Looking to get an s-line

LukeG88

LukeG88

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Evening all

Looking to come across to the audi side of German cars having spent some time in BMW's.

Need to extended into a more practical car for my expanding family.

Saw this AUDI A4 AVANT on the Auto Trader iPad app

Click here to view the advert on Auto Trader

media


It has for 92k on clock. Should I be concerned about that sort of miles? I mainly do motorway miles. The car was owned by someone who is family friends with the garage.

What do you think?
 
Links don't work correctly.
But if its a genuine 92k and it's a diesel then its good for another 92k.
Has it got service history? Double check with the garage as everything should be on their system.
 
This is the the contents of the ad...

"Metallic GREY, Will come with a Bosch service, Upgrades - Electric folding and auto dimming door mirrors, Metallic paint, Valcona leather upholstery, 3 months warranty, 12 months MOT, Last serviced on 22/04/2013 at 67,991 miles, Full service history, Clean bodywork, Black Full leather interior - Clean Condition, Tyre condition Good, Standard Features - Sprint cloth/leather upholstery, Xenon headlights, 18" 5 spoke S Line alloy wheels, Electric front windows, Electric rear windows, Concert radio/single CD player with MP3 facility, 3 zone climate control, Electronic Stability Programme, Traction control, Front sports seats, Roof rails, Thatcham category 1 alarm+immobiliser, 3 spoke S Line Multi-function leather steering wheel, Electric heated door mirrors, Electric front lumbar support with horizontal and vertical adjustment, Exterior aluminium pack - A4, Interior chrome pack - A4, S line exterior styling pack - A4 Avant. 5 seats, Local previous owner - good friends of our company, Full service history, 12mths MOT, £9,990"

So last service beginning of last year at 67k. So cars covered 26k in 9 months. Does that seem excessive? Awaiting to hear off garage when they're back in work tomorrow.
 
From what I've read.. The engines are generally bulletproof but it's everything around the outside that you might take the risk with such as dual mass flywheels, diesel particulate filters, running gear and whatnot!

26k in such a short time would indicate that the car has been up and down a motorway. Generally being on the motorway at a constant speed on smooth Tarmac would cause the least amount of wear and tear mechanically, so I wouldn't get too hung up on the mileage. You can generally tell how much of a hard life it's had by the wear and tear on seats/interior/steering wheel.

For example, I have a 6 year old S Line with 46k on the clock in mint condition. It has only done 8k over the last two years which would suggest it generally gets used around town, probably constantly stop/start driving and going over speedbumps repeatedly and this week it developed a humming noise and has just releaved me of £416 for both wheel bearings to be replaced! Whereas someone might have the same car at 100k constantly up and down the motorway on original bearings.

I personally wouldn't be happy with such a big gap in the service history, I know Audi have bigger service intervals but I believe a car needs to be serviced at least every year/12,000 miles. As the cars getting older if even look at changing the oil every 6 months.

Good luck anyway!
 
at 10k id make them do a good service on it after 26k
 
The ad says they will service it before it's sold? So this should show anything g that needs doing?

Interior from the pictures look fine. A car that is 6 years old will have some signs of wear? (I'd be tempted to put a private plate on it too. Like £250)
 
If it's the same owner from new, ask them how come they only did 68k in 5 years then 29k in 20 months. Takes some explaining.
 
Yeah it will but the level of it will give you an indication of what sort of life it's had. If it's been doing short journeys you might notice more wear on the seats where someone has been repeatedly getting in and out. There's some cars which are past 100k but are immaculate inside because someone is sat in it all day.

Do the obvious checks when viewing the car. Check to see if there's any rattling from the gearbox when the clutch is pressed in whilst it's ticking over. If it does, walk away as its a sign of DMF failure. If it's had an easy life the bite should be nice and high and the gearbox should be tight. Mine is quite stiff as well when it's cold. Drive it without the radio and listen for any humming/bangs or rattles. As I said before my wheel bearings went a month after I'd bought mine. When you search on Google it appears to be quite a common problem on A4's as well. (You can check whether they are going if there if any resistance when spinning the wheels, however the car will need to be jacked up)
 
Thanks for the replies.
Have seen this too...

http://www.baxendenspecialistcars.co.uk/used-cars/audi-a4-2-0tdi-s-line-4dr-baxenden-201411048724173

It is a saloon model. 170bhp model. With Bluetooth and already tinted. Done less miles that the other one too. And only one owner

What gets me is that he says the dpf has been removed. And I know that this would mean an instant mot failure. When I asked him about it, he stated that it hasn't been removed it's just been cleaned out. Does that sound a bit suspect?
 
LukeG88 said:
Thanks for the replies.
Have seen this too...

http://www.baxendenspecialistcars.co.uk/used-cars/audi-a4-2-0tdi-s-line-4dr-baxenden-201411048724173

It is a saloon model. 170bhp model. With Bluetooth and already tinted. Done less miles that the other one too. And only one owner

What gets me is that he says the dpf has been removed. And I know that this would mean an instant mot failure. When I asked him about it, he stated that it hasn't been removed it's just been cleaned out. Does that sound a bit suspect?
Click to expand...


