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• need help again. 10 Feb 2005 (Forum)
  (with saloon i have a large roofbox. is this ok to put on a saloon bmw?) se or sport? got around £20K to spend. or would Audi a4 or a6 be better? the new a4 auto looks a bit sexy? but is it any bigger than old a4 (it looked smaller than my 320d 03reg sport tourer) really want 330cd coupe bmw, but suspension is sport on all of them, even se.
• Diesel servicing costs? 29 Dec 2004 (Forum)
  Ok so I travel about 15k miles pa mostly on motorways and am looking for the ideal car to chew up the miles for me, budget ~£10k, hoping to buy ex-fleet at auction. Cars I have in mind are: 3 series volvo S60 A4 Passat Freelander (???) Audi TT (??) Key requirements are that it's an auto. Doing my spreadsheet calculations, it looks like diesel is the way to go (assuming 10mpg gap between diesel and petrol this equates to about a £500 saving pa in fuel costs) Question is, how can I quantify the difference in servicing costs between the 2 engine types?
• Family car choices.... 30 Nov 2004 (Forum)
  Now the obvious choice is a mini MPV - Scenic or Zafira, but having travelled in both I am not convinced they are worth the money asked of them...Other option is mondeo/vectra type estate - but i think they are a little on the boring side... Or, having driven a few Saabs and Audi's, someting like a 9-5 or A6 estate with a few more miles on the clock seems appealing...I reckon with care I could pay less, for a better car with higher spec that would still meet the practical, reliable and safe needs of our family transport...in Sheffield we have recommeded 'back street' specialist for both marques so servicing isnt a problem.
• car servicing scam to end 17 May 2004 (Forum)
  These restrictive clauses, which affected 49% of new cars sold last year, have now been removed following pressure from the OFT. This could save motorists up to £500m a year Audi, BMW, Chrysler, Citroen, Ford, Mercedes, Peugeot, Seat, Skoda, Smart and Volkswagen have fallen in line with the OFT\'s call, although strict conditions on the quality of the work by independent garages remain.
• Am I mad? 20 Feb 2004 (Forum)
  I've set myself a budget of £7000, not including the £2000 I expect to get for the Fiesta. So far I've driven a Rover 75 2.0CDT, a 2.3 V5 SEAT Toledo and a 1.8T Audi A4 (top of my budget!). None really impressed me as much as I was expecting... the ride was better, as was the amount of noise in the cabin compared to my Fiesta, but it really showed me what a great fun little car my Fiesta is with its responsive 1.25 engine.
• VAG 1.8T vs V5 vs 20VT. Which one? 31 Mar 2003 (Forum)
  OK, narrowed next car down to one of these VAG products. Our budget will be up to max of 10k. Audi A3 1.8T ( 150hp ideally 5 door) Seat Toledo V5 (170Hp engine) Seat Leon 20vt My criteria in reaching this decision were.. 1) Big enough to swap current two cars for one car only. But not too big that the wife is unhappy. 2) Must be four or five doors for possible children (gulp!)
• and the winner is ... 8 Mar 2003 (Forum)
  Crucially, they replaced the CV joints as well, so that particular VAG problem shouldn't affect me. I had originally planned to hold out for a '98 Audi A6, especially if I could get a 2.5 litre TDi, but the big bill I recently had for the Clio meant that my overall budget had to come down and the only ones within reach were pre-1998, which I didn't want.
• VW Audio lead 13 Jan 2003 (Forum)
  Having just paid them £40 for the bus lead (yes I KNOW there's one on ebay for a tenner) Will pay moderate cost plus postage! Could swap for lead from Panasonic DP9060 to Audi Concert bus lead...
• citroen zx clutch 11 Sep 2002 (Forum)
  Thinking of chopping it in for Mazda 323f as I love these (thanks to those who already replied on that one!) or Nissan Primera, or Audi 80 - whatever I will not be buying another Citroen. Limited budget so what do you reckon - keep the ZX going or go for German/Japanese?
• BL - World leaders on corrosion 5 Dec 2001 (Forum)
  How many early 90s Montegos / Maestros Rover 213 / 216s are still on the road - not many - lots of similar Ford, Vauxhall, VW, Audi, still going. Basically anything German, French and indeed Swedish. Not only does such a reputation depress re-sale, what happens in a crash when the car is structurally unsound due to tin worm? I used to buy Austin / Rover cars out of some sense of misguided patriotism, but no more.
