Help needed

[SuperDeer]

Hi All!

So I have a burning dilemma.
I currently have an A5 2.0Tdi Quattro Coupe. But as a new father the time has come to trade it in

I am looking at two versions of the A4 Avant. 2.0TDi or 2.0 TFSI both Slide Quattro.

My question to you all is the following.
1. What is the real world Avg MPG you get on your cars? My daily drive is 36mil. 30mil on thenM1 and the other in the city. I can usually avoid around 55mpg. (£50 = +- 450MILES)
What economy wise you guys generally see?

2. Maintenance costs. With having a diesel there is the hidden costs of AdBlue and cleaning of the DPF. Are there any hidden costs with a petrol car? Or will it be standard major minor services? For long term, talking +5years here which will be more cost effective to maintain?

The petrol is about 2k less than the diesel to buy and comes with all the bells and whistles. But I don't want to be saving in short the £2k but in the long run it won't be much saving.

Your help will be greatly appreciated.
P.s I drive very economical on the motor way until recently being told that could also be why I needed to clean the DPF. So now I do bit of both. Avg miles a year is around 10k

Thank you all

 

[spartacus68]

Can't help with average fuel efficiency on B9. I used to have B8 177PS Allroad, 6-speed manual, and averaged 45mpg, basically A-class roads in decent ambient temperatures. No idea what 190PS achieves now in real world? Permanent 4WD drive quattro adds in weight, but the added reassurance of grip to lay down power is worth it.

On servicing - then this is likely to poke hornet's nest on opinions. Why diesel? Low-end torque certainly and fuel efficiency on long drives (withstanding city driving). Engines are usually bullet-proof (in my experience) with minimum oil consumption. Oil service every 8-10k miles with cabin filter and air filter. Fuel filter every 20k miles, brake fluid every 2 years and cam belt and water pump every 5 years or 60k miles on 4-cylinder diesel. I think Audi recommend 140k miles now on B9, but in all honesty it's a interference engine, so if belt goes - then break out a few thousand. I would normally do the auxiliary drive belts at the same time. If it's S-Tronic gearbox - then regardless of petrol or diesel they are due oil and filter change change every 38-40k miles. Rear diffs are usually good for 100k miles before changing oil, sooner if weeping.

Down sides. Undoubtedly the DPF, AdBlue and EGR are all weak points on diesel. Forum is littered with AdBlue faults with crystalized AdBlue injector, AdBlue lift pumps, level sensors, etc, and not cheap to fix unless your spanner handy and you'll need VSDS software. There's a certain amount you can do yourself - drive the car regularly, getting up to temperature with spirited drive in dynamic mode on occasion. The DPF regeneration will kick in with high soot level. Use premium diesel, and before fuel filter change - use a bottle of Forte Diesel Conditioner straight into a quarter tank and drive it like you stole it.

You can just be unlucky. I had to replace the turbo on my B8 diesel at 65k miles. Soot build up on the vanes, bent turbine blade and actuator was playing up. The oil feed pipe needs to be changed too.

Both petrol and diesel versions share multi-link suspension. The rear spring seats are an Achilles heel and parts costs are negligible, but labour will set you back £300 or so.

You'll notice I'm not answering your question, as it comes down to preference on what it feels like to drive. I bought B9 3 litre V6 diesel, as likely to be my last diesel car and will see me through to retirement. I tow - so low-end toque is appealing, plus I used to average 50+ miles per day, but with working from home I can cut that down to 2 days a week.

I'm sure the petrol owners will be along shortly to put final nail the coffin in diesel!

 

[northpole]

Petrol is for people who don't do high mileage if that is your case don't get a diesel especially if you never tow anything... yes it will comedown to how many mile a year, service costs are lower, but both diesel and petrol need to be driven hard at least once a month... ehr systems foul the engine of you always drive them around slowly, even more so with most petrol engines having variable turbos.

So to make a long story short: figure out how many miles ypu do a year if it's under 15k, petrol.
If it is above 15k... go for a diesel.

