a6/a4 petrol or diesel...

serious3

as i only have a small (1500/2000) budget i'm struggling to find a decent tested diesel with less than 200,000 miles on it, but i can find a good few petrol 1.8 and 1.8t A6 and A4's with a lot lower mileages. i know the diesels are reliable enough but what are the petrols like? anything to look for? are they hard on petrol(as in under 30mpg)?

Alanstrainor

I can't see you getting 30mpg on either 1.8 in those cars. Depends on the driving of course, but that'd be optimistic imo.

cadaliac

serious3 wrote: »

as i only have a small (1500/2000) budget i'm struggling to find a decent tested diesel with less than 200,000 miles on it, but i can find a good few petrol 1.8 and 1.8t A6 and A4's with a lot lower mileages. i know the diesels are reliable enough but what are the petrols like? anything to look for? are they hard on petrol(as in under 30mpg)?

Search for Peugeot 406 diesels. I was looking on donedeal there and if you don't mind driving a 00 to 03 car, there are good diesels with ~ 100k miles that look well kept and clean. There is one in Derry that caught my eye actually.
They are very underrated cars and they are very reliable diesels too.

And as Alanstrainor said, you won't see the good side of 30mpg in either if the 1.8 variants of the Audi unit.

serious3

i quite like the 406 but have been warned off anything french by a mechanic mate of mine! guess that the petrol audi is out then...

bazz26

serious3 wrote: »

i quite like the 406 but have been warned off anything french by a mechanic mate of mine! guess that the petrol audi is out then...

The 406 diesel was one of the best cars the French ever made, you really should give your mechanic a big yard brush for his sweeping generalisations.

A few examples:
http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/3211617
http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/3187277

I'd also look at the Rover 75, the diesel engine is a BMW engine and they are pretty solid and comfortable:
http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/3130484

I think modern Diesels are completely over rated these days and are too complicated and far less reliable.

BUT....... you won't go far wrong with a vag PD TDI and is proven reliable when looked after. My 03 B6 TDI A4 was still driving perfectly well when I sold it for the Prius. It had just over 200,000 miles. Oil and filter replaced after 15,000 Miles for the 100,000 miles I drove it for. I miss it, but getting far better mpg in the Prius and saving about 210 in tax which half pays for the insurance!

Just avoid the Multitronic automatics like the plague in the Audi's. The ones from 08 on are bullet proof, but the older ones were dodgy, the multi plate clutch and ecu were the main thibngs to go in those older multitronics, really fantastic to drive though and the torque of the diesel matches them well. I was one of the lucky ones with mine, but my brother was not!

I would say go for the 1.8T petrol with lower mileage and convert it to lpg, defiantly save money over the Diesel ! and you will save more than buying a higher mileage TDI!

keithclancy

bazz26 wrote: »

I'd also look at the Rover 75, the diesel engine is a BMW engine and they are pretty solid and comfortable:
http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/3130484

That Rover has been clocked, has to have been, look how worn the steering wheel is, either that or it was driven by the hulk

And whats the story with the last picture