Audi A4 Purchase

motorguy

Kennyboy66 wrote: »

What utter *****

I'd be disappointed with any car that couldn't be driving well at 10-12 years old doing 12k a year.

I dont think anyone is saying the cars wont last 12+ years its that most components these days are designed to last a small number of years, rather than the lifetime of the car. Thus by the time a car reaches midlife, you're likely to be hitting turbo problems, injector problems, pump problems, DPF problems, dual mass flywheel problems, etc, etc.

Kennyboy66 wrote: »

Other than tyres / brake pads and exhaust, nothing has gone wrong with my last 2 cars and I change at roughly 150k miles or 10 years.

Both diesels, both German, but I'd be happy driving a VW, Skoda or SEAT as most engine components are identical.

There has been a noted increase in turbo, injector, dpf, dmf, egr valve, pump, etc problems since around 2005. This is when most manufacturers seem to be trying to make their diesels more environmentally acceptable - to the detriment of the engines longevity.

I'm personally running an Oct 2012 Golf 1.6TDI at a rate of 2500 miles a month. I'm *hoping* that the issues associated with the previous gen engines have been sorted, but i wouldnt at this stage like to be putting money on whether or not it will need a turbo or some similar major expenses at around the 100-120K mark.

ILW

Friend of mine had autobox go on an A4. £3000 to repair. Went for scrap in the end.

ballyblack

and the manufacturers don't give a damn about subsequent owners.

Manufacturers can still make money from them by supplying overpriced parts to keep them going

Kennyboy66

motorguy wrote: »

I dont think anyone is saying the cars wont last 12+ years its that most components these days are designed to last a small number of years, rather than the lifetime of the car. Thus by the time a car reaches midlife, you're likely to be hitting turbo problems, injector problems, pump problems, DPF problems, dual mass flywheel problems, etc, etc.



There has been a noted increase in turbo, injector, dpf, dmf, egr valve, pump, etc problems since around 2005. This is when most manufacturers seem to be trying to make their diesels more environmentally acceptable - to the detriment of the engines longevity.

I'm personally running an Oct 2012 Golf 1.6TDI at a rate of 2500 miles a month. I'm *hoping* that the issues associated with the previous gen engines have been sorted, but i wouldnt at this stage like to be putting money on whether or not it will need a turbo or some similar major expenses at around the 100-120K mark.

Fair point. I'm currently on a 2003 BMW 3 series diesel - and probably wouldn't get another (much preferred driving a previous Audi).
That said nothing goes wrong bar having air intake valve replaced and the windscreen wiper nozzles getting blocked (solved myself by bleach and purging with lots of water ).

You've put me right off getting a replacement now.

Strider590

ballyblack wrote: »

Manufacturers can still make money from them by supplying overpriced parts to keep them going

In the same way that TV manufacturers do? with built in obsolescence, components that are discontinued before the TV set even hits the retail shelves.

With car manufacturers there IS a legal requirement to support their products with parts for x number of years, BUT there's no legal requirement on the price they charge for those parts.
Often when things go wrong these days, your looking at ridiculous money to replace them, to the point where a lot of people might scrap a 5 year old car.... Things like DPFs, DMFs, ECUs, etc etc, stuff that'll set you back at least £1000 a go.