2008 (58) A4 issues?
 

Hi there,

I had to say good bye to my 2000 A8 as it was proving just too expensive to keep on the road in Ireland. Anyway I still have a great fondness for Audi's so want to pick up a late 2008 2.0 litre TDI SE model.

I picked up my last car in the UK and am thinking of doing the same again. However I wondered did any of you know of any inherent problems with them that I should be aware of. I know there can be issues with DPFs but I am not sure how bad this actually is.

Looking at spending about 11k on one as it will cost about another 3k to import it. Tell me about the Irish tax system, they are very efficient at thinking of ways to generate revenue :). Spending that kind of money not too keen on private sales, so besides the autotrader can you recommend other sites means for locating nice clean examples in the UK.

Thanks all

Niall

It will cost more, but for peace of mind I'd have thought the official Audi approved used cars would be a good bet, not sure though if their warranty extends to Ireland

Hi Niall good to hear from you and sorry to hear the 8 has gone :(
I had a B8 A4 for the last 3 years as a work horse and put 75000 miles on it - although mine was a 2.0T rather than a diesel. Most of my issues were around clutch /gears and manifold, but the manifold was specific to the 2.0T I think
If you go for the manual gearbox its a corker but just check the clutch and operation of first gear when cold to make sure theres no difficulty getting first gear and reverse. Also check for windscreen leaks at the top near the mirror (sometimes you can see where water has leaked down inside when you huff on the inner glass)

Personally I would go for a manual gearbox or s-tronic and stay a mile away from a multi-tronic variable transmission, they sound awful and drive awful in my opinion.

Check all electrics as they are fairly solid mechanically and their weakness tends to be internal cabin electrics and radio etc etc

Here's a buyers guide from Which magazine in a sec - hope it helps +++

Which Magazine AUDI A4 B8 Buyers Guide

Hey there,

Thanks very much for that doc, it is really useful. Can you leave it there for a few days so I can get to it again?

Have been looking at manual versions of the 143bhp version. Does your one have parking sensors. Saw in the review and in practice that rear visibility is a little poor.

If you were spending your own money (and not buying an 8) would you buy one?

Thanks and take care.

Niall

Thanks sarg, enforcing a UK warranty here might be a challenge. Irish dealers are not obliged to honor a UK warranty, some may but many would not.

Anyway, thanks for the response.

N

Yep its there until i remove it but you can normally also right click on the link and select "save target as" and save it to your own computer if you wish to.

My A4 has gone as of last September, replaced by an A7 Sportback 3.0 Tdi s-line (yes i liked it so much when they lent me one to try that I ordered one!)
I didnt have parking sensors on my A4 but yes its true that its a good option to have if you can as visibility isnt as good as some other saloon cars.
Well mine was a company car but i did choose it and I had a free choice to get what I wanted at the time. Yes I loved it, it did pretty most everything I asked of it but when i got it the sportbacks weren't around and I really wanted a larger hatchback for work reasons +++