Audi household

Hi both, Thank you for your kind replies. I am grateful for your thoughts, Gareth, there have been a couple of other things to question the longevity of the car, the subframe mounts look quite rusted to me, it hasn't yet been picked up on an MOT but I question that an observant tester would pass it in a year's time - assuming that it is actually an issue. I also found out in January that Audi don't even sell the CV boots any more - the car has always chewed through them fairly frequently so I have changed them a number of times during my ownership but this time there was apparently no stock anywhere either in the UK or in Germany and no replenishment date so I have taken that as an indication of impending doom in accessing parts. I couldn't find a proper aftermarket one but thankfully found a spare in my garage which got it through this year's MOT. Rear air spring is leaky, suspension arms are due another replacement, driver's door window regulator isn't right again etc. Nothing that is currently stopping it and all jobs I am comfrotable doing (again) but they need time and parts. I spent a long time rebuilding my previous car (the 306) only to have someone drive into the back of it whilst my wife was driving us home from work. It was written off for a fraction of the amount I had spent on the parts and I am just a bit cautious of spending too much time and money only to have it wasted again. With my wife's car also being of the same sort of vintage, if not mileage, it just got me thinking about changing it so we aren't without a functioning car as we are in a village. Dave, I bet the V8 Allroad was a beast - mine is only the 180 diesel but has never lacked power - we took it offroading many years ago and were happily following Defenders around the place. I will probably get a view on the rust first but, if it is a problem, look at some different versions of the Allroad and maybe just try driving a few more automatics as that seems to be the default now. Probably keeping things cheaper isn't a bad idea. Thank you, Andrew

Hello, I would be grateful for some pointers and considerations on this. I have a 2004 2.5TDI Allroad that I have owned for the last 10 years, it is coming up to 200,000 miles and from the whining, I think the gearbox or differential are on their way out so I am thinking about finally replacing the car but at a bit of a loss as to where to jump next. My previous car was a 1997 Peugeot 306 and the Allroad was a massive jump in quality and comfort when we bought it. The Allroad cost £4,500 and had around 120,000 miles at the time. I may have just been a bit spoilt by this old car but the new ones don't seem to be the massive jump I was expecting for the 6-8x price and 16 years of development. I haven't spent time in modern cars so wasn't sure what to expect - my wife has a 2005 A3. I have been eyeing the eTron online because the second-hand ones seemed relatively cheap and because I don't really drive as much any more. Having been to a couple of dealerships today and spoken to a really helpful advisor and test driven a couple of cars (only had 10 minutes driving each), I am more confused. I sat in a new Q4 eTron but it felt really small and the 2018 A6 Allroad interior wasn't particularly appealing, the boot line also seems more raked and compact than the old one. The advisors were of the view that ICE is still better for long-term ownership, especially when considering second-hand. The acceleration in the eTron was very satisfying but the car felt quite small relative to the old Allroad (I know it is larger on paper on the outside) and the interior didn't feel as impressive as I was hoping. I also tried a 2020 Q7 50 which felt higher quality and more 'special' than the eTron, whilst also feeling a good size relative to the Allroad, but I struggled with the 'detached/logarithmic' feel of the accelerator and its delivery of power. I may be able to get used to it and it probably comes from over 20 years of driving manual cars but I wonder if anyone else has upgraded from an old Allroad and has any insight as to appropriate replacements. Money is always going to be a limiting factor and I had hoped to stay under £30k but am beginning to realise that this unlikely to be enough so could look to £40k or so. Thank you, Andrew