• Ticking engine 25 Nov 2001 (Forum)
  The car has not lost any performance nor is anything else amiss (emulsion in the oil etc) but after reading in the Audi post that ticking noises could indicate a cracked cylinder head I am worried! Any ideas anybody? Advice and comments will be thankfully received...
• Dishonest John's Guide - all true 7 Oct 2001 (Forum)
  Personally I avoid garages for anything other than MoTs and tyre changes. The idea that modern cars are too complex for DIY is a myth - I run an Audi Coupe 20V, and managed to diagnose and fix an engine management system fault, using a fault code reader that I built for 50 pence from instructions on the Internet. Problem was a faulty knock sensor (£60), but you can bet that if I had taken it to a garage, I would have ended up paying £600 plus for a new ECU.
• £11 000 VW Golf altrnative 5 Aug 2001 (Forum)
  I am about to change my car, I am self employed and drive over 30 000 miles per year, I currently have a P registered Golf 1,8 auto which I dislike driving, however I am tempted by a T registered Golf 1,6 SE I have seen offered for sale in the VW dealer at £ 11,000, Because of all the mileage I do I don't intend to keep this for more than a couple of years at the very most, and I intend hope to avoid the initial depreciation of buying new by buying "nearly new" I have generally been pleased with VWs but I realise that for the money I am about to fork out I could get into a Luxury car such as an Audi A4 BMW 3 series or a C class Merc. I have been offered £4500 for my golf with 68 000 on the clock, by the VW dealer. Should I go ahead or would I be better off in the long run with a slightly older but more prestigious car ?
• Buying a new car 22 Dec 2013 (Forum)
  I did a lot more research online while the testing was going on and in the end had a short list of the Audi A1 , Ford Fiesta and Mazda 2 , in that order. I then realized that the price I would pay for the Audi would bring the price very close to the price of the Ford Fiesta ST.
• Personal leasing 2 Dec 2018 (Forum)
  Looking at my current car, an Audi A4 Avant, the current trade-in value is likely to be about £14,000 less than the price I paid new (yes, I know!) after 26 months and 16000 miles. That works out at £538 a month on the same rough basis as before and from my investigations, it does compare favourably with personal lease repayments.
• Audi A4 B7 (2005 - 2008) - Six sensible steps to buying a car privately? 18 Feb 2010 (Forum)
  Hello, Some of you may recall my car-buying problems, not least a stolen/cloned car last year. I've been looking for a replacement for nearly six months,...
• DIY service 2001 A4 TDi 130 22 Oct 2006 (Forum)
  Hi I would just like to share my observations on servicing my 2001 A4 TDi 130 for the first time. I bought my oil and air filter from an Audi dealer along with some mirror glass as for some reason my passenger side mirror was fitted with glass with no heater elements. I got PD 505.00 505.01 oil as I intend am not into variable servicing and long life oils at the best of times, but especially as the sump only takes 3.8 - 4l of oil.
• Peugeot Bipper Tepee 1.4 HDI SA 2010 - Peugeot Bipper Tepee transmission fault 28 May 2025 (Forum)
    Does anyone have any idea what the issue could be, seen something similar on TV about an Audi and its tiptronic gearbox, they changed the gearbox oil and cleaned the filter which cured the problem. We have not changed any of the oils (gearbox or engine) in the last 4 years. Any suggestions would be much appreciated, cheers Mark.
• Car Suggestions 15 Feb 2024 (Forum)
     Not really dark inside  Use will be mixed short local and long family trips Vehicles I have driven and liked: Mini (the new type) Jeep Renegade Toyota Hilux Seat Mii Jaguar XJR Mercedes E class Vehicles I have driven and not liked: BMW 3 series Audi A2 Citroen AX The car will be paid for with cash and will be the main family workhorse, so should be robust and quite long lived.   I had a Renegade as a hire car last year, was convinced I'd hate it and actually found it remarkably comfortable and serene to drive.
• 'Keepers' - preservation of brake pipes, etc. 15 Mar 2023 (Forum)
     I've always just painted old engine oil on springs and subframes every three years or so.  The only mechanical immobilisation I had on my first Audi (100 2.0E) was when the front anti-roll bar broke. On inspection the fracture site had developed from a corroding micro crack.  I had a spring break once;  likewise it had been weakened by a longstanding crack - corrosion was visible half way across its diameter, the other half was a clean shiny fracture.