My in-laws have been talking about changing their car Audi A4 Avant tdi w reg 80k fsh immaculate condition. My wife and i were trying to encourage them to go for something more economical with lower emissions ie cheaper travelling, and avoiding diesel because of their tendancy to engine failure.
Unfortunately they have experienced engine failure fortunately close to the Audi garage who said they should not drive it and lent them an 08 2k A4 Avant tdi.
Repair will cost 3k- as much as the car is worth. The Audi garage, which also deals in VWs, have offered the 08 for 19k keeping the old car.
We are concerned they are being pushed into this deal and are not free to make a choice.
Is this a fair deal? what other options do they have?
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A few things spring to mind; firstly, sorry to hear of their misfortunes.
Secondly, I am not sure what you mean by 'something more economical'. A TDI of W reg vintage is about as economic as it gets. Neither does this engine (pre PD I assume) have any tendency to failure. I speak from experience - I had two from 94 to 2002 and both did 100K without any problems. Both still local and doing sterling service. The earlier (Golf) is well into 200K+ now.
However, they are of course free to buy any car they wish and should proceed as anyone would. It just happens that their current car is at a garage.
Alternatively, if their Audi is immaculate and they like it, £3K is a lot less to pay compared to buying something newer. I would be interested to know what caused their engine problems; if they have Audi FSH might the company be prepared to meet some of the costs? Finally, Audi quote £3K, I am sure an independent garage would do it a lot cheaper.
Edited by mlj on 06/09/2008 at 09:21
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I second mlj, if their current car is in good condition, i would look at getting a trusted indy to sort out their engine problem, even if it means another engine from a write off.
I'd imagine that 3K can be reduced to 2K at the most.
Years of good use in their car yet, unless of course they were thinking of changing anyway.
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Audi say the car shouldn't be driven, but can you drive it? I'd take it to an independent garage for a second opinion. What costs £3000 at Audi, might be £500 somewhere else.
If you can't move the car at least get a full run down of the work they will be doing and get it priced up elsewhere. Indy may be willing to pick the car up.
Sounds to me like they are trying to get a sale in difficult times.
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As the car is, it's worth almost nothing. Get it fixed and it may only reach status quo but at least they would have a functioning car either to use or trade in if that's what they want to do. Buy the new one and this next 12 months it will cost not only the £19k but also a hidden minimum of £3k in depreciation making a total of at least £22k.
Starts to put the repair cost in perspective. I advise the same as others above. Look to get the repair done at an indy for less than the main dealer quote and then take the time assess the next move. Decisions made in haste can prove regrettable.
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Sorry Humph, how does depreciation make the car more expensive? Pay £19,000 for it, it' loses £3000 in 12 months, still only cost £19,000.
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Sorry Humph how does depreciation make the car more expensive? Pay £19 000 for it it' loses £3000 in 12 months still only cost £19 000.
Or put it another way, sell it after 12 months and it has cost £3k.
(assuming the depreciation figure is correct)
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£3k to repair / swap the engine out seems steep. Go to someone like ASM Auto recycling, buy a complete engine and gearbox out of a rear-ended write-off for £700 odd, and have an indy swap them out for under £1,000.
www.asm-autos.co.uk/
Edited by oldnotbold on 06/09/2008 at 11:39
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mlj. I know I have talked about it before; but my very reliable 1999 Seat Toledo 1.9 TDI SE has now done almost 161,000 miles. The 110 bhp engine is fantastically silky smooth and economical.I still get 60 mpg on a long run. With the present credit crunch I will still be driving that car in some years' time I hope. I have just had it over in Harwich via Holyhead HSS and since then I do my regular trips up in Northern Ireland from Dublin. It has every extra under the sun and they still work. Orrigional clutch etc etc and orrigional main battery and also orrigional battery in the key fob for opening the car. My Seat was made by VW in Belgium.
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Yes i agree the most economical option is keep the w reg going. I propose to get an indy to look at it. 19k for the 08 seems steep?
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Keep us posted how it turns out please.
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>19k for the 08 seems steep?
Depends on the engine and spec. It might be only a few months old and the list price new may have been £24k or more.
I've got an xreg A4 saloon TDI 115 and it's a quality product. If they can get their car repaired for a reasonable cost it would have a fair bit of life left in it.
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