is a lot of sudden lane-changing.
- Check the cooling system. You'll be doing 130km/h all the way to Paris then suddenly the traffic grinds to a halt and you could be held up for around an hour or so - plenty of time for any coolant problems to manifest themselves!

Keep an eye out for speed cameras, urban speed limits are relatively low and DVLA shares your info with the Gendarmerie on request. There's very little margin of grace. By law, drivers need to have yellow hi-vis vests, spare bulbs, and stickers for the headlights - all of which are handily on sale at the UK terminals

Bonne Route!

Hi & thanks for the info, I did western france a couple of years ago & yes did get a speeding ticket 12 months later

Top advice on the cooling, although I've got all afternoon to do a 3 hour trip from the tunnel so I think I'll be taking in a couple of coffees on the way.

Cheers again.

 

[tr7]

Make sure your Tyres are in good condition and make sure you have your locking wheel nut your spare wheel is fully inflated and in good order.

Worth removing all wheel bolts one by one and apply copper grease and ensuring they are all freely moving. Last thing you want is to be stuck at the side of the road unable to remove a wheel or have a useless spare.

Doing 1-2k trip will fast forward/bring up any tyres issues very quickly so best have all sorted before leaving

 

[AvantMike]

Having done exactly what you're describing when I first got my Avant... DON'T get RAC european cover. Use anyone else, my experience with RAC left me £1300 out of pocket (I managed to get £800 back but it took months), damage to my car caused by the garage & lots of stress - all because of a failing wheel bearing.

 

[Charlie Farley]

Best plan would be to do a mini service before you go.
The B7's have a few week points and they allways occur at the worse times.
Long before you go check the coolant header tank and back of the cylinder head for water leaks, these engine are prone to leaking flanges etc and you can loose a lot of water quickly .
Mark the level and monitor it for a week or so .
Fit a new cabin filter and air filter , just the obvious things really, its an old car so you cant check everything but you can do some bits .

 

[wilky423]

Good advice all around thanks everyone.
I have decided to take my sons car this time (only because of timing etc), but I will be having a go at doing the minor servicing myself over the coming couple of months.

Thanks again all.