Hi there Irish,
Sorry to hear you've had so many issues with your car. On the subject of the Insignia, I've not had one myself so my only advice would be to do your research!
I'm a big believer in renting the type of car you want to buy for a week, before you spend your hard earned cash! It gives you an idea if you can live with a car day to day, much more than a hour long test drive with a salesmen sitting next to you.
Just as the 2.0 TDi appears to have been a weak link in the Audi chain, I'm sure its the same for other marques too. Perhaps a few hours searching things like Vauxhall Insignia Issues might be time well spent! I'm not suggesting you'll find anything, but lets just say the reason I bought a 2.7TDi A4 rather than a 2.0 litre, was due to a few google searches!
What ever you decide, I hope your next 3 years of motoring is better than your last!
i have been doing quite a lot of research on it lately and opinions on the insignia are very mixed. some say its an amzaing car and others think its terrible. whilst there did appear to be some electrical issues when it was first released, these seem to have solved by recalls etc. and yeah it appears the 2.0cdti engine appears to be the weakest engine in there range. why is it impossible for car manufacturers to make a good reliable 2.0tdi engine? i bought my 2.0tdi A4 thinking it would be far stronger than than 1.9 and becasue it was more powerful. i also spent a lot longer looking for the 2.0tdi as there was fewer around when i bought. my GF has a 2002 Audi A4 1.9tdi that has 110k miles, almost twice mine. her car dosent get looked after or serviced properly (she was layed off last year and cant afford to) yet it seems to and always has run better and smoother than mine. i wish i had bought a 1.9tdi now!
am in mixed opinions on the insignia now. i have sat in one in the dealer and it does appear solid and well built. to my eye, as good as my audi. i dont know what its like on the road though, i guess a good test ride will tell a lot....
Just out of interest, what problems have you had with your Audi??
You mention the balance shaft thing but from your post it seems that it hasn't actually happened, you're just expecting it to.
Some of the problems people mention, like sticking calipers and leaking hoses are niff naff stuff and could happen on a £100k car.
I always only use to have vauxhalls and never really had any issues, but they are bland, run of the mill motorway buses. I wouldn't have one now through choice.
where do i start rowdyboy! i bought the car in march 2009 with 33k miles. since then i have had to replace some hose leading to the turbo and had to replace the fuel filter one way valve at 41k, the driver seat (original ones frame was broken and so the rear of the seat moved backwards when accelerating and forwards when braking) at 42k, aircon unit packed in at 44k, issue with glowplugs at 45k, the armrest cover (just broke when opening it) at 47k, the motor in the driver door for the power windows (just stopped working) at 58k, LHS engine mount, polybelt tensioner and rear shocks all gone at 61k and clutch and DMF packed in just before christmas. on top of that there is small issues like buttons on centre console worn and showing white since 50k, arch lining in front RHS came off whilst driving and i nearly crashed and there is now a wine and shudder from power steering rack. + have impending balance shaft failure problem.
i know some of these issues might seem like wear and tear items (engine mounts etc) but i think these are failing very prematurely (60k miles) and are just adding to my frustrations with the car. having to replace a driver seat, air con unit, armrest and window motor before the car is even 5 years old? i personally think that is ridiculous, especially for a car that cost â¬47,000 new.
but the thing is i still love my car. it is by far the best looking car i have owned and still turns heads no matter where i go. it gets minded like a baby, is never driven on, is always left cool down after a spin, serviced way before the intervals, fluids changed way before there due and is never left wanting for anything. but still things just fail and fall off it. as much as i love it, i dont have much mass in it anymore and cannot afford to keep replacing things that go wrong, especially on a car that is now nearly 7 years old. i dont know did i just get a bad example or is it a case that cars are no longer built to last but i have had enough! also audi's inability to simply put there hands up when something goes wrong ( balanced shaft failure) and will instead see thousands of owners crippling themselves to pay for a problem that was clearly a design issue from the start that could lead to potentially writing cars off gets to me. especially as i now drive my car knowing that it could happen at any moment. in 4 years of ownership of hondas, including cars with much more mileage than my audi and ones that got driven on hard (Integra type r), i have NEVER had to replace anything on them outside of normal servicing.
rant over guys! just very frustrating when you work so hard for something (i took out a big loan for my car at the age of 20) and put so much time and effort into something to have all the problems. im not saying the Insignia will be any better, but my parents and sister have owned Opels without issue so it might be worth looking more into. or maybe ill just go back to jap!
