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Anyone had one? Any pitfalls? Do they rust easy? Looking at one in purple. V reg
Yeah got a W reg A6 here, same car but marginally bigger, fair bit of body rust now but it's the Diesel engine just goes and goes. Id have another.
Had the first year in the non avant (96) Seemed to rust through the floor in the rear footwells and fill with water, the electric leaked out and a few other bits and bobs in the end. but it was about 250k miles in.
The one I'm look at looks mint in the pictures. Can you post an ebay link on here? Apologises if you can't
is that an original colour???
Just check under the floor mats
Where did the water come in from Mike?
Apparently yes. Special order.
under the rear foot wells, technically the outside though
So is that an inherently bad design fault then?
no idea only had one.
Been looking for a cheap diesel estate for a while now. It looked interesting. Maybe a Passat is a better shout.
that's VERY purple !
At least I won't have to wash it!
Great cats, I had the 2.5 tdi auto. I recall that ABS module faults were fairly common on them.
From what I've read they seem pretty bombproof. It's just a question if I could live with the colour.
I had a B5.5 petrol from 123k to 200. Cost £200 in parts over that time. Mainly suspension arms, check if that's been done. Loved it. Passat is same but cheaper.
£200 in 77K miles doesn't sound to bad.
My old Golf (and a mate's old Golf was exactly the same) used to leak like mad through the front doors, into the rear footwells. Seems that the membrane that kept the water on the outside of the door insides (as it were) would deteriorate and the water wouldn't drain out the door bottoms, but simply pour into the car floorings.
Borrowed a 250k one from the garage last week, engine wasn't too bad, but far smaller than my similar age octavia. Wasn't ageing too well, but as garage run around/loaner it spends a fair bit of time full of car parts or used by farmers. Radio knackered, dashboard pixels mostly gone but made up for by warning lights. Pile of trim in passenger footwell.
The one in your advert looks a bit pricey to me, awful colour and a year away (for me) from its belt change. Not even a years MoT.
Yeah I've been thinking the same. I'm going to leave it and get something else.
My least reliable car was a x reg a4 avant 1.8 t sport it did not leak water in unlike the passat I replaced it with but did suffer with alarm issues and boost leaks and ecu failure amongst other things
Only rot was on the boot lid where the soft touch switches are which I belive is an alloy panel next to steel , so no great surprise.
But was a nice place to be and great when it worked right
It was only 6 years old when we had it
Oh and I did not learn my lesson , current mk4 golf estate tdi is only a little better than the a4 was but only
Cost £1000 and has 180 miles on it so I can live with its crappyness
So I'm still looking for a car. I've seen a VW Golf 2005 1.9tdi with 166K £2289. That seems like a lot of miles of the price?
Just found this locally on AT. Worth a look?:-
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201505123393181/usedcars?logcode=visc
The golf seems a little over priced but condition is key In my mind rather than mileage depending on history
I'd probably go look at that older a4 , need to check but it may have the older non pd lives for ever engine
If it comes with a 12 month test it's hard to go wrong for that price just check all the insdie for water and damp carpet ESP the rear and the battery try
1,9 engines are considered the best of VW's diesel engines.
Had that engine in my old Ibiza. Reliable and very good mpg.
Thanks orangeboy. I'm thinking its best to go look at the cheap Audi. They have a Seat Leon 2003 1.9 TDI at the same garage.
The Golf seems really expensive just for the badge.
My advice, buy a B5.5 Passat instead. I've had an A4 and 3 Passats, the Passats are appreciably bigger inside (useful for carrying bikes), cheaper to buy and drive just as well. The only thing I can say is that generally A4's are better specced from the factory, but when you're looking at 15 year old cars, you're happy if any of the toys work rather than all of them in most cases!
Currently got a 51 plate Passat 1.9 TDi Sport estate, it's done 147k miles (I picked it up at 135k) and it's still a really nice car to drive. Loads of low down torque means you can be really lazy driving it, it's rapid enough being a 130 to overtake on single carriageway roads, and it has an enormous boot! I can get a large sized 29er FS bike in the back with both wheels in, it's that big! Doesn't do any less than 40mpg even in the winter and on short journeys, in the summer it's normally doing over 50mpg, and can be over 55mpg on a run.
Thought I would update the thread. Went to see the cheap Audi. Really amazing condition apart from the drivers side front wing, which was really rusty. Interior was unmarked and dry, boot was the same. It didn't have a full history, up to about 125k. Also had what looked like an oil leak underneath. Overall car was amazing for the age. Decided to leave it. Seemed to be asking too much for a car that needed work with a short MOT.
Forgot to add to my post yesterday...
The A4 I had was a B5 same as the one you went to look at... Definitely suffered from rust! The Passat's I've had have all been a lot better in that respect.
I had a 98 reg, no rust but the red paint was continually fading the engine (1.8 na) was bomb proof and never needed any serious cash spending on it apart from the cambelt which because its a longtitudaly mounted engine needs the front clip removing with special tools. The suspension was another matter complicated and expensive so make sure the suspension arms have been done recently.