Which a6 tdi is best ?

[Luffers]

Hi

I am about to buy an a6 tdi and would like to know which size engine is considered the best.

I've been told the 1.9 is the one to go for but i can't remember why.

Thanks in advance for any replies.

P.s Does anybody know of any good tdi's for sale ?
I have a budget of around £4500 so am looking at a 2000 plate.

[Clinterous]

For what it's worth, I recently bought a 1.9 tdi 130 (03 plate) after spending considerable time deciding between 1.9 and 2.5.

The main reason I went for a 1.9 is because of the economy - I normally do in the region of 30,000 miles per year.

The 1.9 is fine for normal driving, have to change gear alot and can often get sandbagged out there if not keeping an eye on the rev counter. I often long for the grunt of a bigger engine...but then I remember the fuel economy and how much ££££ I save over the year in fuel.

As a compromise I'm going to get mine remapped to 160-170bhp, with hopefully no significant change to fuel economy. However, I doubt the characteristics of the engine will still be anything like a V6 2.5.

Horses for courses.

For £4,500 you may be able to pick up a later model than 2000.

[paul b]

Hi
I have a 2003 A6 (53 plate) 1.9TDI Sport. I love it, dead economical and plenty of power in and around town. Mine is the 130bhp version. That is the best. The other 1.9s like the 90bhp and the 110bhp felt flat.
Paul

[Undercover]

I have a '99 1.9 tdi (110 HP). To be honest, I love the car. I find it great to drive, OK, so it's not the quickest, but then I spend a fair amount of my time standing in traffic. It does feel quite nippy round town (what proportion of taxis are fitted with this engine nowadays?).

I average about 48 mpg. Oh, and if you scroll down the main thread list, how many "My 2.5 tdi has lost all of it's power" threads can you count?:D

[adamss24]

Guys, i had driven/owned both models- 2001 130 Pd tdi front wheel drive and now i own a 2.5 tdi quattro 6 speed manual. There is no replacement for displacement ! I agree, the 1.9 tdi is more economical than the v6 but, the 2.5 Tdi has 4 valves per cylinder, big turbocharger and that sweet engine note, plus its so smooth ! The PD neds expensive oil and the injectors cost a fortune, but its been around for years and they reliable . The v6 is pretty much bullet-proof, but not easy to work on for the grease monkeys ! Me, i love the fact that i can boot my car every time and still return 35 Mpg, with a light foot, high 40 Mpg ! If i was looking for pure performance, i would have got an 1.8 T Quattro or an S4 but, i choosen the flexibility of a v6 diesel.

[Luffers]

For what it's worth, I recently bought a 1.9 tdi 130 (03 plate) after spending considerable time deciding between 1.9 and 2.5.

The main reason I went for a 1.9 is because of the economy - I normally do in the region of 30,000 miles per year.

The 1.9 is fine for normal driving, have to change gear alot and can often get sandbagged out there if not keeping an eye on the rev counter. I often long for the grunt of a bigger engine...but then I remember the fuel economy and how much ££££ I save over the year in fuel.

As a compromise I'm going to get mine remapped to 160-170bhp, with hopefully no significant change to fuel economy. However, I doubt the characteristics of the engine will still be anything like a V6 2.5.

Horses for courses.

For £4,500 you may be able to pick up a later model than 2000.

Hey, thanks for the reply, I am thinking the same way, 1.9 130bhp then remappinng to 170ish.

I drove a 2.5 tdi and found it to be very powerful, plenty of pull but first gear is a waste of time lasting about 5 yards before needing to change to second.

A later model for £4500 ? I haven't seen any ? I still see 2000 plate,s for £5000.

[Luffers]

i love the fact that i can boot my car every time and still return 35 Mpg

All the fun of a petrol car + doesn't cost the earth :biglaugh:

[Clinterous]

Well, really depends on how many miles on the clock you'd tolerate. I usually end up with high mileage cars, but with full dealer service history. And, I'll only buy if the the cam belt isn't due for the next year or two and if the car appears to have been well looked after.

Couple of people I've talked to in the trade, prefer to go for quality and aren't bothered about mileage when its for their own personal use.

I picked up my A6 Avant 19 pd 130 with 167K on the clock for similar money as a same year diesel mondeo estate!:biglaugh: Granted the mondeo would have half the mileage, but then it would start to fall apart from 100k onwards.

Just my opinion.

[Clinterous]

Have a look at this one on ebay(if your into that) for example: 330174526168

:beerchug:

[risingdamp]

I have a 1.9tdi (130) - 03 model and it seems to be pretty smooth. I have the multitronic gearbox (CVT) which has been the only let-down. When it works, it's a joy, but I had a lot of judder (more like a kangaroo-style hop, skip and jump) from a standing start after first buying it. Luckily it was under warranty and a potentially very expensive repair bill was avoided. I've since spoken to a few friends who are a lot more Audi-knowledgeable than me who have all pointed out that the CVT gearbox is best avoided since they reckon it's something that Audi never got completely right. In sum I'd avoid the multitronic. It hasn't shaken my experience of Audi, but I'll stick to the manual next time round. The 130 has bit of extra that you need, imo.

