😲

After very nearly 10 years of my faithful Polo; a pal is selling a 57-plate Audi A4 estate with just 107k miles, 1.9 TDI and I am thinking it will be my next car, quite soon!

 

Will feel terrible to lose the Polo, but no room to keep it. Partner wants to hang onto her 05 Fabia, and we'll each drive whichever is most appropriate for the day's journey or task.

New  house means we're both further away from jobs and friends, so a mile-muncher makes a lot of sense.

 

Never owned a diesel before, but this one is pre-DPF and overcomplicated, inaccessible EGRs; so should be OK to maintain in good health.

 

Didn't see that coming. 

Although a workmate with a similar commute did say as soon as I moved that I'd be wanting a better/comfier/longer-legged car, which I dismissed in my head at the time.

 

Edited 21 March21 Mar by Breezy_Pete
Title shift

Should be a good car if it's been looked after.  Those older 1.9Tdi were pretty bomb proof provided they had the right oil.  

 

My BIL had one and liked it but I could never get on with the interior lighting that was red so for some reason I found it really difficult to focus on.

Edited 28 August, 202428 Aug by skomaz

The two 1.9TDI’s we’ve had were blooming brilliant 🤩 Fantastic engines.  Older than the A4 you’re looking at, but Mrs Gaz’s 90bhp Golf III was a peach.  We sold it as drivable scrap and the bloke who bought it was tickled pink as he clearly also loved the 1.9TDI’s 😎

I happen to be driving a '53 plate A4 Avant 1.9 TDi 130PD as a replacement for my '53 plate Octavia 1.9 TDi 130PD... same awesome engine, basically, but a far more gentle, subtle drive.

The Octavia was a raw driving experience by comparison, a car you could throw around and abuse a little without worrying. The Audi feels far more refined and encourages a more sedate, softer approach to driving. You can still hoon around if you want, but it feels good to just relax and take it easy.

 

I miss a few of the luxury Octy options, but that was from an L&K trim. The Audi isn't quite at the same level and the interior has some kind of plasticote coating that seems subject to wear, but it has other qualities to make up for it. The suspension is wonderfully overengineered and feels great!

 

I do miss the 'fighter jet' green interior/dash lights, but the red is alright especially if you turn the brightness down a little.

I used to have a 53 plate Audi A4 Avant 1.9TDI 130PD GmbH edition which was 100% reliable and a great mile muncher.

 

Even after a chip tune I could still get 700 miles from a tank full of the smelly stuff.

 

Just hankered after a V8 so I swapped it for an S4 Avant with a 4.2 V8!

We both test drove it this evening.

All good, so going to take it off his hands in a couple of weeks' time.

Needs rear brakes, but I'm happy to sort that myself.

Anyone want a Polo?

Happy for you, hope that the Audi proves to be a good mile muncher, it should be good for many more miles still.

Cheers Graham, and all who've said good things about the model. 😊

22 minutes ago, Breezy_Pete said:

Anyone want a Polo?

You're PM-d

Should be a sweet spot for mpg and reliability. suspect that engine could do 500k with care, the rest of the car will be like Triggers broom.

1 hour ago, Aspman said:

Should be a sweet spot for mpg and reliability. suspect that engine could do 500k with care, the rest of the car will be like Triggers broom.

Friend of mine has just passed 600k in his '02 model and it's showing no signs of giving up any time soon.

He is a mechanic, so it's been looked after (aside from never cleaning the interior) and just shows what you can do if you follow the maintenance schedule.

 

You will likely find the glove box door has snapped off, and the cup holders are broken, but both have easy-fix kits on eBay to get them working again.

Timing belt was done in 2020, only about 20k miles ago (from memory) so that should be good for a while. Service book looks pretty well filled in at first glance.

 

MOT smoke test probably the biggest threat to continued existence. Pal advised that he alternated between standard and fancy diesel and tended to go for an Italian tune-up en route to MOTs. Due end of Sept, so will soon find out on that front. May get him to MOT it before actually buying it, thinking logically.

