I posted a similar question in the B6 forum.
I'm looking for an A4 Avant Quattro (2.0T for mileage) to replace my old car. I've been told the 2004-05 B6, and the 2007-08 B7 is what I should be looking for in my price range (under $15k).

I know that proper maintenance is key to any vehicle, Audi's especially, but am I unnecessarily limiting my search by only looking for 07-08's?

I'm prepared for maintenance costs, and I know that things will break, but I don't want to buy a money pit.
I put 15k miles a year on my car, mixed driving, with occasional 400 mile trips with my family.

Also, at what mileage point should I run (assuming the required services and belt replacement have been done)?

Thanks. I've been reading for weeks and could use the advice.

 

Well the 2008 would be the newest B7. As far as the best it depends on how it was maintained. The 2007-2008 B7's had the same internals (2.0T FSI BWT engine) as well as everything else that all B7's had. The only major difference was that '08's got the S Line body kit which I think looks really good on the B7. Be careful though, many dealers try and sell 2008 SE's as S Line's when they are not. S Line's models (2004-2008) have more than just body molding.

If I were looking to buy a used A4 I would look at the 07-08's with Quattro (if needed) and no more than 75tmls with timing belt done. Also a CPO. I would try and get the TDI (2.0TDI, 2.7TD or the best 3.0TDI) over the gas models for fuel economy. If that is not an option then the 2.0T is fine as long as you do not lead foot it all the time!

Good luck!

 

Things might be a little different over there in Germany vs. the US. For one, you probably won't find many TDIs here. Also, I'm not sure you can find a CPO B7 any more. When I bought mine, they told me they can only CPO it if it's still under warranty. Given that they came with a 4 year/50k mile warranty standard and the last model year was 2008, I'm guessing most of those have expired or are very very close to expiring. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but I think B7 CPOs should be very scarce at this point. Honestly, I never saw the necessity. I've put about 30k miles on mine since I bought it (no warranty) and most of the stuff I've had replaced was fairly minimal. I don't think I've spent what the extra cost of buying a CPO would have cost me. But then, I'm not much of an extended warranty kind of guy--it's just my nature.

One last thing. Definitely get the quattro. It's night and day better than the FWD--even if you don't need it to drive in snow ever (I live in Georgia).

 

My 06 has been pretty much trouble free. I had the coils replaced under recall, and the PCV valve replaced under recall, but so did the 07's, and I think most of the 08's. The one advantage of the 08's and late 07's is that the cam follower and cam lobe were changed some to fix the problems that the early 2.0t engines were having with the cam follower failure. The problem wasn't totally fixed until the TFSI engine that came with the B8 body in 09, in which a major redesign got rid of the follower and replaced it with a roller. Now the B8 body 2.0t from what I understand seems to use more oil than the engine in the B7. On the B7, you might have trouble finding a car that has had the timing belt changed. There was a misprint originally that said to replace it at 75,000 miles. It was corrected to say 110,000 miles. So most B7's are still probably on their original timing belt yet. My 06 just hit 103,000 miles and will be needing a new belt before long.

 

Good ponts all. Same here on the coils. I guess I should of said a guarantee over a CPO. I know if you buy a used car here from a regular dealer you always get a used car warranty (for what it's worth). When I picked up my A4 from US Military sales in '07 I was offered the 7 year 75tmls new car guarantee (for a really high price). I took the 5 year instead. Fortunatly never needed it.

I have to disagree with the '08 cam follower though, there was no difference in the '07 or '08 BWT engines. They both had beefed up internals to try and stave off the cam/HP failure but it can still happen to both years (heck all years for that matter). For a quick visual check to see which engine it has the top left (where the coil packs are) will be black (BWT) the earlier models will be silver. Also the front of the engine will have the 3 letter code in small print.

And yes, the B8 (especially the 09's) had oil burning issue's among some other problems.

Good luck!

 

How bad is the oil burning? I've been reading about that. Was it as bad of a problem, or a problem at all, on the b6 1.8T's?
I know the 1.8's had sludge problelms . . .

 

Sorry, I didn't mean to imply that the temporary fix to the cam follower fixed the problem in the 07's and 08's. It was Audi/VW's way of an intermediate fix before the redesign. Now as for oil, my 06 doesn't use any, but there are some B7's that do. Another thing that can be a problem is the diverter valve. The older B7's have the original which can fail. Mine did. Easy fix though. Just bolt the new revised one on. The revision hasn't had any problems.

 

It all depends on what you want to spend... I personally will always take a B6 1.8L engine over the 2.0L FSI motor any day of the week and twice on Sunday. The benefit to the B7;s is you get more integrated technology options (which can be installed on the B6's with some aftermarket help), and a boost in power numbers. The 1.8L only had sludge issues with customer's that took their cars to lube shops for the 20 dollar oil change and they didnt use the correct oil so the turbo'd engine supper heated the oil creating sludge issues. I personally think the B6's look like a real german car versus the rental car look of the B7's. Also the common issues that both cars run into, the B6 will be alot cheaper to fix and less often. As for the oil consumption issue people have a concern about your local dealer can help you with if you are under 80k miles and newer then 06 model year. Audi is really stepping up to the plate to keep customer's happy on the issue even if your car is out of warranty. It really isn't that big of a deal and most customer's that maintain the vehicle properly and drive it regularly won't have a issue but if they do the fix is slightly larger pistons of an A3 engine. Hope this helps.

 

Both the B6 and B7 body styles have had coil problems. The oil sludge issue on the 1.8 had to do with the oil plumming running to close to the exaust manifold cooking the oil, and in part, the extended time between oil changes that most manufacturers have been going to. At one point the higher powered TT had its oil change interval reduced to help prevent the sludge. If you go with the B6 1.8 be sure to get the timing belt changed before you get to the recommended 90,000 interval. There have been horror stories of the belts failing shortly after that mileage, destroying the engine.

 

Actually now that I think about it the best B7 would be the 2012/2013 SEAT Exeo. Audi sent the entire B7 assembly line to Spain in 2008. SEAT is an auto maker under VW. The current Exeo uses all the engines and such from the newest A4, but is still based on our A4 B7's with different front and rear lights/bumpers. Also the Exeo uses the dashboard from the A4 B7 Cabrio. I know, no SEAT's in the US but thought I would clarify the "best" B7!