I'd avoid the 90s and 115s, tho I'm not sure there is a 130 pre-2000 - perhaps someone can educate me on that?

Good luck.

[darkskies]

I have the 2.5Tdi and the grunt is good - I test drove a 1.9Tdi and in standard form I hated it - flat to the point that I couldn't tell what gear it was in most of the time and changing gear never really made much difference to the acceleration.

That said, most people seem to get good mileage out of them.

The 2.5Tdi V6 Multitronic I now have is powerful, although nowhere near what I'm used to (probably because of it's weight) and will return 34Mpg+. However, I've not got it into the 40's yet - even on a reasonably long journey.

The 2.5's take an age to heat up, which is probably why on the run to work (4/5 miles on dual carriageway and town driving) it doesn't even warm up and returns 32-34Mpg.

My previous 2.3 V5 petrol engined Bora would struggle to do 26Mpg on the same run.

Re-mapping will give you more power, but not the other characteristics of the 2.5.... And I really don't believe it wont increase your fuel consumption.. You'll probably be down to the same Mpg's as a 2.5 at the same speeds.

[paul b]

My A6 is constantly doing 46mpg. It is the 1.9TDI Sport Saloon. The answer to everybody whinging about changing gear is to get the 5 speed version, not six. Mine is 5 speed, love it!
Paul

[Clinterous]

I whinged about changing gear alot...I've got a 5 speed box...

Perhaps its because mine is an avant, slightly heavier.

[paul b]

Could be right, Clinterous. Just assumed people were moaning of 6 speed boxes because the 5 speed is not as common.
Paul

[Luffers]

Well bought an a6 now, off of ebay. The seller has a very good reputation and i think i got a bargain.

2003 a6 avant 1.9 tdi 130bhp with 114k on the clock, fash, leather, sat nav, dvd player, cruise, 18" alloys, absolutely gorgeous £6450

Spent a bit more than intended, oh well, won't be wanting for anything now.

Maybe see you on the 4th oct at chipped uk for a remap.

Thanx for the previous advice.

[Clinterous]

Congrats Luffers.

Perhaps you would let me know in due course how the car behaves after a remap?;)

Cheers

[Undercover]

Maybe see you on the 4th oct at chipped uk for a remap.


Damnit! When did they add the time machine as an option on an A6! :D

When do you pick it up?

[Luffers]

Damnit! When did they add the time machine as an option on an A6! :D

When do you pick it up?
Whoops, I meant november. lol

Picking the car up tomorrow (sunday), can't wait.

[Luffers]

So today i get up with a huge hangover after celebrating the win over france in the rugby and leave for london to collect the car.

Well all i can say is, I will never purchase a car without having seen it first again !!!

Of course in photos it looks great and you wouldn't really expect a 2003 a6 with 114k on the clock to be in bad shape but my god. how wrong was I !!!

I took my dad with me who rebuilds classic cars so knows a thing or to, well it was quite obvious to us this car had some problems as there was a funny noise coming from underneath the car when idling. We had are suspicions it was something to do with the gearbox and when the clutch was pressed sure enough the noise would go. The general feel of the car was of a used one, it felt as if it had covered 200k with wear marks on the steering wheel, gear knob, and 3 holes in the drivers footwell carpet. I think it had possibly been used as a taxi, this would explain the gearbox problem (foot on the clutch when sat in traffic)and the wear marks on the gear knob and steering wheel. The sat nav dvd system didn't work ! The n/s door mirror was cracked, The front arm rest came off in my hand ! The alloys were scuffed ! the list went on.

The seller wasn't even there and had left some woman in charge ( i never got her name or new how she was related ) she was foreign ( polish or something ) and basically was of no use at all, she was just there to collect the money i think( does this seem fishy to anyone else ? ) She kept saying " is a good car" ******** is it !!!

I told her the car has problems and walked away(120 miles back to bristol).

The sellers ebay username is digital motors and has a 100% positive feedback score which is impressive for somebody who's done 550 plus transactions, but i wouldn't trust him with a barge pole, i wonder how many people bought cars from him unknowing the car had faults ? probaly quite a few !!!

The moral of the story, always test drive a car before buying. This ******* has wasted a whole day of mine and £35 in fuel.

[RobDob]

I've never had the courage to buy a motor off e-bay in case that happens. Sorry to hear about your disappointment. Always try before you buy! Keep searching, and if using e-bay try and find one within driveable distance so you can see it before end of auction. Good luck!

