Automatic versus manual - fuel economy

kerten

chops018 wrote: »

Tyre pressure is fine. All at 32 psi. I'm not sure about the calipers. I did get a new rear right caliper in the summer as my mechanic saw one was sticking and it was wrecked. Air filter 'should' be fine as a full service was done in the summer. Not sure if thermostats are faulty, the temp gauge on the dash is always fine.

Checking calipers is easy. Drive at motorway speeds for 10 mins, stop somewhere safe and quickly bring your hands closer to brake discs without touching anything. If there is a sticking caliper, you will sense the heat from particular corner.

Rrrrrr2

I’ve a new model 3 Series diesel auto- I find it more efficient than some previous manual similarly sized cars I’ve had- the modern ones are far better and attuned to the engine now (very little revving through gear change).

pippip

chops018 wrote: »

Nothing showing on a scan though. And overall driving ok. Could there still be some fault but just not showing up?

The problem may have come on gradually, meaning you didn't experience a sudden change in performance and just became accustomed to it. Or it just could be so minimal it doesn't effect the performance but is just making the engine work that little bit harder.

Gearbox and engine maintenance all up to date? Simple fluid change may help.

Zascar

I would never ever trust the fuel consumption calculators built into cars, older ones anyway. Especially the Miles left when you fill up. Mine gets almost half what it actually predicts.

Use www.fuelly.com or a similar app to track the exact miles, litres used and costs etc. Its the only way to do it properly. You'll find the actual mpg is usually quite a bit less than what the car calculates...

firstlight

Older automatics are much harder on juice
Like said cold weather will knock mpg of too
To be fair you dont buy an old automatic for decent fuel economy returns
Buy a manual and drive to suit the mpg return you want
Yes i can get into mid 50s in my old a6
But you have to drive like a nun
The beamer your interested in will be a money pit aswell
Buy premium and it will cost you big money unless you can fix things yourself or have a handy mate with spanners

chops018

Thanks for the posts all. My car doesn’t seem to have any apparent issues anyway and no warning lights. No leaks or anything on the ground after the car sitting up a few hours. Lots of work done on it in the summer too and seems to be driving and running fine. In my opinion anyway.

Yeah my sisters friend is a mechanic who does some work for me very cheap. Only thing is you could be waiting on him for 2 weeks to get time to sort parts and do the job. There’s a couple of “back street” mechanics too near me who are reasonable too if I need.

What’s all of your opinions on this? I went to view that 320d again this morning as last night I only got to drive it for about two minutes. Told your man I’d come back today to view as I prefer to view in daylight. He said grand. So I went back this morning. Checked the oil when I got there and it was just under half way so that would need topping up, ABS speed sensor on (which he said he would replace), key fob battery light had come on since last night, discs and pads very rusty, the blower for the heat on number one was rattling when coming on (which my 2007 BMW did for a while before completely going), took it for a drive and while it was very powerful I didn’t like the noise the turbo made when putting the boot down in fourth gear onwards. Said all this to him when I got back and he got fierce annoyed and said the turbo was fine and he wouldn’t be doing anything about the other things and that it would have a full year NCT in a couple of weeks and the cars are not sold with warranty and when I apologised and said I was just trying to be sure on things he kept saying whatever and told me I was wasting his time. Very bad form by him, and quite frankly turned me off him as a dealer and the the car altogether, I mean why get so angry with a potential purchaser asking questions about the car. How is that wasting time. Surely not a good sign. I didn’t bother to stand there and argue, basically just said apologies and left (raging I said that now, I should have said a car dealer should know someone wants to test drive a car properly and ask questions and he shouldn’t be getting annoyed over that and interpret it as time wasting, especially with no warranty).

colm_mcm

This looks like another poorly maintained car. Run a mile.

CoBo55

Don't beat yourself up over it, the country is awash with 320D's unfortunately most of that age and mileage will have many issues I certainly wouldn't be viewing that yoke today. It boils down to figures really, how much a week/month are you spending on fuel driving a car you've already spent a lot on, at least you know what you have and hopefully won't get stung with another big bill anytime soon. The few thousand you were going to blow on the 320 would buy you a lot of diesel.

chops018

colm_mcm wrote: »

This looks like another poorly maintained car. Run a mile.

