Audi A4 B7 S-Line or Audi A4 B8 SE

Hello All,

I am new to the forum and I am looking for some advice. I am finding it tough to make a decision on what car to buy.
The choices are:

2006 Audi A4 S-Line B7 93,000 full audi service history, Sat nav, cloth seats, Bluetooth, loads of receipts. Was a very nice clean car, drove well, engine was a little noisy. Private seller.
£6,250

Attachment 18125

2008 Audi A4 SE B8 98,000. Patchy service history (lost book but confident I could get most of the info), no receipts (but assured timing belt had been done – I could get proof), no extras, new shape looked real good. Drove well. Trade (but out of his house)
£8,500

Attachment 18126

I could afford the more expensive one but if I purchased the cheaper one I can upgrade faster (a year sooner).

What would you do?

Having done this same very switch from A4 B7 to A4 B8 here is my opinion :-

I think the B7 S-line is a bone shaker to live with in the long term, or if you live near any less than smooth roads (mine was an SE). That said, the late B7 was a generally robust car if treated at all sensibly.

I have a 2010 B8 TDI 143 now which is sublime. Quiet flexible engine and no problems at all over 29K miles so far.

The B8 is in another galaxy in terms of ride, refinement and engine quietness, though no more economical that the old PD 140 engined car.

All things being even I would always go for the B8 but only you can really tell if you think the history of the car is suspect. I think on the B8 cam belt changes is over 100K and if you look at it you may see why, as it is engineered to see you through a direct nuclear strike. The only thing I would be inclined to check is that there are no clunks from the suspension when driving on a very rough surface.

I went from a B7 (54 plate) to a B8 (08 plate) and the difference was stunning. I agree completely with John140's assessment.

After I got the B8, when I saw people in B7s that had obviously been the remaining dealer stock when the B8s came out and where the owners had probably got a large discount to take them off the dealers' hands, I felt sorry for them.

My new TDIe 163 Technik has just arrived at Grimsby docks and I can't wait for the dealer to ring me to tell me it's ready to pick up.