December 2007
Was browsing through autotrader over the weekend looking for a manual TDI when this particular 3 litre manual A6 S line with 19 inch wheels caught my eye.The car a Sept 2005 with 28k miles on the clock..
Not one of my thoughtful moments since I called up the Audi dealership and without seeing the car , paid a deposit on it, subject to my being satisfied at the time that I see the car and test drive it!
I have since then moused around on the internet and most reviews seem to not recommend the S line since its too firm in comparision to the SE spec!
My knowledge of tyres is fairly minimal,however I was wondering , since the previous owner has gone for larger 19 inch tyres , will that make the ride yet harder? or the other way around..
Still wondering what to do ??Will the car shake out all my dental fillings and damage my spine ,thats what most reviews seem to mention!
As always thanks for any advise,not only on the S line spec also whether I would be better off buying a similar spec 530d, which is much cheaper second hand.Or maybe a VW Phaeton TDI , which is probably even better.
(My Passat TDi auction car is running strong and I dont intend to sell it , not for the time being anyway)
On an aside, havent thought much and now have to shell out 22800 for this car!
On the other hand I think , if not now , then when?
All thoughts and advise welcome!
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Another thread got me thinking.
Currently I work about 18 miles from home, and the road is a glorious old one that nobody else seems to use (it runs parallell to the motorway so perhaps they are all on that). It costs me about 11p per mile (very rough - £60 gets me about 530 miles) in fuel.
So my current journey costs me about £2 each way, and takes about 25 minutes.
I just used www.transportdirect.info and www.thetrainline.co.uk to plan the same journey.
I would have to:
Walk to the bus stop - 3 minutes
Bus into town to the station - 21 minutes and about £1.50
Train journey - 16 minutes and £6.50 return
Walk to the office - about 15 minutes.
So that's the best part of an hour in whatever the weather throws at you, having to smell and hear other people (call me anti-social, but...) and having to be at the mercy of bus and rail timetables. All for the bargain price of just short of £10 per day.
I'll take the car, thanks!
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Some days-
7.00 - Stagger into shower
7.15 - Go downstairs and eat / drink something
7.30 - walk to office ( ten feet )
cost - not much
Alternatively -
4.00 - alarm !
4.45 - drive somewhere, usually involving the worst traffic scenario of the day. I'm sure I have a magnetic attraction for these things.
10.00 - arrive late ( due to above )
10.15 - get told that the guy I was appointed to see is "off" today. Could I "pop" back tomorrow ?
10.30 - rearrange something , usually the other side of yet another traffic jam.
and so on....
9.00 PM get home
Cost ? - Doesn't bear thinking about.
Public transport - Sure, if I could find a way of also transporting ten large holdalls on the bus / train , no problem.
I've now come across 3 or 4 cases of this in two different parts of the country, one on a major motorway service station on the M4. Maybe the filling stations owners feel a bit embarrassed at having to sell the stuff now its been forced through the 1 pound a litre barrier ? Read more
Our local fuel station has space for the numbers (they recently changed to showing just the pence per litre, not fractions - eg. "109") - but have just had blank spaces up there for the last week. They said its because they were losing a lot of business because people weren't stopping.
just recently whilst driving through standing rain water at the side of the road
the electrics in the car suffered a reduction in power. the headlights dimmed
as did the dashboard lights & the heater blower power reduced. this lasts for approx.
20 seconds & then all returns to normal. the engine doesn't cut out. this has happened
a few times now.
has anyone an idea where the water is getting in to to cause this ? Read more
Have you "lost" an undertray?
659.
Does anyone know if fuel is actually dearer now as a percentage of average income than when it went up to 50p a gallon in the early seventies. I was in the army in Blandford running a Viva HB and earning I suppose not much more than £30 a week. I remember the car cost me £400 odd second hand. Can't remember how much tax and insurance was though. So are we paying more percentage wise or not for motoring now? Read more
I have an idea! Go and fill up now and beat the rush. Pass it on! ;-)
hello all
I am considering buying a hyundai Tucson from a local main hyundai dealer
I have driven the vehicle twice;drives well, good condition inside and out, no concerns there
vehicle is an 06 registered in June 06 and has been owned by hyundai from new, 5.500 miles with one service carried out as per schedule-presumably ex demo or company car
I checked the status on the DVLA site-details all ok, but sorn has just expired-does this mean that it has been off the road for the last 12 months, and if so should this be an issue considering that all else seems ok?
many thanks Read more
thanks
did look on CBC before viewing
it is a 2.0 L Petrol 4wd
My girlfriend has a Ford Focus CL TDDi 1753cc with the Endura Di diesel engine fitted, the car is ex Police (not a marked car but a known plod runabout by her father who was a civilian police employee) and has done 112,000 miles.
