Badgerman

We've worked out the judder! Temporarily sticking on some other wheels cured it. My ones are not properly round, it seems. Since writing the above, it's now got through another brake caliper and has developed a lovely misfire on starting, which I am hoping is just glow plugs getting tired. It's still the nicest car to drive I've ever had by a decent margin, but it's ability to destroy components is getting too much, so will probably move it on in the New Year, sadly, I will be sorry to see it go.

Right back after a year and a bit of ownership. Still a lovely car to drive - when it's running, but mine has been a disaster on the reliability front. I am pretty sure I just picked one with a bad history, there's evidence that it's been in a smash and repaired "quickly" and skipping a few key parts. So far, a caliper has seized, both front driveshafts replaced, gearbox removed and sent away for specialist work to replace differential bearings, engine support bars missing, new clutch and dual mass flywheel etc etc. And it's still got a judder on acceleration. As above, I do think it's just this car and the dodgy previous owner, but the cost of the above parts is eye-watering. Lesson learned is if a car has 4 very badly mangled wheel rims, walk on past.....I wish I had.

Good that you are speaking to an insurer already - I remapped our 1.9 A4 as it was unbelievably lethargic, but then found most insurers wouldn’t touch us. Ended up paying a high premium at a specialist - not Dan’s employer - so there are hidden costs potentially. Well done doing your homework first!

Simon - really can’t help, but had the exact same thing with my 1.9 TDi A3 from some years ago. Starts perfectly cold, when hot just crank away......I never found what it was, but the black smoke which came out on hot start seemed to point to injectors. A pal wondered if someone had filled it with petrol and damaged the nozzles, was never sure if that was right but I had no other explanations. Good luck. I feel your pain!

I’m back again with thoughts after owning the Allroad for 4 months now and around 4,000 miles. Like anything, upsides and downsides; aside from the enthusiastic thirst for fuel it has (struggling to get much above 45 admittedly with bike racks on), the downsides seem to centre around the controls, but first the ups: It’s a really lovely car to drive; so sure-footed, solid and reassuring. Very planted, I drive sensibly but the odd occasion you need to move it responds. Spot-on. The downsides: the bonkers blasted electronic handbrake - still lots of juggling, stalling, swearing etc etc in traffic. I now just avoid stopping on a hill. It usually conspires with the daft auto-stall facility to stop everything unless I remember to turn that off before setting off, which I am remembering more often. Windscreen wipers don’t have an intermittent facility, just a “crazed unpredictably random flicking” facility if not on all the time. No dipstick (but not yet run out of oil to be fair, the last one probably would have by now, you’d measure it’s oil consumption in mpg!). God knows how much is in it, I’m sure I’ll smell it if/when it runs out!! We’ve just left the whole cabin control thing well alone as it’s utterly confusing (I know the oil level is on there somewhere as above) and we don’t have a teenager to try to programme it. Safer to leave, especially as we don’t have a manual. Something really weird I’ve noticed recently is that there’s something wrong with the volume on the radio / CD player - it definitely gets quieter as you slow down and vice versa. I wondered if this is a voltage regulation issue somewhere, but nothing else changes too and it doesn’t follow engine speed; curiously, after lots of experimenting, I’ve realised it does it exactly at 50 mph and 40 mph. That’s a fault I think that we’ll never manage to find, I hope it’s not a precursor though of something more major going wrong but for now I’ll just ignore it I think. Sounds a bit of a moan, I don’t mean it to be but it’s definitely got a sprite somewhere in it with some of the control things. Absolutely lovely car on a long distance though, and the cruise control is excellent. Oh and by the way - they’re huge!

JUst bought an Allroad a few weeks back, only done about 150 miles but have the impression it’s a pretty heavy user too as the range is also just falling off and gauge dropping. Previous B7 (115 bhp) got about 45ish. We have bike racks on the roof.

I would also suggest thinking before about insurance - I found a lot of insurers wouldn’t touch as it’s a modification, so you end up with a very small pond of specialist insurers.

Seriously???? 😳 Some things on cars today are just mad and that’s one. So rather than taking two seconds to pull out a dipstick, you need to waste hours trying to reprogramme Deep Thought before giving up and asking a teenager? Bonkers!! How long before I get low oil reassure on the M25 in the rain as there’s no oil in it........

Huskie, I’m going to lose what little credibility I have asking this question, but where’s the dipstick, please?!

Paul, car arrived this week. Drove it for the first time today, so very early thoughts but here we go: It’s certainly quick - after our 115bhp A4 it’s a revelation. Three quarters of a tank and it’s only saying 350 miles to go, a bit of a shock. The last one could easily do 650+ on a tank. We drive to Scotland a lot so avoiding motorway fuel will be harder. It’s really big - much wider and taller and feels like it. I could barely get the bike racks on plus it doesn’t fit into the garage (!). Drives very smoothly, clutch and brakes are much more “taught”. Six gears are nice too. I detest the electric handbrake (cue flapping trying to get it on whilst simultaneously trying to pull away at every junction). The whole concept is ridiculous. I also don’t like the auto wipers which keep flapping in your face, but I think there’s a way to neutralise them. Very stable on corners, gives loads of confidence. Surprising amount of road noise from the tyres. Will report back with something more substantial in due course.

Do people think he’s right about changing the oil pump drive on the 1.9 Diesel engines at the same time as the cambelt?

Sure, Paul. We pick it up on Saturday week, so will look to give first impressions the week after that.

Thanks again. I’ll be honest, we thought about a Volvo but Mrs B insisted it had to be Audi all the way....! Cheers

Cheers Paul - just done (and you're right!!). Thanks

Not a major component I know, but where can I find a replacement (A4 B7 Avant) as mine has disappeared somewhere? I'm loathe to go near Audi as I suspect they'll charge a small fortune. It'll need matching to the body colour, of course.