Audi Petrol A4 or A6 auto - things to look out for?

ToxicPaddy

Hey folks

I'm looking for a bit of advice from you knowledgeable lot on a second car.

I've moved out of Dublin City, bought a new house and a second car is required. My existing one, a 01 A6 1.8T is starting to show its age, bit of rust, a few sensors going and the boot isn't big enough for the collecting the usual stuff a new house requires, plus a dog is going to be arriving soon so an estate makes sense.

The better half also needs to get back on the road so an auto is required as she struggles with manuals in Ireland due to driving for years on wrong side of the road (born in mainland Europe)

Requirements are:

A4 or A6, love the Audi and want to stick with them as have a good mechanic and he's knows them inside out.
Avant model as be doing lots of runs for stuff for the house and soon to arriving dog
1.8T or 2.0 Petrol as high mileage won't be done, lots of short trips around Dublin so diesel makes no sense.
Auto for the better half as mentioned earlier
Something with reasonable mileage (under 100k miles)
Budget up to €5000
Preferable to be 2006 or newer, if its better than 2009, lower tax is an added bonus but not a sticking point for the right car

I'm keeping an eye out on the usual sites in Ireland and the UK but with Brexit it could be a worry as who knows what way the Gov will slap us with taxes on imports from the UK post 31st Oct 2019.

Anything I should look out for with the older Audi auto boxes or the avants. Any known issues?

I'm also looking at Skoda Superbs but a petrol one that age is impossible to find, especially in an auto estate.

Any advice is much appreciated.

bazz26

Most of the non Quattro or smaller engined A4/A6s would have the multitronic CVT gearbox which didn't have a good reputation for reliability. Also you will be hard pressed to find a post 2008 petrol auto in either the A4 or A6 here because the diesels were cheaper to tax.

Truckermal

Had the B8 A4 Quattro as standard with the 1.8T engine? I know it was on the B7 A4..

ToxicPaddy

bazz26 wrote: »

Most of the non Quattro or smaller engined A4/A6s would have the multitronic CVT gearbox which didn't have a good reputation for reliability. Also you will be hard pressed to find a post 2008 petrol auto in either the A4 or A6 here because the diesels were cheaper to tax.

Thanks for thr info, do you know when did the more reliable auto boxes appear in the A4/A6 range?

Truckermal

ToxicPaddy wrote: »

Thanks for thr info, do you know when did the more reliable auto boxes appear in the A4/A6 range?

It was recently actually unless you got the 3.0 which came with the Stronic box from 2011 ish..

bazz26

For the non Quattro A4 I think it was when the current model was launched back in 2016. For the non Quattro A6 your looking at 2014/2015 onwards.

farna_boy

bazz26 wrote: »

For the non Quattro A4 I think it was when the current model was launched back in 2016. For the non Quattro A6 your looking at 2014/2015 onwards.

I think all 2 litre models on the new tax system are €1200 per year until the model change.

ToxicPaddy

Hmmm looks like I might have to look at another option of these auto boxes are problematic.

If it was the main car I'd consider a 3.0 TDI Avant but as its only for running around as a second car, there is no point in getting such a large engine or diesel and paying €1200 road tax a year.

Paying such high running costs kinda negates the reason for buying a cheap run around.

Are these same auto boxes also in the Skoda range such as the Octavia or Passat 1.4 TSI models?

Truckermal

No they are DSG gearboxes and much better.