Calling all A4 Avant owners

[Eshrules]

Eshrules is looking for a brand new VAG...

top of the list at the moment is a 2003 130 tdi Se A4 avant, so I'm after the most important feedback of all, owners' feedback.

How's the car been for you? how have you found the general running costs, true MPG, tyre wear, servicing and general faults?

How does it drive, how does it feel on longer journeys etc etc.

I'm aware of most of the common faults, but being one of the lesser 'popular' vehicles, I'm interested in how owners find living with them.

look forward to your comments

[Braveheart1981]

I have an 04 Avant 1.9TDi 130 and must say I love it although have only had it 8 months.

My continuous MPG is about 41 with a lot of mixed driving, I have managed 60MPG before but that was sitting at 55MPH in the snow the other day.

No major problems so far apart from the 2 famous faults of windscreen wiper linkages and alternator pulley.

Best part is the 130 can become 170 with a remap which is next on the cards, followed by some new wheels, then maybe and HID conversion. Anyway enough about my wish list. Buy One there GRRRREAAAATTTT!!!!!

[rocket1]

i,ve had my 04 tdi sport avant for only a few months but i,m well happy with it. i had it remapped to 170 and it transformed it and also with the sport suspension and i have 18inch rims it really does like the corners. i bet the quattro,s awesome handling. only thing i found is i,m 6ft2 and with a child seat behind you you can be pushed for legroom.

[danclyon]

Have a Multitronic Sport. On gearbox no 2 and not too sure about the lifespan of this one, but it is veeery nice to have one - really impressed even if it breaks a lot!

Average of 46mpg over the last 5k miles - about 70% bombing along the motorways and the other 30% sat not moving on motorways and about town. When running on "normal" diesel I seem to get about 42 average over the same distance. Now only run on Shell VPower.

Things that broke:
Gearbox
EGR valve was leaking oil.
Boot lock solenoid

Things that annoy:
Tonneau cover that randomly slams itself shut (open in reality) when you hit anything approaching a decent bump or dip - still does this despite a "mod" by the dealer
Rear legroom is crap if you are tall.

Things to beware:
Can eat a bit of oil - mine is apparently quite good in that we've used a little over a litre in 24k miles.

Maintenance Costs - nil so far as Audi picked up the tab.

Insurance - dirt cheap for me - cheaper than the 10 year old mitsubish it replaced!
Tyre wear - no complaints - the car is at 50k and still on the originals from the factory, though there is very slight feathering on the rear passenger side from a suspected reversing incident by SWMBO.
Brake wear the same - still on originals, though getting low now (<20% left)

Best range achieved on a tank of diesel - 780 miles.
Worst range achieved on a tank of diesel - 420 miles

hth,

Dan.

[Sam]

Eshrules is looking for a brand new VAG...

Referring to yourself in the third person is a sure sign of a man out of control.

Let it be publicly known that this "man" was looking at (and almost bought) a....a....Mazda!!

[a4suction]

Have owned a 53 plate one for 18 months or so now. Awesome car. Smooth. Economical and just the job for me. Average of 40 odd MPG, never done a true economy drive so couldn't say what top end is.

Re-map done along with 18" wheels and HID conversion. Proper good them lights are.

Will deffo get another but tick the quattro box next time, looking for 57 plate in about 2-3 months so will report on that when I've done some more homework and more overtime!!!!

[GeorgeE]

I have had an 03 plate A4 Avant 130TDi (not the SE though) for a year now. Very happy with it, the only fault so far was a seized wiper linkage which was simple enough to sort.

Mine is a quattro, mainly because I bought it off a mate who had it from new. If I were choosing a model I don;t know that I would bother, yes it is great for the rare occaisions we get snow, but dragging around the extra transmission weight and drag does hit the MPG and performance a bit, as well as being somewhat heavier on tyre wear. Not sure it is worth it for a couple of days snow a year, but YMMV.

Hope that helps

[DBSK]

I got my 2004 Avant 1.9tdi 130 in November, done 6k in it now and ive been getting 42-44mpg most of it on the motorway with abit of town driving.

Theres not much leg room behind the drivers seat (Im 6ft) but apart from that its comfortable, handles well, looks good.

What more could you ask for.

[faticus]

i`ve a 2002 1.9tdi 130 avant had it for nearly four years with no major problems. fuel economy ? fill it up -use it -fill it up again ! would buy another one without any fear though. its as quiet as any petrol car i`ve driven on a motorway journey. loacl garage had a 53 plate for £5995 - 79k ish miles, what have you got your eye on ?

[SebRogers]

I've had a 2001 130tdi SE Avant for about 6 months now. High 40s real-world mpg, with low 50s achievable on a careful long run. Tyre wear seems reasonable so far, though I've only put about 8000 miles on it. Servicing costs at my local independent specialist are on a par with or even slightly lower than those at the local Skoda dealership that serviced my Octavia for the past 6 years.

Nice to drive and effortlessly comfortable on long journeys, though the comfort comes at the expense of a slightly uninvolving and wallowy feel in the corners if you're pressing on on twisty A and B roads. The gearing on my early model seems a bit tall for really effective in-gear overtaking, but I suspect that's a by-product of the 5 speed box. The 6 speed box might address that issue

Overall, I don't regret buying it for one minute. It costs about the same to run as my old Octavia and is far, far nicer to live with. Given that the Octy was actually a pretty nice car to drive and cheap to run, too (29p/mile all-in over the 138,000 miles that I owned mine), you can take that as a recommendation