I'd its been removed you will know from sound at exhaust from rear.
 
Will there be a deeper tone from the from the exhaust? When ever my dpf was clogged on my BMW the noise from the exhaust was deeper than normal.
 
LukeG88 said:
Thanks for the replies.


What gets me is that he says the dpf has been removed. And I know that this would mean an instant mot failure. When I asked him about it, he stated that it hasn't been removed it's just been cleaned out. Does that sound a bit suspect?
Click to expand...

Yes. How can the seller possibly admit that he is selling an "illegal" car? If the MoT station was caught passing the car they would have their licence revoked.

I am sure that you are aware that the real bargains are among the less desirable SE models.
 
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audi upgrades
Don't worry too much about miles, buy on inside/outside condition and service history.

Simple things like a shiny gear knob or smooth steering wheel or lots of minute chips on the headlights say more about the miles than the clock
 
I wouldn't discount the petrol models either, especially with petrol being so cheap. They are all turbo petrols so they have plenty of poke. If you do consider them make yourself aware of the oil consumption on the 2.0
 
Speaking to the salesman today and Asked about the miles and he said at first the car was used for the school run by his wife and then he used it for motorway travel to save miles on his 911.

I would love to go petrol, but I do big miles for work. Need something that can give me decent mpg. Don't know if the petrol will offer me that?

I can see plenty of se's but do prefer the s-line. Prefer the looks and part leather seats. Can't see many leather se's

Being very picky. It's going to be my last nice car before I become the "dad in an s-max" haha
 
On a recent trip to York my trip computer was telling me I was averaging 51 mpg, however that was sat at 65mph. Mine is a 2008 1.8 tfsi. How accurate the trip is.. I don't know. On the second trip i've averaged 34mpg over 2,000 miles which is includes cruisng on motorways and booting it around country lanes.

I agree, if your going to be spending this sort of money on a car it has to be right, however you also have to take into account condition. I wanted all sorts of gadgets on mine and ended up getting a pretty basic s-line, but it was well priced, low mileage and in great nick so you have to strike a happy medium. If non of them take your fancy at the moment, just keep looking, the right one will come along soon, you'll know when you see it!
 
Yeah. Need a diesel for sure to be on safe side.

As long as it has s-line kit I'd be happy. And n more than say 90 odd k on the clock. Just got to keep looking. Don't want to be travelling to much for one though.

I have even looked at (don't judge me) a ford mondeo estate in titanium x guise due to the kit on it...
 
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I used to have a 1.8 Tdci Mondeo Titanium.. Bought it in a moment of madness and ended up keeping it for three years. Was a smart motor, had loads of toys and didn't put a foot wrong but it just doesn't have that premium feel that the Audi does. Plus the Mondeo creaks and rattles loads. I don't know where you're based but I found these:

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classif...avant/maximum-age/up_to_6_years_old?logcode=p

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classif...ype/diesel/postcode/l357lf/usedcars?logcode=p

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classif.../80/make/audi/page/3/model/a4_avant?logcode=p

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classif...esel/model/a4_avant/postcode/l357lf?logcode=p


All four are over 100,000 miles, but you'd like to think that all the major work/servicing has been done on them. The black one is well priced, the second looks in really clean condition and the red is fully loaded. I'd go for the red one personally, because i think Audis look **** hot in red. Hope they help!
 
Vauxhall Insignias are for nothing, you can get a year old one for £10k.
 
AdamB8 said:
I used to have a 1.8 Tdci Mondeo Titanium.. Bought it in a moment of madness and ended up keeping it for three years. Was a smart motor, had loads of toys and didn't put a foot wrong but it just doesn't have that premium feel that the Audi does. Plus the Mondeo creaks and rattles loads. I don't know where you're based but I found these:

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201412189724798/sort/default/postcode/l357lf/make/audi/onesearchad/used,nearlynew,new/page/1/radius/80/usedcars/fuel-type/diesel/model/a4_avant/maximum-age/up_to_6_years_old?logcode=p

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201405314641683/sort/default/make/audi/radius/80/onesearchad/used,nearlynew,new/model/a4_avant/page/2/maximum-age/up_to_6_years_old/fuel-type/diesel/postcode/l357lf/usedcars?logcode=p

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201411239178718/sort/default/postcode/l357lf/fuel-type/diesel/onesearchad/used,nearlynew,new/maximum-age/up_to_6_years_old/usedcars/radius/80/make/audi/page/3/model/a4_avant?logcode=p

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201411239181811/sort/default/make/audi/maximum-age/up_to_6_years_old/page/4/usedcars/radius/80/onesearchad/used,nearlynew,new/fuel-type/diesel/model/a4_avant/postcode/l357lf?logcode=p


All four are over 100,000 miles, but you'd like to think that all the major work/servicing has been done on them. The black one is well priced, the second looks in really clean condition and the red is fully loaded. I'd go for the red one personally, because i think Audis look **** hot in red. Hope they help!
Click to expand...