I have a police workshop printout (Devon) which shows it was serviced every 5000 miles by the plod garage, unfortunately I do not have details of what they did at each service, Ford claim that the cambelt interval is 100,000 miles or 10 years, internet searches advise as low as 35k, the belt I inspected today and it is a Motaquip belt so has been changed at some point and it looks OK, although there is a squeak (may be aux drive belt tensioner), so what I was wondering is, is this engine prone to cam belt failures? If it is I will get the belt kit changed anyway, but I was hoping to wait a while before getting it changed. Any up to date advice about belts/failures on that engine appreciated.
many thanks Read more
I though it was 80k on those engines but I would change every 60k.
Just reading Clarkson today and he makes a point that a few magazines and motor programmes have made about the new Impreza III. Namely that it's is a bit dull compared to the WRC winning stuff and the STi, WRX, RB5s.
I just don't get this. Did I miss something or was that version of the Impreza more or less the same idea as a Datsun Bluebird? Hardly a thing of beauty and if they clag enough scoops, gold wheels, spoilers and skirts on the new one I'm sure the red line water intercooler injection brigade will be happy.
It's not like they've taken an Elise and replaced it with a Berlingo.
Or is it just me?
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Happy Festivus Read more
The older Impreza was not pretty but it did have a sort of brutish appeal to it. The last one (hawkeye) was the best. A lot of new cars look a bit bland and even ugly IMHO. Looks alone would put me off a BMW 1-series, it takes its styling cues from a Nike training shoe.
The new Impreza is a bit bland and I believe its performance and handling has been 'softened' up. Given time that may be a good thing for Subaru. I think they had taken the market for the old one as far as it could go. The new one looks more practical as a good value small-medium hatchback family car and I for one would certainly choose it over equivalent Focus/Astra models. My Legacy does not have blistering performance, but is very solid and very satisfying to drive. Every trip is a pleasure. There is a depth of engineering that puts these cars on a different plant to a Ford (I write as a happily ex-Ford Mondeo owner).
Driving today suddenly the Speedo,Tacho, Heat gauage went to 0 and then things like indicators were not responding unto we hit a bump and it sprung back to life for a second.
Any idea were to start here Read more
Plynch
Years since I've seen one do that. I'd clean forgotten that they could even do it.
Hi,
Today while @ idle my Mondeo tdci 130 2003 53 plate, cut out without any warning that i saw. When i tried to restart it seemed to start for a moment then die again. while waiting for the RAC to turn up when I tried to start it would turn over fine but not start.
The RAC man sprayed some ether from his magic can into the air intake and it would almost start.
After a failed start attempt the glow plug would be flashing, i've never seen it flash before, and the car has never lost power.
I have had the car from 10k and it now has 35k and FSH. It has never been misfueled in the time i've had it ( 3 years). I filled up about 15 miles before it died, putting in 50 litres.
RAC man reckons the fuel pump is knackered.
The car occasionally has accelerated to 1500 revs all by itself, when it does this and i dip the clutch it surges and settles to idle but with gear engaged it would surge to 1500 revs again.
The car is at a main dealer and will get looked at hopefully tomorrow.
Does anyone have any ideas/ similar problems.
I've been reading the other posts but most others seem to have intermittent problems and the car starts ok mostly.
I'm really worried a lazy tech will just say, "fuel pump" then it's not and i'll be a grand poorer and then he'll say "oh it must be something else" and pull my pants down even further.
Thanks for any help guys
slt Read more
Well the problem has been resolved. THANK my lovely pink fluffy slippers!!!!!
I was getting worried after looking at all the posts on various site.
Ford garage got a fault code p0340, camshaft position sensor. The sensor was replaced and the car has just completed a 125 mile trip without a hiccup.
It was £108, but had I not broke down opposite a ford garage i would have done it myself and only spent £14, but after finding out what it could have cost I am super happy with the result.
All those who said cam position sensor give yourself a pat on the back. Thanks for all the inputs even if it wasn't to this thread, they are all helpful.
The other thing is the foreman said he'd done 20 or more mondeo tdci fuel pumps in the past year, what about all the other garages? Ford must do something as this is a very expensive fault to have over their customers heads and will do great harm to their reputation.
{Attempt at swearing removed}
Browse
Thanks for the advise,have had a long hard look at the alternatives.
I guess I will drive and see how it feels before deciding on what to do..
Actually this car was priced at 24500 in one website then reduced to 23500 and my phone call took off 700 pounds more, hence part of the reason for paying the deposit!
I did a pricing estimation on this model i.e 2005,manual at 28000 miles gives the second hand price at 25000 , hence the price quoted does seem attractive..