I purchased my first A4 having previously driven older cars after passing my test. Obviously the A4 was a superior car to these older cars, but having run the car for over 30,000 miles in 2 years I have been very pleased with it.
My A4 was a 2001 model 2.0 sport. It was bought from an independent dealer with 72,000 miles recorded at 3 years old. The car had a full service history, although as a fleet car it hadn't enjoyed the care and attention a privately owned car might have.
I paid £8,750 for the car, and ran it for just over 2 years as a daily commuting car, with twice-weekly motorway trips. The car has been used on holidays over the UK, and during the summer on a trip to the south of France and back. In all of this time the car has been 100% reliable, and regularly returning close on 40mpg on motorway journeys. It has always felt safe, and has handled well. I have used the car while recieving Advanced Driving tuition from the IAM, and have had many compliments on it's ride and handling from instructors.
During our trip to France, the car cruised happily at speeds around 100mph with ease and comfort, and we even caught an earlier ferry back as a result. The boot swallowed all of our luggage, leaving plenty of room for a hefty supply of what the Cotes Du Nuits does best! While the 2.0 engine offers no performance gain over a more modestly priced 2.0 family car, the Audi rides with superior quality, and is fast enough to keep up with modern day traffic conditions.
On two occasions I have had yellow warning lights appear from the engine management system. On one occasion the car had detected a leaking pipe in the engine, and on the second occasion the sensor was faulty, and the car reverted to a sluggish fail-safe mode designed to prevent harming the engine. On neither occasion was I left stranded, with the faults corrected shortly by the garage.
While not enjoying the benfits of a warranty, through buying a used A4 I have enjoyed a standard of motoring unavailble in a £9,000 new car and would recommend the car to someone considering it as a used buy.
During the course of owning my A4 I have driven five models from the new BMW 3 series range. My 4 year old A4 compared very favourably to a brand new 320i, and a professional driver friend of mine preferred my A4 to the 3 series. The engines in the 325i and 330i offered obvious performance gains, and the driving dynamics of the rear-wheel drive BMW are obviously different from those of a front-wheel drive car like the Audi.
Over the summer I rented a front wheel drive Volvo S40. In my opinion this was a very good small family saloon. The 1.8 offered reasonable performance, but was not as refined as the engine in my 100,000 mile A4, and my car also offered superior internal build quality. The A4 was also quieter, and handled better through corners than the Volvo, which I think says a lot for what was then a 5 year old car with high mileage.
I part exchanged this car 4 months ago for a newer model. My reasons were the increasing milage (107,000!), the car's increasing thirst for oil, and an impending service. I was very sad to see it go.
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Saloon - Front (FWD) - 7 Speed multitronic Automatic, 6 Speed Manual - 1986 cc - Max Speed: 131 mph - 140, 120 bhp - Diesel - Available Trims: S line, SE, Executive S line, Executive SE
Hatchback - Front (FWD) - 6 Speed tiptronic Automatic, 5 Speed Manual - 1595 cc - Max Speed: 116 mph - 102 bhp - Petrol - Available Trims: Technik SE, Technik, S line, Sport, SE
![2000 Audi A4 1.6 petrol,4 low profile tires £125 each low suspension18" wolf race alloys tax and](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/119483714.jpg "2000 Audi A4 1.6 petrol,4 low profile tires £125 each low suspension18" wolf race alloys tax and")
Feb 7th, 2007
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