Ps I didn't answer your question either but this is how you should be looking at diesel vs petrol... nothing else.

 

[sotondjt]

Just sold my 2.0 S line Quattro but it did around 33 mpg over 8 years. My commute was only 12 miles each way so a lot of it was short journeys. more like 39/40 on a long motorway run. Always a great drive.

 

[cmgreen]

Hi have just purchased a 2.0 40 tdi quattro avant black edition, 2021 plate, 42k. I do 15-18k miles per year so a petrol was just out of consideration, i must admit i am disappointed with MPG and struggling to find out why.. 25 mile journey to work 20 being motorway, and just getting 43mpg and thats crawling along on the mtway with cruise at 70. Changed the Air and oil filter with genuine parts, going to change the Fuel filter at the weekend as this hasnt been done in a service. Any one else gettting the same? Might be just the cold weather or just me lol

 

[spartacus68]

Going to change the Fuel filter at the weekend as this hasnt been done in a service. Any one else gettting the same? Might be just the cold weather or just me lol

Cold weather always reduces efficiency on diesels. A warm day will give you best results. Fuel filter is under the driver’s side. Held in place with a metal bracket, hidden under underbody panels. Mix of 8mm and 10mm nylon hex nuts. Audi charge small fortune for filter, but come with replacement rubber pipes. MANN filters are just as good and probably OEM.

Ideally you need VCDS to prime after fitting.

 

[cmgreen]

Cold weather always reduces efficiency on diesels. A warm day will give you best results. Fuel filter is under the driver’s side. Held in place with a metal bracket, hidden under underbody panels. Mix of 8mm and 10mm nylon hex nuts. Audi charge small fortune for filter, but come with replacement rubber pipes. MANN filters are just as good and probably OEM.

Ideally you need VCDS to prime after fitting.

Yeah i have the Mann filter, obd11, carista and vcds at hand for priming. I thought the cold may effect mpg however not as much as currently getting. Coming from a company car where mpg didnt matter and running a hybrid I am just noticing little things. Thanks for your help

 

[SuperDeer]

Hi have just purchased a 2.0 40 tdi quattro avant black edition, 2021 plate, 42k. I do 15-18k miles per year so a petrol was just out of consideration, i must admit i am disappointed with MPG and struggling to find out why.. 25 mile journey to work 20 being motorway, and just getting 43mpg and thats crawling along on the mtway with cruise at 70. Changed the Air and oil filter with genuine parts, going to change the Fuel filter at the weekend as this hasnt been done in a service. Any one else gettting the same? Might be just the cold weather or just me lol

How cold is your weather? I just drove to Heathrow yesterday and said was about 3degress. Got an avg of about 53mpg with my 2 0 TDI quattro. I have noticed that my mpg has definitely dropped after I cleaned my DPF. Quick one if you have the virtual dashboard. What does you consumption instrument incriments read at. Mine is 0 - 10- 20 - 30 - 40 then max. With the battery. I'm sure mine use to be higher than that with it going to 60 then max. But I could be wrong but I'm sure it was

 

[cmgreen]

How cold is your weather? I just drove to Heathrow yesterday and said was about 3degress. Got an avg of about 53mpg with my 2 0 TDI quattro. I have noticed that my mpg has definitely dropped after I cleaned my DPF. Quick one if you have the virtual dashboard. What does you consumption instrument incriments read at. Mine is 0 - 10- 20 - 30 - 40 then max. With the battery. I'm sure mine use to be higher than that with it going to 60 then max. But I could be wrong but I'm sure it was

Yes mine is the same incriments etc, was 0 yesterday 43 mpg , today -2 45mph on motorway 51 mpg so it can however I remember having a Vw Bora 130pd and that got 55-60mpg everywhere even at 75mph on the motorway even 90 mph. Understand the quattro system will lose mpg but never thought this much.

Might stick some zx1 in it at the weekend as well as doing the fuel filter..