For 9k.. Seat vs VW...

[[TW]Fox]

Thats the commonly heard excuse, but can demand for it really have increased that much since we went over £1 per litre?

Yes. The entire country is diesel obsessed. Everyone has fallen for the economy rubbish.

Asda are not a profiteering oil company. They are loving the headline grabbing attention slashing petrol is giving them as some sort of saviour of the motorist. Even they have said that at the moment, there is nothing they can do with regard to reducing diesel price. I reckon they are charging barely anything more than wholesale for their diesel.

Put the tinfoil hat away.

 

[zain]

DSG is annoying - automatic gearboxes are for big cars with huge engines.

More like marmite and it works well enough to put it in the TT-S and S3 2.0T engines, which are not huge at all.

 

[zain]

Is an Audi going to cost much more for parts and servicing than a VW??

Cheers,

G

From authorised dealers it varies, a good independent garage can save you money and do the same (if not better) job.

At the budget you are at I would go for a VW over an Audi, however there are really well priced A3 Sportbacks about. The 3.2 V6 engine in the Sportback is especially cheap.

 

[[TW]Fox]

More like marmite and it works well enough to put it in the TT-S and S3 2.0T engines, which are not huge at all.

Not sure what you mean there. BMW's SMG1 was utter junk but they though it worked well enough to go into the M3 Evolution, doesnt mean they were right

 

[zain]

Not sure what you mean there. BMW's SMG1 was utter junk but they though it worked well enough to go into the M3 Evolution, doesnt mean they were right

Those with experience of the DSG understand it is most definatly a love/hate thing. The point is that; hate it or not it offers better performance and economy over a manual version.

You can't compare SMG1 to DSG as the DSG is a proven success with over 1 million sold just by VW.

 

[Guru]

I'm seriously tempted by the Audi at the moment....is a 2005 (55) Audi A3 SE TDI (1.9) with 20,000 miles on the clock a bargain at £8500??

It kind of looks/feels like it is, but I'd like your opinions

 

[zain]

I'm seriously tempted by the Audi at the moment....is a 2005 (55) Audi A3 SE TDI (1.9) with 20,000 miles on the clock a bargain at £8500??

It kind of looks/feels like it is, but I'd like your opinions

According to Parkers that seems about right, Audi have one at a similar price and AT (AutoTrader) have similar results. Any extras on it? Any warranty?

Bare in mind the 2.0TDI is nowhere near the 1.9TDI, which (imo) seriously lacks power.

At 15k/year at 112p/litre with 45 mpg average it costs just under £1700 a year in fuel. At 101/litre with 33mpg average it costs just under £2100, so you can decide if the saving is beneficial enough to sway towards diesel.

 

[Guru]

According to Parkers that seems about right, Audi have one at a similar price and AT (AutoTrader) have similar results. Any extras on it? Any warranty?

Bare in mind the 2.0TDI is nowhere near the 1.9TDI, which (imo) seriously lacks power.

At 15k/year at 112p/litre with 45 mpg average it costs just under £1700 a year in fuel. At 101/litre with 33mpg average it costs just under £2100, so you can decide if the saving is beneficial enough to sway towards diesel.

6 months warranty i think. Sat nav etc, not enough detail on the site so I've emailed them.

Not sure what you mean by 2.0tdi vs 1.9tdi comment? can you explain please?

Thanks,

G

 

[[TW]Fox]

1.9tdi = old noisy slow diesel
2.0tdi = new noisy not quite as slow diesel

 

[WJA96]

1.9tdi = old noisy slow diesel
2.0tdi = new noisy not quite as slow diesel

It's not quite that clear-cut. The 1.9TDI PD 130BHP is probably the most easily tunable diesel engine ever. For about £300 you can get a 100% reliable remap that will take the PD130 to 190BHP. The 2.0 TDI PD 140BHP goes to about 175BHP and then you need to make serious hardware mods to go any harder. The PD130 is more fuel efficient and doesn't eat it's turbo at 70,000 miles like the PD140's do and finally the PD130 is cheaper to service over 100,000 miles. VW had to make the PD140 the way it is for emissions regulations. And then there are about 6 different versions of the PD130 engine. The AZW PD130 (pre-2006 MY) is the better engine in my opinion, although the 2006-2008 BLT is slightly more fuel efficient.

