Advise on A5 buying

[Marine_918]

Hi guys,

New to this side of the forum. Currently own an 08 S3 stage2+ but looking to change to the A5 as i love the style of the car.

Not yet decided which engine to go for it'll either be the 2.0Tdi or the 3.0Tdi. I guess this is where you guys come in, as im after more mpg from the car.

I currently get around 22-24mpg from my S3 on daily commutes to work and around 29-31mpg on motorway runs.

What is the 3.0tdi like on fuel/mpg? Ideally i would like to go for the 3.0tdi as it wont be a drop in power when moving away from the S3.

Also I've heard different reviews on the gearboxs the A5 have. S tronic and the Multitronic. What are the differences with these?

Many thanks

 

[Marine_918]

Sorry I forget to add im looking at getting the Facelift A5 around 2013.

 

[IanFM]

I have a 3.0tdi Stronic preface lift and love it. My daily commute gets 35-40mpg depending on traffic and I can get 43-45mpg on a decent run if cruising between 70-80.

 

[Swanny356]

My average is 37 mpg and running @ 300bhp. I think all 3.0TDI are manual or Stronic with multitrack if in the 2.7.

It won't be as nippy as the S3 but more 'grown up' motoring.

 

[Marine_918]

Thanks for the reply guys. Is there anything I should look out for when buying one? Any common issues/faults?

 

[NICK-C]

I went from a 2010 Stage 1 S3 to a 2013 A5 3.0 TDi S-tronic (245ps) and put a tuning box on it. The average for the S3 was about 26mpg and about 38mpg for the A5 (calculated and not from the DIS).
As Swanny said it won't be as nippy but will be more grown up. The ride isn't as harsh and interior is nicer and the 3.0Tdi engine is great.

A friend had a remapped 2.0Tdi A5 and whilst it was fairly quick not as quick as the 3.0 and he averaged similar mpg to me (although think he does drive a bit quicker). For the minimal fuel cost difference between the 2.0 & 3.0 I would choose 3.0 every-time. Plus it sounds pretty good for a diesel.

 

[Marine_918]

Thanks for that. I pretty sure im going to go for the 3.0 A5 after reading the comments.

However looking on Autotrader there are alot of 3.0 with the Multitronic gearbox which after reading up on isnt that good. Especially when it comes to the remap as people are saying the gearbox cant handle it compared to the S tronic..can anybody clarify this?

 

[NICK-C]

I think iirc the multitronic was around 200bhp so you will want the stronic 245bhp version. Not sure on the multitronic but the 245bhp maps to around 280 to 290bhp and gearbox should be fine.

 

[Foyaz]

This might not affect you but the petrol engines are known to go through oil like crazy, a well knock oil consumption issue especially with the 2.0 b8 platform engine. Don't know if this still plagues the TDI engines but I'd read up on that if I were you just in case. I heard the engine rebuilds are expensive if it is out of warranty to rectify this known fault. I got lucky and bought mine after the previous owner had it fixed .

 

[DrEskimo]

This might not affect you but the petrol engines are known to go through oil like crazy, a well knock oil consumption issue especially with the 2.0 b8 platform engine. Don't know if this still plagues the TDI engines but I'd read up on that if I were you just in case. I heard the engine rebuilds are expensive if it is out of warranty to rectify this known fault. I got lucky and bought mine after the previous owner had it fixed .

This is only an issue which affects the 2.0TFSI engines from 08-11 (pre facelift). It's also common in the A4 and Q5 models with the same engine.

While Audi were dragging their heels and getting owners to contribute to the fix out of warranty, they have now taking full responsibility and seem to be covering the cost for most owners out of warranty. Service history and any significant performance modifications to the engine seem to be the only two things affecting your chances of getting the fix free of charge.

Glad the issue came up for me now, rather than a year or two ago...know I wouldn't of been happy to pay the £3000 invoice the fix came with...!

Agree with advice above. If you're going diesel, the 3.0TDI, S-Tronic, Quattro is worth holding out for!

 

[Foyaz]

This is only an issue which affects the 2.0TFSI engines from 08-11 (pre facelift). It's also common in the A4 and Q5 models with the same engine.

While Audi were dragging their heels and getting owners to contribute to the fix out of warranty, they have now taking full responsibility and seem to be covering the cost for most owners out of warranty. Service history and any significant performance modifications to the engine seem to be the only two things affecting your chances of getting the fix free of charge.

Glad the issue came up for me now, rather than a year or two ago...know I wouldn't of been happy to pay the £3000 invoice the fix came with...!

Agree with advice above. If you're going diesel, the 3.0TDI, S-Tronic, Quattro is worth holding out for!

That's actually amazing, didnt know they finaly pulled their finger out and are taking responsibility.

Also +1 for the s-tronic, especially if you intend to get it remapped.

 

[DrEskimo]

That's actually amazing, didnt know they finaly pulled their finger out and are taking responsibility.

Also +1 for the s-tronic, especially if you intend to get it remapped.

Yea I think it was a lawsuit in the US and then coverage on Watchdog that finally started getting Audi to accept responsibility. Would of been nice of them to recognise it from the beginning, but I think they are even reimbursing customers that originally paid a contribution towards the fix now as well....better late than never I guess...

If only they would do the same for the other common faults, such as the inevitable failure of the window regulator mechanisms...

 

[Foyaz]

Don't mean to hijack this thread but since were on the topic. This Audi a5 that I have is my first car into the 'german luxury' market, always used to have Japanese cars purely for the reliability before. I bought it expecting high quality (which is it) but a service from Audi to match, but that's where I was utterly disappointed.

Audi as a company have been the worst I have dealt with so far. I have had a nightmare trying to sort out my extended service plan with them, they literally transferred me from dept to dept over and over, this happened over the course of a weeks. It even got to the point where I went into the closest Audi showroom. I spoke to the lady at reception and she said I can use their phone which was nice. I'm literally standing there at reception, she forwarded the call to another branch, who then forwarded it back to the lady at reception and then she was talking to me like a new customer taking me through the verification and i'm looking at her like wtf.... I'm standing a meter away... you're speaking to me on the phone... I gave up at this point. Oh and it took over 3 hours for a free health check which should have took 20 minutes.

Audi cars are amazing, Audi as a dealer are awful. Sorry, rant over lol.

 

[TQS]

Sorry also to hijack but I'm looking at a 2013 3.0 tdi auto box - anyone know if it is a multi tronic or s tronic?

Also, what's the difference between the two?

Ta