Definitely. Thanks Colm. Such a bad attitude from the dealer also is not a good sign. Almost like he was raging I was mentioning these things.

chops018

CoBo55 wrote: »

Don't beat yourself up over it, the country is awash with 320D's unfortunately most of that age and mileage will have many issues I certainly wouldn't be viewing that yoke today. It boils down to figures really, how much a week/month are you spending on fuel driving a car you've already spent a lot on, at least you know what you have and hopefully won't get stung with another big bill anytime soon. The few thousand you were going to blow on the 320 would buy you a lot of diesel.

Fair point. But ideal scenario is buy a 2008 or 2009 320d for €2500-3000 and sell my own for similar. Or trade in my own and not have to pay much my way.

CoBo55

chops018 wrote: »

Fair point. But ideal scenario is buy a 2008 or 2009 320d for €2500-3000 and sell my own for similar. Or trade in my own and not have to pay much my way.

Trade in is your only option you'll never sell yours privately without a lot of hassle. Why the 320D? they're an awful heap of a yoke surely an A4 or another A6 in manual would be a much better car.

chops018

CoBo55 wrote: »

Trade in is your only option you'll never sell yours privately without a lot of hassle. Why the 320D? they're an awful heap of a yoke surely an A4 or another A6 in manual would be a much better car.

Had three 3 Series before. Always loved them and they were always the cars I kept longest! So thought go back to them.

CoBo55

chops018 wrote: »

Had three 3 series before. Always loved them and they were always the cars I kept longest! So thought go back to them.

Fair enough but you'd be taking a huge gamble with one of that vintage. Maybe the lads on the bangernomics thread could throw you a few tempters.
https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057996773&page=532

I'd definitely try to get rid of the A6 with the deal, your heart will be scalded with best price merchants if trying to sell privately.

colm_mcm

CoBo55 wrote: »

Trade in is your only option you'll never sell yours privately without a lot of hassle. Why the 320D? they're an awful heap of a yoke surely an A4 or another A6 in manual would be a much better car.

Why would he have hassle selling it?

Dunfyy

Old cars use less fuel as new cars have computer emmision controls
Manuals use less than automatic

CoBo55

colm_mcm wrote: »

Why would he have hassle selling it?

Because nobody wants one....

colm_mcm

Lads go mad for A4s

That said the tax will make it less attractive, but everything has a price.

CoBo55

colm_mcm wrote: »

Lads go mad for A4s

That said the tax will make it less attractive, but everything has a price.

The op has an A6

colm_mcm

Oh!

Sure as long as it’s cheap someone will buy it.

Rrrrrr2

That car sounds like a complete dog but typical of a lot of older 320d’s. Money pits with a ton of complex expensive problems. I wouldn’t even bother engaging with the dealer. Just smile and run a mile.

CoBo55

colm_mcm wrote: »

Oh!

Sure as long as it’s cheap someone will buy it.

He'd better brush up on his Romanian/Estonian/Polish and for God's sake don't put on Adverts unless he wants to swop it for a jack russel pup..

chops018

https://www.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/bmw-318-diesel-saloon-low-tax/26861102?campaign=6

Might go view the above tomorrow. I know this dealer. My dad knew him for years before he died too, used to buy a lot off him. Big set up with his own mechanics and gives a warranty and is sound to deal with. Also takes trade in's. It's the 318d though, aren't they 143bhp? The 320d a bit more powerful however as it's 177bhp. Would it be very noticeable? Any other major differences with the 318d and 320d? The former would be easier on diesel I'd say with less power?

Chatting to the missus here and she's going mad over me going back to manual. She's insured on my car and loves the automatic. Ha. Have to say auto is very handy.

chops018

Rrrrrr2 wrote: »

That car sounds like a complete dog but typical of a lot of older 320d’s. Money pits with a ton of complex expensive problems. I wouldn’t even bother engaging with the dealer. Just smile and run a mile.

Yeah that dealer was awful to deal with once I began questioning things. I think he thought he'd made the sale the night before but when I viewed it in the daylight a second time more issues became apparent. I'm no where near a mechanic either so possibly I was wrong or possibly there was even more issues than I could see.

pippip

To be honest i think you're jumping the gun a bit.

In a few days you've gone from why am i not getting a few extra miles on my perfect audi to replacing your car entirely.

Youve put alot of money by the sounds of it into your current car and admit yourself its running perfect apart from this miles issue.

