B5 Audi A4's - fairly urgent advice needed

[Rhyso]

The diesel thing is a bit of a myth unless you are doing huge miles, you pay over the odds for the car, the diesel and in a lot of cases the mpg isn't anywhere near as good as it's made out to be and they need to be serviced on a more regular basis. On top of that it stinks and gets everywhere when you fill up. Nothing worse than popping in for a swift one or going to a meeting with the Armani smelling of diesel fumes and do you really want to mess about these horrible plastic gloves.

 

Where do people get the notion that diesels require servicing more often??    service intervals are the same as their petrol equivalents......

A quick google and to be fair this is the first one I came up with because I'm to busy watching the telly, is unfortunately for Pugs but the idea is the same for most diesels. As the miles pile on a diesel requires more frequent servicing. So if as the op intends to do you buy something with a lot of miles on it and service it by the book it will cost you more.

The mpg is also debatable 

I did over over 60k in my MK4 and serviced it no more frequently than it required.  Steve_PD on here has done over 120k on his MK4 and drops his oil every 10k.  As he uses his car then things break, but stuff breaks on any car as it ages, whether it be petrol or diesel

Stop / start traffic i can get over 450 miles without breaking a sweat.  Try that in a petrol car around town 

Actually try getting that in a petrol car full stop 

[danny_p]

where do people get the inpression from that end of life sheds get serviced  

round here all the sub £1000  passats and alike are basicly f**ked    owners keep seem to keep hold of the good ones till there not so good.  

[BondandBigM]

The diesel thing is a bit of a myth unless you are doing huge miles, you pay over the odds for the car, the diesel and in a lot of cases the mpg isn't anywhere near as good as it's made out to be and they need to be serviced on a more regular basis. On top of that it stinks and gets everywhere when you fill up. Nothing worse than popping in for a swift one or going to a meeting with the Armani smelling of diesel fumes and do you really want to mess about these horrible plastic gloves.

 

Where do people get the notion that diesels require servicing more often??    service intervals are the same as their petrol equivalents......

A quick google and to be fair this is the first one I came up with because I'm to busy watching the telly, is unfortunately for Pugs but the idea is the same for most diesels. As the miles pile on a diesel requires more frequent servicing. So if as the op intends to do you buy something with a lot of miles on it and service it by the book it will cost you more.

The mpg is also debatable 

I did over over 60k in my MK4 and serviced it no more frequently than it required.  Steve_PD on here has done over 120k on his MK4 and drops his oil every 10k.  As he uses his car then things break, but stuff breaks on any car as it ages, whether it be petrol or diesel

Stop / start traffic i can get over 450 miles without breaking a sweat.  Try that in a petrol car around town 

Actually try getting that in a petrol car full stop 

I have, with a MK4 TDI, if you took it easy sure it would run on fresh air but mostly you had to thrash the thing within an inch of it's life to keep up in which case not much in it  And note that the op is after a mid 90's bigger eastate shed which will not have the grunt or economy of the latest generation diesels. I also had the use of an Audi A6 with a diesel not sure which I just drove it, it was from work which if memory serves me right was on an X plate, woefully underpowered and not that good on fuel.

So maybe we'll agree to disagree   

And then there was the diesel VW transporter heap of junk that I used at work many moons ago. It did next to no miles to the gallon especially after I got confused at the pumps in a filling station outside Rotterdam and filled it with petrol !!! It went next to no distance at all before it blew up so then again maybe you are right about petrol

 

[SoundillusioN]

It is known that paying big bucks for a diesel to replace a petrol car will take a while to recoup the savings, but keep the right diesel motor long enough and there is no denying there are savings to be had.   Yes they are not the same to drive as a petrol but it really does depend on your needs. Not sure how old the previously mentioned transporter was but I know most, especially early ones tend to be woefully underpowered and lets not forget how heavy they are. I have a petrol T25, it's consumption is one of the worst I have experienced, almost as bad as a 5L Mustang we used to have.   

A lot of people don't actually know how to drive a diesel and often it's these sort of people that complain about poor MPG.  A close friend spent years driving his like a petrol, redlining it to get power that didn't exist at the top.  Poor MPG and often suffered engine problems due to the abuse. 

The Audi posted by the OP hasn't got the greatest diesel in the world and for an estate will be quite underpowered, but I assure you I could get much better MPG from it than a petrol equivalent if driven correctly.

If I drive my 2009 Mazda 6 (2.2 MZR Diesel) like I stole it, I get MPG in the 30's, something the same powered petrol version only manages when driven carefully.  On long runs I get mid 50's, late 40's with four people and camping gear on a trip all the way to the Swiss alps and back.  This is impossible in the petrol, I tried.

All engines, petrol or diesel can return poor MPG, especially if the engine doesn't suit the car (too small for the weight it has to carry) or people expecting acceleration in the same manner as a similar sized petrol and therefore thrash it like a petrol.

As far as servicing goes, I think some manufacturers over service IMO and I'm sure it's just a money spinner.  Buy an older diesel and you can often get away with murder and do very little to it. 

Diesels are usually much stronger as they need cope with high compression, and more often than not munch more miles before packing in as a result.

[Rhyso]

You had a sh!t MK4 then  

Read DH's 'sh!t shaped utility' thread about his diesel mk3.  He is not being kind to it at all and still returning 47mpg.  Not bad for a smokey old derv