Which car is the right car BMW 320d, VW Passat, Audi A4

SDunne4

Hi all, have a question for ye! I am thinking of changing my car and I would love to know how you would rate the following cars. BMW 320d, VW Passat 1.9 tdi, Audi A4 1.9 tdi. I do about 360 miles a week so a diesel I think is a better. I am willing to spend in the region of €20,000 and looking at the various Irish websites I would get a 01/02. Also I have been driving a Renault Megane 1.4 petrol up till now and now I would like a bit more power so I would be looking at the 130 + bhp atleast.


Anyways my questions are:

Which car is the best value for money?:rolleyes:
Also any I was wondering would it be worth my while importing from England?:rolleyes:

Thanks in advance

Villain

What about one of these: http://www.cbg.ie/Car_detail.asp?CBGID=332932&ID=566939&NumPics=3&Make=Toyota&Model=Avensis%20D4D%20Aura&frmFilter=Year

michaelanthony

The BMW and Audi are division 1 marques. Of these, BMW is definitely better than Audi.

maidhc

michaelanthony wrote:

The BMW and Audi are division 1 marques. Of these, BMW is definitely better than Audi.

What are Bentleys and Maybachs then?

Passat without a doubt.

You will get more of a Passat for your money than a BMW or Audi. 20k isnt a huge amount for sourcing either an Audi or BMW that will manage to do 360 miles a week for a couple of years without costing money in parts.

With 20k you should be able to get a newer Passat than 01/02.

michaelanthony

More of a lesser car.

junkyard

The obvious answer to your question is the BMW. The Passat is only rep. car territory and will depreciate like a lead baloon. The Audi is in second place, a step above the Passat but unfortunately tends to suffer from poor build quality as the Passat does. The BMW will hold its money a lot longer than any of the others by a mile. You won't get all the toys in the BMW that you get in the others but you will get a good car. It's just my opinion of course but I have had dealings with all of them as regards selling and maintaining them. Good luck with your choice.

ds20prefecture

If you are buying a €20,000 badge the answer is undoubtedly the BMW.

If you want the best drivers car, the answer is the BMW.

All 3 have similar reliability reputations, i.e. very good. Find some friends/people who are actually driving the car and ask them about the amount they have spent on unscheduled maintenance to get a true picture of reliability.

If you prefer comfort the best is the Passat, but I would buy it cheaper than €20000. The Passat would depreciate faster than the others, therefore you should get a similar age/mileage passat for less than your target.

If you don't give a damn what other people think, buy a Skoda Superb with a 136bhp 1.9 diesel engine. Devoid of style, but it's a helluva car for the money, being based on a stretched Passat platform and therefore more in line with the next class up size-wise.

el tel

Although not answering any of the original questions, there isn't much room inside BMW 3-series and I would go as far as to say they are cramped.

Villain

I still reckon he should look at an Avensis.

CrowdedHouse

junkyard wrote:

The Audi is in second place, a step above the Passat but unfortunately tends to suffer from poor build quality

ya gotta be kiddin' !

I have an 04 A4 TDI There hasn't been a single squeak or rattle out of it,everything works as it should,as it did from day 1.

TempestSabre

To a quick price check on the same model now and 3yrs older. Also ring a round and get some prices for parts and servicing on each car. That will give you an idea of the difference in running costs. I'd guesstimate the BMW will be more expensive, then Audi, VW and Toyota, in terms of running costs.

junkyard

With reference to CrowedHouse " Ya gotta be kidding" as regards VW/Audi build quality, i'm giving you my opinion as my bussiness involves selling and servicing fleet cars for a living and I know for a fact that VW/Audi in particular are being dropped by various companies because of their poor reliablity and build quality and I have to say that I have towed in a fair few of them in my time.

maidhc

I have heard on more than one occasion (from mechanics) that VW/Audis are not what they were. Having said that we have had the following in the family:

89 Audi 80 Diesel
92 Audi 80 TDI
95 Audi A4 TDI
97 Audi A4 TDI
99 Audi A4 TDI
01 Audi A4 TDI
03 Audi A4 TDI

only one that gave *any* trouble was the 99 one, and that was just the immobiliser. All did 50-70k.

Having said that I think the Audis are overpriced, and would still buy a Passat before one of them. Is the passat a repmobile... maybe, but big deal, it is being bought to do a job... which probably isnt to win the touring cars or pull fast women (it will pull a trailer just fine though..)

You will get a nicer Passat for your money than either an A4/3 Series, alternatively as noted above (the more sensible option) you will get a nice Passat for far less than 20k. Skoda Superb is a very good idea too.

If you are really worred about depreciation, go with the Toyota. The link above is for an 03 Toyota for €20k. Same car was about 25-26k new in the day. That is better than either the A4 or 3 Series could manage.

SDunne4

Hi all thanks for replying to me, i suppose it a case of your hart or your mind. I would love a BMW but as ye all seem to point out you get more for your money with the VW. As for the Toyota it's a nice car but but i would prefer one of the cars i listed. Am i right in thinking that i am better off with a diesel? I do 300 - 360 miles a week and i put about 40-50 euro a week in to the tank.

Villain

Well 300-360 miles a week isn't that high, thats about 15k to 18k a year, thats average enough, I did 700 miles a week for a year in a 1.5 petrol car and while petrol cost me about 70-80 a week it's wasn't that bad, however when I went to try and sell the car the high milage was a problem, so I think it depends on the type of car really some will be hard sold or loose a lot of money in a trade in with high milage others won't. If your ruling out my choice of the Toyota, my next choice would be a Passat or Octavia.

bazz26

As already suggested the Skoda Superb is a cheaper alternative to the above 3. It uses the same engine that is found in the Passat and A4 but the rear legroom is huge and standard equipement is way better.