Id give it a bit few more days research into the issue before binning it. Might just be a faulty sensor, a few euro to replace, possibly.

Id recommend getting onto a few audi specific forums first as youll experience more first hand advice than here on your exact model.

chops018

pippip wrote: »

To be honest i think you're jumping the gun a bit.

In a few days you've gone from why am i not getting a few extra miles on my perfect audi to replacing your car entirely.

Youve put alot of money by the sounds of it into your current car and admit yourself its running perfect apart from this miles issue.

Id give it a bit few more days research into the issue before binning it. Might just be a faulty sensor, a few euro to replace, possibly.

Id recommend getting onto a few audi specific forums first as youll experience more first hand advice than here on your exact model.

I do take your points on board. And you're probably right. I bought the car for €1700 a few months ago. Spent €1000 on it (but sold my old car for €900 so the money spent on it wasn't too had tbh).

Tbh, it's just annoying me the last while, despite nothing being wrong with it. I think fuel consumption just pushed me over the edge a bit. Wouldn't mind going back to BMW. I do like the bit of power. Is the 143 bhp a bit under powered? My previous 3 series were 140 and 150, and they were plenty fast. The A6 is actually quite slow tbh!

CoBo55

Just buy the BMW and hope for the best, you've your mind made up regardless of what anyone says here. The one you linked to looks to be a nice car you could be lucky.

chops018

CoBo55 wrote: »

Just buy the BMW and hope for the best, you've your mind made up regardless of what anyone says here. The one you linked to looks to be a nice car you could be lucky.

Went to look at it. Looks like the back had a small tip. Back right hand side light is out of line and when I opened the boot up it was taped on where the bulbs are within the inside. Presume that would lead to easy water damage and a nuisance with bulbs going all the time.

Also, popped out of gear while driving and the gearbox felt a bit crunchy too. My last manual A4 and 318d the gearboxes were so smooth comparing to it.

Red warning light for tyre pressure was on but the tyres felt fine and the thread depth felt like new tyres. I do remember my old 318d whenever I got new tyres the warning light came on for a while. Maybe it was that.

It's 143 bhp. Felt the difference in power compared to the 177 bhp 320d. As in you could feel it being a bit slower.

The fuel side of things looked like some difference to my car though. It was about a third full showing 400kms left. My own yoke is nearly full and only showing 520kms. Said on the computer it averages 5.9/100.

Major difference to yesterday though from a buying perspective and to deal with. They've mechanics on site. A few employees. Didn't feel I was inconveniencing them test driving it. There was two people waiting to test drive it when I got back.

I didn't bother with it though as the few things mentioned above would only annoy me. He did mention he'd give me about €2,500 trade in for mine presuming ok after their checks.

CoBo55

They will feel a bit crunchy with the cold weather but jumping out of gear? I'd walk away. It's going to be very difficult to find a decent one at that age. Would you consider a superb or Octavia? Or another A4?

chops018

CoBo55 wrote: »

They will feel a bit crunchy with the cold weather but jumping out of gear? I'd walk away. It's going to be very difficult to find a decent one at that age. Would you consider a superb or Octavia? Or another A4?

Yeah. You're probably right. I do like the 3 series though. I would consider another A4 alright. My old was one a 2007. The newer 2008 shape are nice!

CoBo55

chops018 wrote: »

Yeah. You're probably right. I do like the 3 series though. I would consider another A4 alright. My old was one a 2007. The newer 2008 shape are nice!

Definitely are a huge improvement in the looks department over the outgoing model. Don't dismiss the superb of that era either they're a fine car, the one that followed was horrible. All my opinion of course...

chops018

CoBo55 wrote: »

Definitely are a huge improvement in the looks department over the outgoing model. Don't dismiss the superb of that era either they're a fine car, the one that followed was horrible. All my opinion of course...

So I was driving my A6 earlier and the warning light comes on to say the engine oil is low. Got home and let the car sit for a couple of hours as I said no point topping up the oil while the car has just been running for a while (maybe that's completely wrong). I dipped the oil stick and the level was half way between the line for minimum point and half way point on the stick. I put just under half a litre of oil in. The warning light went off.

One other thing. As I said, the car was sitting up for well over an hour, it's 0 degrees outside, but when I popped the bonnet the engine cover was still hot. Not boiling and you could touch it easily without burning yourself but I still thought it was unusually hot/warm after sitting up for over an hour in the cold weather.

