Comparo

[Dave]

i sold my '04 allroad 2.5tdi last month after 6 years of ownership @120k
kms. in summary, the car gave no problems over the 6 years - never broke
down or needed an unscheduled repair.  i spent in the last year on disk's,
pads and suspension bushes but this was simple wear & tear.  the tranny
got an oil & filter change about 30k kms ago, otherwise no issues.  it
isn't a great tranny, soft changes and hesitations.  my old rs6 was
similar though.  the new 6-speed zf's are night and day better. i sold the
all road to a mate btw.

the interior held up well (leather seats), and the quality was good except
for the endemic issue with the rubberised coating all audi's of that era
used for tactile surfaces around the interior handles.  this was worn away
f&r. the centre console cover aso didn't last - again an endemic issue.
replaced with a $35 part from amazon.

i replaced the car with a new vw all track 2.0 tdi last month.  the 2.0
tdi has the same power and torque as the 2.5 tdi, 20-30% better economy
(about 800kms on a 70l tank) and is a lot quieter.  relative to the audi,
you get a lot of car for your money with the alltrack, it is about 30%
less expensive here in nz to an equivalent a4 tdi quattro.  however, if
you know where to look you can see where audi spends the money and vw
doesn't.


hth
dave
'08 rs6 avant
'12 vw alltrack



>------------------------------
>
> On Jan 7, 2013, at 9:55 AM, Jeremiah at curryclan.net wrote:
>
>  I have a 2001 allroad that I bought with 89k and now has 111k.  In that
> time I have rebuilt the tiptornic ($5,000) and it feels like it is going
> again. The cam follower seals are going out ($500) but not urgent.  The
> front air suspension went out ($1000 from arnot)  The air suspension
> computer went out (~300 used).  Even with those replaced parts, the
> suspsension doesn't like to go all the way up and goes into error mode
>when
> I try.  (after being properly calibrated with vagcom)  The cold air
>blower
> or something like that (emissions stuff) is going bad too.
>
> The car is nice on-road, and is great offroad or for carrying things.
> However beware that the Tiptronic in the allroad is that bad, not only in
> reliability, but in lag.  Look up tip lag and allroad and you can read
>all
> about it.  If you have the option of a MT that should be much better and
> also help with the mileage.  I get ~20 mpg around town or on the highway.
>
> Maybe I was just spoiled by my 91 200 20v but the allroad just isn't as
> well put together.  The electornics, display, etc. are all failing when
> most still worked with twice as many miles in my 200.  The electric
>mirrors
> don't work, the windshield sprayers don't work, the electric seat switch
> fell off, the display only works half of the time, half of the driver
>side
> heated seats don't work, the radio volume doesn't work right,
>
> Don't get me wrong, I like the car, and would really like a MT one, but
> they are not the same quality of Audis of Yore.  Not sure if the newer
>ones
> are better, but I sure hope so.