Outback or allroad???

patzer

Hi all. I'm thinking of changing up to an estate and like the idea of 4x4 in rural Wexford. I have a potential budget of around 7k so am looking at a 05 or 06 outback or a 03 or 04 allroad. Just wondering if anyone has had any experience with either and what would you recommend. Not doing huge miles, less than 200 a week. Reliability, servicing, potential problems. Any info is greatly appreciated.

Cheers

Pat

Cash is king

patzer wrote: »

Hi all. I'm thinking of changing up to an estate and like the idea of 4x4 in rural Wexford. I have a potential budget of around 7k so am looking at a 05 or 06 outback or a 03 or 04 allroad. Just wondering if anyone has had any experience with either and what would you recommend. Not doing huge miles, less than 200 a week. Reliability, servicing, potential problems. Any info is greatly appreciated.

Cheers

Pat

My sister has the Outback and it's being trouble free however I know someone with a Allroad and it has given serious trouble with the air suspension. I prefer the look of the Audi though including the interior, the subaru is very bland inside.

Anan1

Outbacks are much cheaper, and more reliable. The Audi interior feels more expensive, though. Do you need the extra space, or might a Forester do the job?

bazz26

I'd add a Volvo xc70 into the mix too. D5 is very reliable engine, cheaper to buy than an Allroader and nicer interior to the Outback.

galwaytt

....don't forget the perennial Irish Motoring Chestnut: tax on the Allroad is much higher.

I knew of someone who did buy and Allroad new a number of years ago and did have a fair bit of trouble with it, so he got rid...............for a Merc......R-Class.

A bigger money pit I could not possibly fathom - awful.

Drives a Lexus now, so all is well

Tea 1000

I'd go with the Outback, much more reliable.

dgt

Outback. Ignore the Allroad

Anan1

bazz26 wrote: »

I'd add a Volvo xc70 into the mix too. D5 is very reliable engine, cheaper to buy than an Allroader and nicer interior to the Outback.

The XC70 is a really nice place to spend time, but the AWD system is nowhere near as good as that of the Audi or the Subaru. Reliability is probably closer to the Audi than the Subaru too!

galwaytt wrote: »

....don't forget the perennial Irish Motoring Chestnut: tax on the Allroad is much higher.

They're actually both 2.5, so a little over a grand to tax either of them. Unless the Allroad is a 2.7T, and there is actually a nice-looking one of those on Carzone right now...

http://www.driving.ie/used-cars/Audi/Allroad/2.7-T/201309212674032/

ShadowHearth

Outback or Forester would be my choice. From all audies all-road things were almost my favourite. Though you cant beat subaru 4x4! :P

Matt Simis

Ive had both (Forester), though my Allroad wasnt the ancient 2.5TDI engine, but the 2.7TT.

If you want reliability, its definitely the Subaru. In every other metric I can think of, its the Allroad.. but for you Id recommend a Forester (not sure why mention the Outback, unless you refer to the Legacy based Outback). The Allroad has 3 level Air Suspension and optional low level gearing, which make it the better offroad vehicle.

I really really like the Forester/Subaru for what is does, how reliable it appears to be but mostly as its way cheaper. At price parity, those numbers dont add up.

Tropheus

I'd recommend the allroad, but then I'm a bit biased. I have an 03 2.5 TDi from new.

They are expensive to maintain which has to be taken into consideration. If you can do some of the work yourself, it takes out some of the sting.

As was mentioned, the air suspension can be expensive to maintain. I wouldn't say troublesome, it's just that the air springs wear. I have 196k miles on mine with no major engine issues. However, it's now on its 3rd set of front air springs and needs the rears done (they're originals). These will cost you around €800 a corner from a main dealer and around €600 a corner for the rears. That's fitted.

The fronts last about 80-100k miles and as I mentioned my rears are originals. However, I don't do any towing or carry heavy loads (bar the wife:D).

I did the fronts myself about 10k miles ago and it's doable as a DIY. I also bought a non OEM part from the US which is about half the Audi price and highly recommended.

Other than that, it's like all big German cars. Once you look after them, they're pretty bullet proof.

BTW, don't expect much more than 28mpg around town or 32mpg on the motorway. They're heavy so far from a modern eco diesel.

kyote00

I'm running a 04 Forester XT. 177bhp.

XT gives turbo and leather interior, colour coded bumpers etc.

Great fun to drive and lovely boxer engine grunt.

All weather pack includes heated seats, wipers, screens etc.