The PD140 is much smoother, both in terms of it's vibration and it's power delivery, but the PD130 delivers a thoroughly addictive burst of thrust between 2000 and 2800RPM that really does leave you grinning and others breathing soot.

 

[WJA96]

Thank you! You're the first person I think who drives a DSG day to day that agrees with my thoughts on it!

I can't tell you how pleased I was to step back in to my 5 series with its proper automatic box

There's something about how they've programmed the clutch to let itself out at take-off that just feels like it's slipping unless you really give it welly. I think it's to do with the inability to handle the torque, but no-one from VW will confirm that.

 

[zain]

6 months warranty i think. Sat nav etc, not enough detail on the site so I've emailed them.


Thanks,

G

Get that warranty confirmed along with any small print that exempts them if it issued by the dealer and not the manufacturer. The last thing you want is for something to be horribly wrong once you purchase it.

Not sure what you mean by 2.0tdi vs 1.9tdi comment? can you explain please?

To keep it simple the 1.9TDI seriously lacks performance over the 2.0TDI. I have the 2.0TDI, which gets less mpg and costs a small amount more in tax.

The performance is sufficient in the 2.0TDI, the 1.9TDI is daunting. This would mean nothing if performance isn't an issue though.

 

[dilated]

Just to chip in, I spent a few days in a a3 3.2 with the dsg box (quattro iirc but not 100% sure now as it was over 12 months ago) and although I really wanted to hate it (as I hate all things with no clutch) it was actually very good imho and really showed me that my hatred is slightly out of date.

However a few weeks later i drove a golf gti 2.0tdi manual and really did feel almost as quick; this is subjective and probably not true however if I was a 3.2 owner and drove a tdi during a service I would have to question the amount paid for the v6's drining habit.

I would say that Seat quality is as good as VW, however for dealer care; the Skoda dealers seem to bend over backwards to look after people wheras I think you need to own an S8 to even get a free coffee at Audi these days!

 

[WJA96]

I would say that Seat quality is as good as VW, however for dealer care; the Skoda dealers seem to bend over backwards to look after people wheras I think you need to own an S8 to even get a free coffee at Audi these days!

Agreed, Skoda dealers really do make the brand better than the other VAG dealers - but the VW dealer in Bury St. Edmunds still treat you like a king - coffee and cake the last time I was in. And I really do fancy that 5.0 V10 diesel Phaeton they have for £29K. I could rent it out for pulling tractors out of muddy fields

 

[zain]

Just to chip in, I spent a few days in a a3 3.2 with the dsg box (quattro iirc but not 100% sure now as it was over 12 months ago) and although I really wanted to hate it (as I hate all things with no clutch) it was actually very good imho and really showed me that my hatred is slightly out of date.

However a few weeks later i drove a golf gti 2.0tdi manual and really did feel almost as quick; this is subjective and probably not true however if I was a 3.2 owner and drove a tdi during a service I would have to question the amount paid for the v6's drining habit.

Turbo vs N/A - You get a much more involved feel with the turbo, whereas the V6 doesn't provide enough feeling, however watch the speedometer and you will see the difference. The one you drove was definatly a quattro as all A3 3.2 V6s are.

 

[leaskovski]

I always used to think that a decent diesel engine would do 200k+ miles but an equivalent petrol car wouldn't.

I'm not sure how true that is lol

The main requirement is that the car will last me AT LEAST until I have finished paying off the loan I get to afford it lol. (6 years most likely)

And this is were I expect to see people saying..... "LOAN!!! EEK!"

 

[Guru]

I'm dropping my budget to £6000 and getting a load over 4 years instead of 6

I have a friend who can get me an 8k car for 6k so I'm doing that

/edit Just had a call from the person who can get me cars on the cheap and he has offered the following:

Audi A4 3.2 Quattro Estate, Full leather, all extras, 89,000 miles for £4000.

Is this any good?

Cheers,

G

 

[Bes]

Being a Set owner, it's the small things that make the difference between them.

Seat seem to use thinner/ softer paint, hence my Leon gets stonechipped to buggery.
The interior seems to use cheaper materials, as it all scratches/ wears/ fades very easily.

However, mechanically they are spot on