A4 vs A6 : Opinions

bcmf

I am looking at 2 cars to buy. Both Avants. Both 1.9tdi.
Both similar age 2002.
Running costs for both??The A4 owner says he has full service history but only has a few months left on NCT whereas A6 has 1yr plus left.
Oh price wise both are similar to each other taking into account nct.
Driving wont be clocking up anything major. Maybe a couple of big drives a few times a year.
Any thoughts on pro's /con's of both.

166man

bcmf wrote: »

I am looking at 2 cars to buy. Both Avants. Both 1.9tdi.
Both similar age 2002.
Running costs for both??The A4 owner says he has full service history but only has a few months left on NCT whereas A6 has 1yr plus left.
Oh price wise both are similar to each other taking into account nct.
Driving wont be clocking up anything major. Maybe a couple of big drives a few times a year.
Any thoughts on pro's /con's of both.

To be honest if you are not going to be doing high miles in the car why take the risk of buying a nine year old diesel Audi? There are far more things that could go wrong at that age and your mileage would not justify any saving in fuel costs should something go wrong.

I'm sure you could pick up the petrol equivalent of these cars for much less than the diesel car. However if you have your heart set on either of these cars then I would probably go for the A4 assuming it has fsh but I would have a qualified mechanic to look at it first. It also will not be as heavy on fuel as the A6...

What miles are on both cars?

Big Nasty

In my experience older Audis are money pits once they've 100k miles + on them. 3 / 5 series BMW would be less expensive to maintian.

Tea 1000

You'll put money into either. I'd go for something else, but if it's between those two, the A6 is more comfortable.

heate

Tea 1000 wrote: »

You'll put money into either. I'd go for something else, but if it's between those two, the A6 is more comfortable.

If your looking for that age and willing to pay 1.9 tax buy yourself a 6 pot BMW 320i or a 525i.
An a6 1.8t would be fine for your needs or an a4 2.0 non turbo if you can get one.

tom traubert

My A4 Avant is an 02 model, 1.9 diesel. It now has 175,000 on the clock but when buying it 4 years ago my research prompted me to add approx. 25,000 to the recorded mileage when planning belt change etc.

Last year it started getting menopausal and to date I've replaced the egr valve, a high pressure turbo hose, temp sensor, maf thingy and lately she's misbehaving again.

I knew what I was buying so none of the above has unduly surprised me.

If the cars you're looking at are imports, even if they're not, one piece of advice I'd offer is this. Scrutinise the alleged service history and identify the garage that serviced the car in it's earlier days. Then chance your arm and give the sevice manager a ring. By doing that I filled in a few details that weren't in my ones service history. The worst that can happen is he'll tell you to bog off.

I always loved a good looking estate car and when I first saw the A4 new I determined that I'd have one. Good luck with it if you go ahead.

Oh yeah, The back seat room in the A4 is sh1t compared to the A6, bear that in mind too.

voxpop

MCMLXXV wrote: »

In my experience older Audis are money pits once they've 100k miles + on them. 3 / 5 series BMW would be less expensive to maintian.

How do you figure that ??


@OP - the 1.9tdi is old and unrefined, but it is solid,has decent power and good economy. An old A4 may need suspension work, but buying any older car - you run the same risk.

On A4 vs A6 - the A6 will be bigger and heavier - more room in the car, but heavier on juice. 2.5 tdi is not worth the extra over the 1.9.

heate wrote:

If your looking for that age and willing to pay 1.9 tax buy yourself a 6 pot BMW 320i or a 525i.

you do realise that a 525 has a 2.5ltr engine and roughly double the tax of a 1.9 - not to mention the 30mpg vs 50 mpg of petrol 525 vs diesel 1.9.

heate

voxpop wrote: »

How do you figure that ??


@OP - the 1.9tdi is old and unrefined, but it is solid,has decent power and good economy. An old A4 may need suspension work, but buying any older car - you run the same risk.

On A4 vs A6 - the A6 will be bigger and heavier - more room in the car, but heavier on juice. 2.5 tdi is not worth the extra over the 1.9.


you do realise that a 525 has a 2.5ltr engine and roughly double the tax of a 1.9 - not to mention the 30mpg vs 50 mpg of petrol 525 vs diesel 1.9.

I meant 520i - Diesels are commanding higher prices and have turbo's etc to go wrong if your not doing the mileage why bother trying to save 20eu a week?

Big Nasty

voxpop wrote: »

How do you figure that ??

Experience or bad luck!

bcmf

Thanks Guys.
To answer a few questions.
Why that age? its what the budget is allowing. Yes Iwould love to go a lot further up in the years but in the real world its what I can get.
Why Diesel? Well because I want a diesel and when I do get one oits gotta last
I dont expect it to be trouble free and I can do a huge amount of work on it myself.
I know the service history is critical and as said above I fully intend to put a call into the service section of the garages.
I am aware as well at that age/mileage I will prob be looking at a turbo overhaul and if service history is broken or I am not satisfied that the correct spec oil has been used in the car it will need a turbo overhaul sooner rather then later ( I have seen a turbo let go on an A6 before and it wasnt pretty or cheap)
I am just back from viewing one of the above and have serious doubts its s/h and the fact that the timing belt housing didnt have a sign of tippex anywhere is a big worry.
Again Thanks guys keep the opinions coming.