Big Will_

Got someone keen to take my Golf GT TDi off me for sensible money so considering letting it go.

Been looking into a replacement daily hack for the £3-4000 range and have found myself looking at the A4/A6 quattro 2.5 V6 TDi.

Are there any major problems with these engines?

Most of the ones i'm looking at are around 100,000 miles on average and I don't want to really have to undertake any major expenses

My golf has been good as gold and has just rolled over 150,000 miles. Cost me about £250 in the time i've had it and that included doing a cambelt

Talk to me people

rs-tuner

iTrader: (1)

The 2.5 are Good engines I have seen problems with cam chains on the 3.0 so beware of them.

bookwyse

They are bloody good engines as long as the timing belts are changed at the recommended 80k intervals. I had one with over 180k on the clock and no issues at all.

The taxi firm I use in Amsterdam has a 2.5 TDi Quattro with over 750,000KMS on the clock. It still looks and sounds like new!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Big Will_

Wow - thats some big miles bookwyse!

Thanks for the feedback guys.

Basically it's down to the following 3 cars to go and test drive:

BMW 330d
Audi 2.5 V6 TDi Quattro
Vauxhall Vectra 3.0 V6 CDTi

First thing that will happen to whichever one I buy will be a remap

It'll be a daily hack and do some towing work next year perhaps

R4N SS

iTrader: (6)

i would be more worried about the auto boxes in these

kosman

my boss got one of them audis,its done 123k and only had servicing and 2cambelts,he's got a 55 reg landrover with 80k on and a brand new seat ibiza with 10k on yet he took the audi for two weeks touring round france,i asked him why and he said he trusted it more than the other two.

Danster76

iTrader: (2)

Will, In my experience the v6 tdi is juicy and under powered. I would sooner have a higher mile'd 2.0pd tdi.

ps I'd go manual and avoid the cvt box

lead_foot

iTrader: (1)

Having driven all three, 330D wins for me.

Big Will_

I'm leaning towards manual boxes on all of the above, although, for the amount of sitting in traffic I seem to do, I question the laziness benefits of an auto box

First things first - this lad needs to cross my palm with silver and take the golf off me

rs-tuner

iTrader: (1)

Forgot to say stay away from autos they suffer with faulty control units

R4N SS

iTrader: (6)

audi auto boxes are wank and nothing but problems

krypton

Wouldn't go near the vauxhall engines are scrap in them. Liners drop then its new engine time..

Would go with your 1st choice off the audi only usually things like coolant temp sensors tha go on the engine. They can be a bit sore on front c.v joints an boots And make sure its had the belts done at the right times as Timing belt tensionsers can fall apart if over due

R4N SS

iTrader: (6)

i'd be wary of audi auto boxes as they prone to failures.

new gearbox plus a gearbox ecu which is only avail from germany - looking at around 2.5k if you have any box issues

James

love the engine, sounds just great imho. However, having worked in the workshop when these were new and the problems we had with boxs (auto's & quattros) turbos and fuel pumps means i'd always be concerned withone with anything except fsh including belt changes.

Out your choices though i'd deffo give the vectra a good look over, however i have no experience of the vauxhall mechanics!

BLACKCOS

I've seen quite a few on 300k as long as there serviced well

rs-tuner

iTrader: (1)

Is the vauxhall an isuzu engine?

If so they have alot of problems with injectors.

Stu @ M Developments

iTrader: (12)

Will... are you on drugs? there is only ONE car in your shortlist worth buying!

RS Grant

iTrader: (1)

The Vaux engines are shite from what I gather, they have the same as the 9-5 Saab and there are a few problems like someone said... not small problems, stuff that will scrap the engine.


Cheers,
Grant

Rs1

iTrader: (1)

Audi is nice car, certainly wouldn't say they feel underpowered but its easy enough for you to fettle that should you feel it no quite upto scratch. The auto box is nice but as above once they go wrong its not cheap and it hard to find good used auto boxes.
Once thing i didnt like(but its same across the audi/vw board) were those bloody suspension control arms. Theres 4 per front corner and they always end up knocking like mad.