I have done a few jobs on mine and it is really well put together - either recessed screws or good quality clips on everything.

Only downside is 30mpg (at best)....

(Then again, I rather push a Subaru than drive an Awwdi :P )

Matthewjohn

How about a Skoda Octavia Scout its a bit more expensive but you'll save on tax.

http://www.carzone.ie/search/Skoda/Octavia/SCOUT-2./34013628304117710/advert?channel=CARS

Pique

Why go for an Allroad or Outback at all? The Legacy estate still has AWD and low range but handles better on the road. You can get them fully loaded and get the 2.0 petrol and save on tax and you don't do enough miles to warrant a diesel.

Ignore all the above if you need the extra ground clearance...

patzer

All, thanks so much for your input. It seems as if the subaru is edging it slightly. I really like the look of both of these cars but I do need something that is reliable and that won't frighten my with servicing costs. The price of the air suspension on the allroad is pretty steep and consul ordering the age of one that I would be able to afford its likely that I will have to look at this job. There are two really nice examples on carzone

http://www.carzone.ie/search/Audi/Allroad/2.5-TDI-/34113619713340220/advert?channel=CARS

http://www.carzone.ie/search/Subaru/Outback/AUTOMATI/33913600008484860/advert?channel=CARS

Hope these l

patzer

All, thanks so much for your input. It seems as if the subaru is edging it slightly. I really like the look of both of these cars but I do need something that is reliable and that won't frighten my with servicing costs. The price of the air suspension on the allroad is pretty steep and consul ordering the age of one that I would be able to afford its likely that I will have to look at this job. There are two really nice examples on carzone

http://www.carzone.ie/search/Audi/Allroad/2.5-TDI-/34113619713340220/advert?channel=CARS

http://www.carzone.ie/search/Subaru/Outback/AUTOMATI/33913600008484860/advert?channel=CARS

Hope these links work

Seweryn

I would take a Subaru over anything in that class. But as said before:

Pique wrote: »

Why go for an Allroad or Outback at all? The Legacy estate still has AWD and low range but handles better on the road. You can get them fully loaded and get the 2.0 petrol and save on tax and you don't do enough miles to warrant a diesel.

Ignore all the above if you need the extra ground clearance...

Do you really need that extra ground clearance in the Outback? I used to have an older model Legacy (exactly same as Outback, but with better road handling) and it was an excellent car that never gave any trouble. Brilliant cars. The Forester is another proposition, but I would go slightly towards the Legacy option.

Tea 1000

Matt Simis wrote: »

Ive had both (Forester), though my Allroad wasnt the ancient 2.5TDI engine, but the 2.7TT.

If you want reliability, its definitely the Subaru. In every other metric I can think of, its the Allroad.. but for you Id recommend a Forester (not sure why mention the Outback, unless you refer to the Legacy based Outback). The Allroad has 3 level Air Suspension and optional low level gearing, which make it the better offroad vehicle.

I really really like the Forester/Subaru for what is does, how reliable it appears to be but mostly as its way cheaper. At price parity, those numbers dont add up.

You can get a low range box in the manual Outback and Legacy estate. I don't know if that was possible in the auto.

Anan1

There's no low range in the automatics. That said, there's no real need as the torque converter does much the same job.

Seweryn

Anan1 wrote: »

There's no low range in the automatics. That said, there's no real need as the torque converter does much the same job.

Exactly. And the automatic gearboxes in Subarus are very good. Old fashion mechanics, but very good and reliable.

Tropheus

I'd agree that if you buy a second hand AR that you could be looking at suspension work. It's possible that it's needed and the previous owner decided to offload rather fork out to fix it. It's not to easy to check if you're looking at one. You can turn off the auto-levelling and compressor when the car is standing by pushing and holding the up and down buttons simultaneously. Both LEDs on the buttons will stay lit and the indictor light on the dash will stay lit. If there's a bad leak, you should see it sag in one corner over a few minutes. However, if it's a slight leak, it could take several hours to see it.

Other things that I've replaced at around 160k miles are all the front control arms. There's 8 in total. It's a heavy car so the bushings wear. Not that big a job if you can do it yourself, but big money if you went to an Audi dealer. There are good after market options as well as the genuine parts.

The usual service history is also important including timing belts. The AKE engine (the 180 bhp version of the 2.5 TDi) is very prone to cam seal oil leaks. Thankfully I haven't experienced this and put it down to regular maintenance with good quality oil.