The links don't work unfortunately. I have seen some red ones and they do look drop dead gorgeous. Would love a red love one but they seem few and far between. I would like a colourful car. Only had silver/grey cars. So a red would be a welcome change.

An insignia? Never have been a fan of Vauxhall's (blame top gear :/) they do look like big cars. Want something that has a nice interior with decent kit.
 
Agree that a fully loaded Mondeo/Insignia looks attractive when you see nearly new ones on the forecourt at over half the original list price, but there's a catch - the Mondy has just been replaced and the next Insignia is only a year or two away I think. Buy one now and it will be worth buttons when you come to sell it. The problem with Ford/Vauxhall is always going to be the fact that thousands of one-year old examples get dumped on the market every year by the rental car companies when they renew their fleets, which is then compounded by the manufacturers pre-registering them to artificially inflate the sales figures - net result is that residuals take a bashing. Personally, I'd only go down this route if you intend to run it into the ground until it's knackered. Granted the next gen A4 is coming out next year too, but with Audis this doesn't seem to affect used values as much as mainstream makes - even B6/B7 A4s still fetch relatively good prices on the s/h market compared to similar aged Fords and Vauxhalls - remember that.

Diesel is fine as long as you do a decent mileage (12k+ per year at least). Most of the horror stories you read to do with DPFs are with cars that have been pootled around town for short distances. They don't like this sort of treatment and this is why they expire expensively. I have mechanic friends in the trade who service all sorts of cars with DPFs with six-figure mileages on them that haven't missed a beat. Audi service history is an absolute must, even more so on the diesels because using the right VW507 engine oil is critical with a DPF engine.

I concur with what others are saying - specification is all with any German premium car. Aim for something that has a few of the more desirable extras (Satnav/MMI, sunroof etc, I would say leather too, but the S-Line has it as standard anyway!) - if you buy a poverty spec one with nothing on it, it may be cheaper, but you'll have a harder job moving it on in a few years time. Good luck!
 
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At the moment I'm doing 15k a year. But this can change to more or less miles depending on where I'm based. A fully specked up one with decent miles is same price as the audi in the first picture all be it 2 years younger.

What's the normal s lines got? Is the mmi not standard.

I need an avant due to space. Looking at under 100k mile cars. Would 100k+ miles be running a risk.

Also making sure all cars have a full service history. What other pitfalls are there?
 
LukeG88 said:
At the moment I'm doing 15k a year. But this can change to more or less miles depending on where I'm based. A fully specked up one with decent miles is same price as the audi in the first picture all be it 2 years younger.

What's the normal s lines got? Is the mmi not standard.

I need an avant due to space. Looking at under 100k mile cars. Would 100k+ miles be running a risk.

Also making sure all cars have a full service history. What other pitfalls are there?
Click to expand...

All B8s have MMI strictly speaking...its built into the radio on cars without Satnav. But MMI 'proper' if you like is when it is combined with Satnav, Bluetooth, voice activation and the actual MMI control is on the console behind the gearshift. Thats the spec you should aim for, and it was a £1500 optional extra on all models. Only the SE Technik and the S4 have it as standard.

100+k is always a risk on any car, it all depends on how quickly it was run up. A motorway car thats run that mileage up in less than 4 years and has scarcely had a chance to cool down AND has a full Audi history is arguably less risky than a 5 or 6 year old one with similar mileage with a patchy service history. My mechanic mate looks after a 300,000 mile '07 plate A6 3.0TDI still on its original clutch, and DPF....and it just keeps on going.
 
Ideally I want one with Bluetooth. Have it in my BMW and find it so handy. Not to bothered about sat nav as don't use it enough. Prefer using a separate device.
 
Even the low spec 2010 onwards models are likely to have bluetooth.
 
Those se's? Not many techniks about though within my budget.
 
I know I'm a little late into the conversation...
but I thought I'd give you a little info!
I bought my A4 2.0TDI Sline 170 2 years ago with 101k on the clock, I was a little dubious when I bought it (because at the time it was only 3 years old) but she was an ex lease car so she'd have done most of these on the motorway and a mechanic friend of mine assured me this was nothing for this type of car. looking over the paperwork during previous services etc she had the clutch replaced at about 77k and that was it for major parts (apart from the usual brakes, pads etc) I've driven her pretty hard since then for another 20k mixing motorway and town driving, she's been lowered ALOT on coilovers, and I'm blaming this for my need for new bushes (as coilovers like to tear them apart) for the parts its gonna cost me £40 for the lot, so not such a massive blow. Her factory fitted Duel mass has just started to go, and I'm replacing her that this week along with the clutch as its advised.

What I'm saying is....she's been incredible, no mechanical faults other than the duel mass and a clutch replacement (I wont include the bushes, as thats definitely my fault) 120k miles, 1 duel mass, 1 clutch. You can't complain with that.
Great car. I'd recommend them to anyone.

Dan.
 
Do s lines not come with reversing sensors or cruise control as standard? Hard to tell...some I've seen have them and then the ad for the image in the first post I can't seem to see any.

Seems odd you pay a premium and don't get those bite included. What so you get extra on an slime? Led drl's and part leathe seats?
 
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