[Clinterous]

Ugh!

The fleebay experience can be hit and miss.

I bought my Audi off ebay (and it's been perfect), from Pioneer Automotive, based in Cheltenham. They seem to do alot of Audi's so might be worth getting in contact with them to see what bargains are about currently. They seem professional and open.

I agree with what you did Luffers, walked away when the faults were clearly not described in the listing.

If you get the registration number of the next potential car, you could give your local Audi dealer a call to check up on its service history.

[darkskies]

I was going to buy a car off him! Glad I didn't.

Have a look on the usual sites like autotrader.co.uk, exchangeandmart.co.uk etc also.

Don't neglect the auctions if there is one near you.

I picked up an 02 plate Avant SE in 2.5Tdi V6 Multironic guise for £8K - in very good nick (except for some doggy stratches at the back) and mechanically great.

Firstly I would advise getting the reg and phoning your local Audi dealership and saying you've just bought it and want them to service it as your local dealer... It makes the world of difference and they really do give you all the info they can on the car.

Obviously this doesn't help with the poor description of the car, so some negative ebay feedback is probably in order.

Digital_motors had quite a few bits of feedback withdrawn (neutral feedback) so it's always good to be aware of this.

Luckilly I lost out on an auction for an A6 from them.

[mhobson]

In respect of buying a 130 bhp 1.9 tdi in standard form it should do good fuel consumption but as other contributors have mentioned, you may end up with a lot of gear changes. Increasing the bhp to 170 would not necessarily mean less changes as the power may arise further up the rev range, more important is torque and how low does it come in. Get a v6 and you can get a lot of torque low down. I bought a 1999 150 bhp as I do not drive very fast and thought that the 180 bhp was a waste of money, I have since found out that the 150 bhp can need the injector pump changed (mine was changed just before I bought it (2500 euros)) the turbo can carbon up and need cleaning but these repairs, according to the local Audi garage are rarely needed on the 180 bhp engine, and it also benefits from a better head and also, I think, shot peened con rods. The multitronic box seems interesting as long as it keeps going but I have heard quite a few horror stories so I prefer the 6 speed manual, sweet box, simple and fun to drive. Mine, now chipped, can pull in 6th from 30 mph but you can drop three gears if you want it to really move. Regards, Michael

[Luffers]

The seller Digital_motors has offered to refund my travel cost's so at least thats something.

He wrote me an e-mail saying he had not noticed the noise coming from the gearbox and was sorry for that.

I take on board the suggestion to call an audi dealer with the reg, this could tell whether a car has been serviced and verify mileage.

In regards to changing gear, I understand its only a problem on the 2.5tdi not the 1.9tdi.

Clinterous, I have come across pioneer automotive they seem very professional and currently have an awesome a6 2.5tdi quattro 180bhp on a 53 plate but its currently at my limit of £6500 with 3 days to go. I will contact them anyway, maybe theres something coming in.

And to all you vw,audi die hards i'm sorry to say i'm currently be very tempted by a 2001 mercedes c220 cdi. Could this be my first and last thread on this forum ?

Cheers

Luffers

[Clinterous]

[quote=Luffers;83033]
Clinterous, I have come across pioneer automotive they seem very professional and currently have an awesome a6 2.5tdi quattro 180bhp on a 53 plate but its currently at my limit of £6500 with 3 days to go. I will contact them anyway, maybe theres something coming in.

Oh yeah...I've got an idea Luffers; you buy my car off me for £6.5k (ebay item 120149317122) I only live 30 miles south of Bristol, then I can go for that 2.5 quattro.

Genius eh!;)

[Luffers]

[quote=Luffers;83033]
Clinterous, I have come across pioneer automotive they seem very professional and currently have an awesome a6 2.5tdi quattro 180bhp on a 53 plate but its currently at my limit of £6500 with 3 days to go. I will contact them anyway, maybe theres something coming in.

Oh yeah...I've got an idea Luffers; you buy my car off me for £6.5k (ebay item 120149317122) I only live 30 miles south of Bristol, then I can go for that 2.5 quattro.

Genius eh!;)

Ha Ha,

maybe in a perfect world lol.

[paul b]

Don't Buy A Mercedes!!! Do You Really Know What The "c" In C Class Means? It Stands For Crap Class. Audi's Have Much More Unlocked Power In Them, The Mercs Are Drugged Up On Traction Control. I Had An R Reg C200 Petrol. It Was As Flat As A Fart, I Was So Disappointed. I Have Since Had An 2004 A160 Cdi Before My A6, That Was Pants Too! I Have Driven Mercs For Years Because I Used To Be A Wedding Car Driver. I Currently Have A 53 Reg A6 1.9tdi Sport 130. Seriously, If You Are After A Shoddy Merc, Get An E-class, Not A C-class.