Here you go:
http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carid=318308

If you put 100k miles on any of these cars they will not be worth much as a trade-in in a couple of years anyway so depreciation should not be a major issue. Most dealers will not give decent money on cars with 100k+ plus miles on the clock even though most will do at least twice that without issue.

So right now the BMW will probably cost the most then followed by the Audi.

Also have a look at the Ford Mondeo Zetec TDCi which has a fine engine and due to heavy initial depreciation can be bought for half decent money:
http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=240834

Squirrel

junkyard wrote:

With reference to CrowedHouse " Ya gotta be kidding" as regards VW/Audi build quality, i'm giving you my opinion as my bussiness involves selling and servicing fleet cars for a living and I know for a fact that VW/Audi in particular are being dropped by various companies because of their poor reliablity and build quality and I have to say that I have towed in a fair few of them in my time.

I'm gonna contradict that with a quote from a mechanic for a main Dublin VW/Audi dealer "You can't go wrong with a VAG diesel engine, except maybe for power in the heavier cars". And that wasn't bull**** to sell cars because I was working with him, he also said that the FSI petrol engines aren't really worth it unless they're driven hard. Another topic from a while ago

junkyard

I'd agree with you as regards the VW/Audi diesel engine Squirrel, but as an overall package VW/Audi are not as good a product as they used to be and as a result of this I have been instructed by some of the companies that I deal with not to offer VW/Audi products at fleet renewal time as they have proved to be unreliable due to electrical and mechanical failures. I am only telling what I have been told and what I have found with them.

Squirrel

junkyard wrote:

I'd agree with you as regards the VW/Audi diesel engine Squirrel, but as an overall package VW/Audi are not as good a product as they used to be and as a result of this I have been instructed by some of the companies that I deal with not to offer VW/Audi products at fleet renewal time as they have proved to be unreliable due to electrical and mechanical failures. I am only telling what I have been told and what I have found with them.

I get what you mean, I didn't work on too many used cars, but they were all pretty much perfectly solid, that was only a select few that I worked with. That said there was 3 Peugeot Partners traded in, all of them had pieces of the dash falling off in my hands, it was weird, Boss:"check the glovebox for anything left behind" glovebox falls out completely in my hand Me:"****" Boss:"what is it?" Me:"you mightn't believe me but it wasn't my fault..."

CrowdedHouse

Perhaps thats the difference Junkyard,fleet/company cars are more likely to be blackguarded than one that has been bought with a fellas' hard earned cash.
I have a van from work and as long as it goes I couln't give a **** about it and it's worked hard,if something goes wrong I call the garage to repair it at no cost to me and when it gives up I'll get a new one.

My A4(bought with my own money) is checked for oil,water,type press. hoovered washed waxed etc on a regular basis and looks inside and out almost like the day I got it

junkyard

I won't even start with Peugeot Squirrel, engines O.K. but I've seen Airfix kits put together better than them.:rolleyes:

But CrowedHouse howcome the other brand names are able to put up with the same treatment? I deal with most other brand names with the exception of Mercedes-Benz and Fiat /Alfa( which were dropped ages ago any way because of similar unreliability issues) and there is very little that goes wrong.

Squirrel

junkyard wrote:

I won't even start with Peugeot Squirrel, engines O.K. but I've seen Airfix kits put together better than them.:rolleyes:

Definately, to the OP, don't consider a Peugeot

Little-Devil

If there going to spend €20,000 i would choose either the Passatt or BMW, but i would prefer a VW GOLF. IF i was doing that many miles a week you will need something reliable, the AUDI is nice but i would go for the BMW if you if i was you.

Squirrel

http://www.cbg.ie/Car_detail.asp?CBGID=369258&ID=625731&NumPics=1&Make=BMW&Model=530%20D&frmFilter=All

http://www.cbg.ie/Car_detail.asp?CBGID=328950&ID=562092&NumPics=3&Make=VW&Model=Passat%20TDi%20130%20Sport&frmFilter=All

http://www.cbg.ie/Car_detail.asp?CBGID=374663&ID=631504&NumPics=2&Make=Mercedes&Model=E%20300%20TD%20Avant%20Garde&frmFilter=All#

SDunne4

You are right "Little-Devil" i need a car that's reliable as i plan on holding on to this car for a while. Like some our your suggestions guys but as i am 25 i wont be going above a 2 litre engine. Bascially i have been driving a Renault Megane 1.4 petrol now for almost three years and i fianlly got a good job and want to get a good car but i budgit is €20,000 and i plan on holding on to this car for a while. Has anyone imported a car from the uk/northern ireland? When i look at the www.autotrader.com there is some cracking cars but by the time you add the VRT on to the car it's pretty much the same as buying in a garage her. Except with the draw back of no come-back if anything goes wrong!! I recently was in a ford garage and i seen a fee BMW, when i asked "Why they had so many BMW" they basically told me that they were exchanged for ford modeo's. Is the Mondeo that good of a car or is the BMW that bad??

By the way thanks people for all the relpies:cool:

bazz26

SDunne4 wrote:

Like some our your suggestions guys but as i am 25 i wont be going about the 2 litre engine.

The BMW 320D is 2.0 litre, the A4 and Passat are both 1.9 litre and are probably not that much cheaper to tax or insure.

michaelanthony

You could get a 318tds. Think they're a 1.9 or something.

bazz26

michaelanthony wrote:

You could get a 318tds. Think they're a 1.9 or something.

Actually the 318Tds was only available in the previous generation 3 Series up to about 1999.

OP is looking at 00/01 3 Series diesel which has a 2.0 litre unit.

The new 3 Series is now available as a 318D which is still a 2.0 litre unit.