I then checked the coolant (I think, pictures attached) and it looks to be about half way between minimum and maximum. Should I top this up too? If so does anyone have a link to what I should get?

Hopefully then the above makes a difference!

McCrack

Probably time now this thread was locked

CoBo55

chops018 wrote: »

So I was driving my A6 earlier and the warning light comes on to say the engine oil is low. Got home and let the car sit for a couple of hours as I said no point topping up the oil while the car has just been running for a while (maybe that's completely wrong). I dipped the oil stick and the level was half way between the line for minimum point and half way point on the stick. I put just under half a litre of oil in. The warning light went off.

One other thing. As I said, the car was sitting up for well over an hour, it's 0 degrees outside, but when I popped the bonnet the engine cover was still hot. Not boiling and you could touch it easily without burning yourself but I still thought it was unusually hot/warm after sitting up for over an hour in the cold weather.

I then checked the coolant (I think, pictures attached) and it looks to be about half way between minimum and maximum. Should I top this up too? If so does anyone have a link to what I should get?

Hopefully then the above makes a difference!

The coolant looks ok it doesn't need to be exactly on the max line. Did the half litre of oil bring it to the max line on the dip stick?

chops018

CoBo55 wrote: »

The coolant looks ok it doesn't need to be exactly on the max line. Did the half litre of oil bring it to the max line on the dip stick?

Ok thanks. It brought it to slightly under the max. Gonna keep a check on the oil over the next few weeks!

CoBo55

One thing I noticed with my car is if I leave the heating off, especially for the first start of the day it made a huge difference to fuel consumption. I just use the heated seat until the temperature gauge starts to rise.

chops018

Another update. I feel like a jackass saying this. Front and rear left tyres were very low, about 10-12 psi. I only checked them a few weeks ago and they were all fine which is why when posters suggested it on the thread to check the tyre pressure I assumed they were still ok! Wonder is it a slow puncture on those two. The others were fine. All at 32 psi now so I'll keep an eye on them. Only got the 4 tyres in October, Austone, which I think are a decent brand. Suppose makes no odds what brand the tyres are you could still get a puncture.

CoBo55

chops018 wrote: »

Another update. I feel like a jackass saying this. Front and rear left tyres were very low, about 10-12 psi. I only checked them a few weeks ago and they were all fine which is why when posters suggested it on the thread to check the tyre pressure I assumed they were still ok! Wonder is it a slow puncture on those two. The others were fine. All at 32 psi now so I'll keep an eye on them. Only got the 4 tyres in October, Austone, which I think are a decent brand. Suppose makes no odds what brand the tyres are you could still get a puncture.

Strange that the warning light didn't come on. Makes a big difference tyres being that low. Can't say I ever heard of Austone tyres tbh, I wonder are they making the car heavier on juice? What rating did they have for fuel efficiency?

chops018

CoBo55 wrote: »

Strange that the warning light didn't come on. Makes a big difference tyres being that low. Can't say I ever heard of Austone tyres tbh, I wonder are they making the car heavier on juice? What rating did they have for fuel efficiency?

Austone Athena SP7 225/45r17.

Pretty sure it's them. Seems fuel consumption is a C, which isn't great. Yeah very odd the warning light for the tyres being low didn't come on.

colm_mcm

If you were running your tyres on 10PSI for the last while, you urgently need to change them as they will be mangled.

chops018

colm_mcm wrote: »

If you were running your tyres on 10PSI for the last while, you urgently need to change them as they will be mangled.

Ah crap, really? In what way? Thread depth seems fine! My plan was to check them in a few days and if they are getting low then bring them to have punctures fixed. Would you say just put two new tyres on either way?

I wasn't doing massive driving the last few weeks if that helps at all with possibly not having to change the tyres.

CoBo55

chops018 wrote: »

Ah crap, really? In what way? Thread depth seems fine! My plan was to check them in a few days and if they are getting low then bring them to have punctures fixed. Would you say just put two new tyres on either way?

I wasn't doing massive driving the last few weeks if that helps at all with possibly not having to change the tyres.

Are the sidewalls cracked? If you're unsure bring it to the lads that fitted them and get their opinion. Honestly I think they'd be ok but I haven't seen the tyres.

colm_mcm

CoBo55 wrote: »

Are the sidewalls cracked? If you're unsure bring it to the lads that fitted them and get their opinion. Honestly I think they'd be ok but I haven't seen the tyres.

