Wanted: A6 TDi Avant or VW Passat TDI Estate

[s2avant95M]

Sorry, not S2 related.. but we need either an A6 TDi Avant or a VW Passat TDi Estate. Something around 01/02/03 would be perfect. The Mk4 Golf is just not cutting it with 2 kids, 2 bikes etc...

If not allowed to post this then sorry Mods please remove..

[Nace20]

if money is no problem then a6

[Jamo]

I'll let you Tim, just this once

[s2avant95M]

I'll let you Tim, just this once

Why thank you kind sir...

[Fat Audi 80]

You can't have mine, but I have a 2001 Passat 130 TDI Sport Estate (that's a mouthful) and I love it.

It has been blessed with cruise, heated seats winter pack, mp3 music keg etc. I believe these are A6 floor pan and A4 front subframe etc so very roomy and very confortable. I paid £5700 in the middle of last year for a mint one with 70k miles on it. I dare say they are a lot cheaper than that now!

Apart from a couple of niggles (failed alternator, failed wiper stalk it has been brilliant)

If you do go for a Passat, try and stick to pre 2002, as I believe the accountants went on a cost cutting mission after 2002 and you lose the illuminated heater vents and other equipment which was previously standard...

HTH Tim.

Cheers,

Steve.

[iain1067]

Tough choice really as they are pretty much the same car. Personally the A6 wins because it is a better built car, the gotchas on either would be the front multi link suspension arms creaking other than that both very good cars.


iain

[s2driveruk]

I've got an A6 tdi avant....1.9tdi on a 2001Y but it has had some annoying niggles:

Coolant leaks
Front bumper gorund clearance is not great
Belly pan has a habbit of scuffing and dropping down after a while
Aircon compressor siezed and sheared off the pully
EGR filthy
variable vane setup on the hotside sticky (common on these) so lost low end thump

Add to that an unspotted internal head gasket leak (unpotted by Audi i mean...) which ended up costing over £2.5 to have the engine rebuilt...by your boy Mr Cockings and you could say its been an expensive hobby.

Ignore all that and in reality it is:

cavernous inside and boot is huge
Really lovely for motorway work, easy 600mpg from a tank
Rides like an armchair for all the righ reasons
Gearbox is silky
Interior is built from granite as usual for an audi
when it's clean, looks good still
rear seats are deep and very easy to take 5 adults in comfort
Standard stereo sounds great, though seriously hankering for a proper bose upgrade

Passats are really nice too.....if you can get a 1.9tdi sport 4motion with a winterpack on then i'd go for it, superb car, good economy and reasonable cheap, but rare!

[s2avant95M]

david, are you selling it then? sounds a lot of problems which i didn't really want to have to deal with and aircon working is a must. The other problems I guess could be sorted.

Also, could you add to the title of this thread "WANTED:" as i didnt really want to initiate a debate on which one to buy, a Passat or A6

[s2driveruk]

I could be tempted Tim......have been looking at a VW Tiguan, pm if you want more info etc

[S2central.net]

For a family wagon - look out for Allroads as well... They are disgustingly cheap now for circa 2001-2 but are very comfortable (based on A6) and come with quattro as standard fitment. They are often very highly spec'd from new with all sorts of nice options available. Watch out for air suspension issues if it hasn't been repaired recently. V6 TDi is best option IMO - 180bhp and 380Nm in factory trim. Very usable and built like a tank.

The V6 diesel suffers from leaky top gaskets - not expensive in parts - just time really. Need to do mine.

Timing belt on these is pretty critical as well - lots of special tools required (BTDT) or reckon on large service bill at Audi - look for documented evidence of timing belt work on any cars of the age you are looking for.

[GazzaG60]

ther eis little difference between the 2. i cant see why an A6 is buitl better than a passat. id say they are basically the same.

the usual applies here. pick the best condition you can fid for your money. dont worry too much about mileage.

its the crank or cam bolt thats the worry on the tdi's IIRC.

[S-Express]

ther eis little difference between the 2. i cant see why an A6 is buitl better than a passat. id say they are basically the same.
.

I've got an L reg passat and a K reg audi 100, and although the passat is well built and rattle free after over 180k miles, it is no way as well built as the audi - take the door card off and see for yourself - audi is full of waterproof membrane, sound insulation, thicker board etc etc. significantly quicker to remove passat door card!

[mark_s2]

Have to agree with paul - love the 2.5tdi in my A6 quattro avant but if economy is important to you i'd give it a miss. I only manage to average 30 mpg in mine.

[S-Express]

going through my local auction tonight:
(Queesferry, nr Chester)
603 Audi A6 1.9 Tdi Se - 1871cc 5dr Estate Oct 2002 (52) Red Diesel Manual Feb 2009 112,134 NW Here

[Smith_S2]

I just picked up a nice 51 A6 2.5 TDI Quattro, 180bhp, silver, the boot is MASSIVE!!!!!!!!, the first owner/buyer ticked the leather heat Recaros option, sunroof, parking sensors, cruse, towbar, trip computer packed with heaps of toys!

Timing belt is very important, if it was not done at 70K miles walk away, Oh and fuel INJECTION pumps are expensive £1500+VAT, they need attention around 100k miles, thus mines is going to get done when the RS2 comes out of hiding