 

If it has been treated well and had regular servicing then it should be fine for smoke test, mine has 151,000 now and it passed the test like it was a new engine, my garage is very happy with it, body work needs some attention now but mechanically it seems fine. As to timing belt, I think it is now something like 100,000 miles or 5 years, best to check with a dealer.

Edited 30 August, 202430 Aug by Graham Butcher

Our first Fabia 1.9tdi did over 80k miles on its first cambelt so they tend to be strong. 

 

As for smoke I used to use a bottle of forte diesel system cleaner once a year before a MOT, it never failed and was pretty much smoke free. 

 

https://www.forteuk.co.uk/product/advanced-formula-diesel-treatment/

Edited 31 August, 202431 Aug by skomaz

 

 

Not really sure why you've posted that vid, sorry.

 

Passing tumbleweed time with 1.9 TDI thoughts until there is more to come on the possible in coming A4.

Edited 31 August, 202431 Aug by Ootohere

I don't think you will regret the move Pete, I never ever wanted to drive a diesel but ended up in a 98 1.9TDi Alhambra 90hp which was OK for my work but did not really inspire me, the economy was good though.

 

Then the day before I was moving to France with the Alhambra loaded to the gills my chauffeur pal offered me his 3 year old Octavia with 188k miles on it for £3.5K and the impulsive person I am said OK!

 

I had to squeeze all the stuff into the Octavia and to my great surprise it swallowed the bulk of it, 20 years later I am still driving Skoda TDi's and would not consider anything else although I will one day add an EV as a second vehicle.

 

The 1.9TDi PD engine in the subsequent MK2 Octavia was a little gruff after remapping but had huge torque and you are absolutely right it is the sweet spot for uncomplicated reliability.

 

I think there will be no going back for you!

29 minutes ago, Ootohere said:

Passing tumbleweed time with 1.9 TDI thoughts until there is more to come on the possible in coming A4.

It's a PD115, in a dull silver colour.

Felt plenty grunty enough for me during a brief test drive.

Bought some replacement rear discs and pads for it yesterday, all genuine, for just under £60 on ebay which was pleasing. Will need doing before MOT, which I'll gladly do.

 

15 hours ago, Breezy_Pete said:

It's a PD115, in a dull silver colour.

Felt plenty grunty enough for me during a brief test drive.

Bought some replacement rear discs and pads for it yesterday, all genuine, for just under £60 on ebay which was pleasing. Will need doing before MOT, which I'll gladly do.

 

Quite agree, many people can get into some serious trouble just with the standard power output of an engine, without adding more grunt. I always used to go for petrol engines upto the point where I inherited a diesel car when joining a new company, and I was absolutely gob smacked by the extra grunt from what was a smaller engine to my old car, and as for the much improved mpg, well at the time it was a "no-brainer" to stick with diesel going forwards.

18 hours ago, Breezy_Pete said:

It's a PD115, in a dull silver colour.

Felt plenty grunty enough for me during a brief test drive.

I never felt my PD130 was lacking grunt, even before I had it chip tuned!

It's mine now.

I got the rear brakes done today. Thought for a little while I wasn't going to get the new discs in without taking the carriers off, but managed it with a bit of bodgery. 😁

 

MOT booked for Thursday.

 

 

Are we going to be introduced? 😁

10 hours ago, Gaz said:

Are we going to be introduced? 😁

As in a pic?

 

Not much to say about it, appearance-wise.

"It's a car, in a boring colour" 😁

that looks clean and straight.

and that boot will inhale stuff.

as for the engine, its as near bullet proof as you can get. 

my old pre - pd 1.9tdi ALH (90bhp) never skipped a beat. everything else around was aging and dying at a much faster rate. i reckon you could literally shoot those blocks with a .50cal and it would just sputter a bit for a second or two like it was knocked off balance, before continuing on...