[davej]

I'm with adamss on this one. Having spent 200+ thousand miles behind the wheel of the 1.9tdis and later new shape passat 140 2.0tdi feel qualified to comment.
Change of job with no company car I first chose a chipped 280 brake S2 which was fun for 6 months. I knew it would be thirsty (low twenties) but had to give one a try and miss it now it's gone. I now have a 2001 avant 2.5tdi quattro 180 and am so chuffed with it on a number of counts. On a run to n wales and back with kids luggage and dog averaged 41.7mpg for the whole 550 mile round trip. Ok so I was cruising 60-75 and not booting around but this motor is a joy to drive sedately enjoying the effortless silky smooth power delivery and the sound of the v6 is special. On a blast back from somewhere with more enthusiastic driving couldn't get less than 32mpg.
The 4 pot sounds rough in comparison and the power delivery is over very quickly compared to the wider v6 power band.
Only minor niggle is the turbo boost comes in a few hundred revs later on the 6 pot due the bigger turbo but there may be a tune available to iron this out. Not had it that long so maybe in the future.
Dave

[darkskies]

Wish you luck on the A6 - although if I'm honest with 3 days to go at £6.5K I'll be very surprised if it doesn't get up to £8.5-£9.5K when the real bidding starts..

Why, oh why do people bid on items days before the auction finishes!???

[Luffers]

Wish you luck on the A6 - although if I'm honest with 3 days to go at £6.5K I'll be very surprised if it doesn't get up to £8.5-£9.5K when the real bidding starts..

Why, oh why do people bid on items days before the auction finishes!???

I know !!! stop sending the price up !!! put in your best bid at the end and hope your the lucky one who wins.

[mhobson]

I love the mercedes diesel engines (Timing chain no cam belt), I have a Sprinter and Vito and before I bought my A6 I looked at year 2000 E320 CDI and E220 CDI estates a year ago but there was already rust coming through in various places including wheel arches, sills etc and often you could see that remedial paintwork had been done on six year old cars, surprisingly they are not galvanised. O.K. we have the roof gutter problem but on balance, I chose the Audi.

[Clinterous]

Nobody's mentioned BM 5 series yet...:aargh4:

[paul b]

That's a very good point mhobson, I know my 2003 A6 is galvanised, whereas my old 2004 Merc A160 CDI wasn't.
Paul

[Luffers]

So audi's rule !!!

Today i test drove a VW Passat 2.5 v6 tdi 163 bhp on a 51 plate. Very nice car but still want an audi.

I've been told this engine is the same as the 2.5 used in audi's ?

Could anyone confirm this ?

I also recently test drove an Audi A6 1.9 tdi 130 bhp, I found both cars to have considerable turbo lag. I'm guessing thats normal ?

Doesn't a remap help get rid of turbo lag ?

[Luffers]

Took a 2002 Golf GT TDI 130 for a test drive today, liked it so much i bought it !!! Audi after this one lol.

[onzarob]

I've never had the courage to buy a motor off e-bay in case that happens. Sorry to hear about your disappointment. Always try before you buy! Keep searching, and if using e-bay try and find one within driveable distance so you can see it before end of auction. Good luck!


I totally agree if you can't test drive it don't buy it, the camera does lie;)


Get An E-class.

No don't, my work colleagues R reg e 3.0d has had broken springs, rusty suspension turrets and rust underneath (Its only done 70k!!!). They ain't like the old ones:aargh4:

Go for the 1.9tdi as it cheeper to run and service, ie cambets are expensive on the V6.

[paul b]

Oh, about the E-Class, I meant the new shape, onzarob. But I totally agree, BUY AN AUDI, much better value for money, cheaper running costs too. I took my old A Class for a service at Mercedes, only because I wanted to keep the full Merc service history, otherwise I would have done it myself. I got it back and all they had done was change the pollen filter, wash it and they gave it an air freshener (it didn't smell bad when it went in haha). They had not even changed the oil, air filter, oil filter or fuel filter. Bare in mind this was a 10k service. I know Audi's can go on longlife service and do 20k+ to a service, but Mercs don't. For all they did (or what they didn't do!), they charged me £500. It was the dearest wash and air freshener that Merc ever had!!!
Paul

[onzarob]

I know Audi's can go on longlife service and do 20k+ to a service, but Mercs don't. For all they did (or what they didn't do!), they charged me £500. It was the dearest wash and air freshener that Merc ever had!!!
Paul

I had some new tyres this week and was chatting to the tyre fitter, he had merc in for new tyres, it took him 2hours to remove one of the wheels. He rang the garage and said they never remove the wheels on a service, it was corroded to the hub:aargh4:

Makes you wonder what dealers do for their multi point checks??