Driving them for an extended period at 10PSI makes them likely to blow out down the line.

CoBo55

colm_mcm wrote: »

Driving them for an extended period at 10PSI makes them likely to blow out down the line.

Yea yea mister panic pants. We heard you the first time thanks. I'm sure all those secondhand cars you're trading have brand new tyres fitted for their new owner;)

colm_mcm

I haven’t traded in used cars for about 10 years.

I can assure you that if I had one with damaged tyres I’d change them.
I had a blowout on the motorway on the Avensis Truckermal bought off me and it was scary.
(That sounds dodgy )

Buddy Bubs

Buddy Bubs wrote: »

I just filled up my 2014 A6 OP. See attachment. Its showing 860kms and thats based on recent driving, not sure how its calculated or how far back it takes into account. That's actually the lowest figure I have seen after a fill of diesel but I'm using less than a 65 litre tank a month these last 2 or 3 months so I'd say its basing it on the short trips with cold engine I've been doing. As you can see its 4.5 degrees according to the car and even has the cold weather warning on the dash.

For what it's worth I did a decent motorway spin and some mixed driving today and trip computer was showing 6.5 litres per 100kms which would equate to exactly 1000kms to a 65 litre tank if I repeated that type of driving. I wasn't particularly trying to be fuel efficient either. I have got is as low as 5.5 litres per 100kms before by deliberately driving economically and that would give me a theoretical range of 1200km, but I know I'll never do that over a full tank I'd drive myself nuts.

Assuming your tank is more or less same size which I expect it would be, as the A6 was always designed to be a long distance cruiser, your 600kms is looking very poor and might indicate a problem

Edit...yes I think tanks are the same size. Reread some earlier posts and you put 72 euro into yours, that's exactly what it took to fill mine today too.

I've done 120kms exactly since I posted this on 27th. Range showing 860 when I filled up and showing 800 now so looks like range is a bit better than the 860 predicted. There were 1 or 2 half decent spins with warm engine so it seems to be edging well into the 900s.
As for the low tyre pressure, Jesus thats extremely low. Maybe there was no tyre pressure monitor on the a6 back then or else its set to accept those tyre pressures as normal, thats the way mine works anyway. Set pressure where you want it and tell car this is correct and it warns if it drops away. I also second colm saying the tyres may be compromised now.

Chickennuggets

chops018 wrote: »

Austone Athena SP7 225/45r17.

Pretty sure it's them. Seems fuel consumption is a C, which isn't great. Yeah very odd the warning light for the tyres being low didn't come on.

Are you sure thats the correct tyre size for the car? I've had 2 A6 in the past. Currently have a 2010 version and both ran 225/50/r17. The difference in tyre profile may cause a discrepancy in your odometer reading.

For comparison my 2010 Manual A6 gets around 1000-1250km each tank depending on my type of driving. You should be getting alteast 800km in the auto.

shane b

Buddy Bubs wrote:

I've done 120kms exactly since I posted this on 27th. Range showing 860 when I filled up and showing 800 now so looks like range is a bit better than the 860 predicted.

Fill the tank again shortly and note how many litres it takes to fill it and the distance driven. Then work out the km/ltr or ltr/100km.
It will give a good indication of fuel economy and hopefully match what the on board display gives out.

chops018

Chickennuggets wrote: »

Are you sure thats the correct tyre size for the car? I've had 2 A6 in the past. Currently have a 2010 version and both ran 225/50/r17. The difference in tyre profile may cause a discrepancy in your odometer reading.

For comparison my 2010 Manual A6 gets around 1000-1250km each tank depending on my type of driving. You should be getting alteast 800km in the auto.

Sorry, just checked there. They are actually 225/50/r17. The 45's were on the car when I bought it but when I was getting new tyres recently they told me that the wrong size was on it, got 50's then.

Yeah I'd be happy with about 800km, as I do realise it's an older auto box and apparently the CVT transmission isn't great. But 600kms is way to low.

My manual A4 easily did 900kms.

chops018

Got around 500km out of the latest tank.

Tyres all good and kept checking pressure.

Is it just the way it is?

The car drives perfect and seems running well. I'd love to know if there's an issue.

Shocking fuel economy.

mickdw

500km for how many Litres?