TheScrapman

Buy one, it is after all German, IMO there is no better car than a German car.

jaiscossie

As said if you get the audi or bmw get a manual.Had a 330d auto a couple of years back had done 80k miles had it 2 months and the autobox went without warning , cost nearly £2500 to fix it.

jaiscossie

Will you get a 330d for 3-4 k though?

krypton

Yip spent ages trying different things on a signum version ended up stripping the engine and the liners had dropped. New engine is £££££. Ended up stripping the car to sort a damaged 1.9cdti. So avoid the vaux like a bad smell

Big Will_

Vauxhall idea will be dropped from the list

It was only in there as it met the power/torque and price range criteria.

BMW 330d is top of the list as I know how good they are, question is whether I'd get a good one for my budget. Hence considering the Audi as another German reliability alternative...

If the Golf goes it will be with very little timeframe to find a replacement so trying to do my homework now in case I can't find a suitable 330d

RS Grant

iTrader: (1)

A bit lower powered but will likely get far more for your money, how about a Mondingo TDCi mate?? I know they've got their common faults... but you're not shy with a spanner and have useful contacts if problems do arise. Or are you really wanting to up the cylinder count this time round??


Cheers,
Grant

crumpet

utter shit in my eyes, electrical issues everywhere and have really weak fuel pumps, tddi engines are good like in early mk3 mondeos, mk3 tdci engines are shit, not really hd any problems with mk4 apart from injectors.

Great diesels are 1.9 pd engines and bmw 30-35d etc engines!

I was looking for 330d and yes you can easily get one for £4.5k, get a good msport for that too, just avoid the auto gearboxes as they play up, manuals drive vry nice and with a remap cal pull like a train! sound good too

Big Will_

Car will most probably be used for towing as well next year so would rather go for more displacement/cylinders.

Drove a Mondingo 130 TDCi not long back and didn't really 'feel' it if you know what i mean Grant?

So it's 330d or A6 2.5 V6 TDi shortlist then

RS Grant

iTrader: (1)

Yea I know exactly what you mean when you say some cars just don't feel right when you drive them mate.

You do get a Passat in 2.5 V6 TDi and a brief scan of Autotrader shows that you can get hold of a 2003ish B5.5 with around 60k miles for around your budget and they seem to be pretty well spec'd up too.



Cheers,
Grant

crumpet

but once again its that engine grant, why get a v6tdi when yu can get a pd130 and map it for more power and reliablity for less £££

my mates got a pd130 passat and i love it, drive really nice and have good torque, tdci and tddi engines lack poke, feel like they run out of revs too early

RS Grant

iTrader: (1)

Yea I understand what you're saying crumpet, but Will is after a 6-cyl (330d and A4 V6 TDi) this time round if/when he gets his Golf PD150 shifted on.


Cheers,
Grant

crumpet

Ah i didnt see he already had a golf pd150

330d manual then imo!

ox-xen

Hi

I've had a 2002 Audi 2.5 TDi Quattro from 2004 and it's now up to 180,000 miles now.

The automatic Quattro's (permanent 4 wheel drive) all have a conventional 5 speed automatic gearbox with a torque converter and it's meant to be fairly robust. It's the front wheel drive non-quattros that have Audi's CVT 'Multitronic' that's prone to a lot of failures and is definitely one to avoid.

A couple of things to be aware of. The cambelt change (at about 80K) can be expensive as you really need to get the water pump and tensioner changed to and to carry out the work they have to take the front end of the car off! Audi typically charge about 700 to 800 pounds for this depending on the dealer. Third party garages are about 500 to 600.

The thermostat is located behind the cambelt so if the thermostat goes (mine locked closed) then you will probably need a new cambelt too so for the sake of a few pounds it's best to get that changed at cambelt time too.

The toys in the car vary a lot depending on what the owner specified off the options list. Mine is lucky enough to have the really nice sports seats with electric lumbar support and adjustable bolster. They are very supportive when the car is cornered hard (and the 4 wheel drive gives lots of traction).
I've been really happy with mine and hope it lasts for many more years.

Quite a front heavy car but lots of grunt and effortless to drive.

Ox-Xen

Glenn_

iTrader: (1)

This thread is nearly 3 years old.