2003 Audi A4 Sport Avant 1.8T petrol
Summary:
It may be overrated, but still a very nice car
Faults:
Quite a lot, but most was maintenance and the wear and tear expected of rising mileage and age. I could list them all but would be here all day. These are reliable cars, but require expensive servicing to keep them right, that is all you need to know. The engine, gearbox, and bodywork were pretty solid in general however, no major problems. Terrible rust in its final years (especially on front arches) some reaching important parts of the body frame and it might fail MOT's, which is why I scrapped it in 2020, but at almost 180K and 17 years old, that is pretty good longevity for any car.
General Comments:
The fact we kept this car in the family for 13 years says it all. A fun spacious estate, the A4 Avant Sport was as good as it got for a family estate car at the time.
Ours was silver, probably the most common color. I didn't mind it, just a shame every other one you see is the same, in fact this was around about that time in the UK were silver was fast becoming the UK's most popular car color.
Inside was black/grey, interior had some stylish touches here and there, very pleasant and functional car to be in. Seats were very comfortable, and the car was also well equipped with electrics for the time, no leather however, but had every other option I needed. On the downside the armrest is a stupid design that gets in the way of the handbrake, and I hated the fiddly climate control, took ages to get used to.
To drive the 1.8 turbo petrol was fun, felt fast enough and you could average 33 mpg, not bad for the early 2000's. I think the diesel was more popular and I had a shot in a friends A4 once of similar age, was the 1.9 TDi, not bad but glad I went for the 1.8T petrol, just much more refined and responsive, diesel felt a bit plodding and noisy.
I get why people say these cars are overrated - people rave about them and in the motoring press at the time in the early 2000's they usually were banging on about how good it is. I do not think it is any better than a BMW 3 series or Mercedes C-Class, all cars in this segment are basically the same - quality fun to drive family/executive offerings from the big three German manufacturers.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes
Review Date: 9th October, 2022
10th Oct 2022, 15:07
The car had a bit of a snobby image people did not like; the motoring press at the time didn't help either.
Anyways, the A4 is a good car, interesting you didn't have rust issues until its final years, I remember seeing them about when they were only 6 or 7 years old and they had rust starting on the arches, put me right off considering earlier in life I had an Audi 80 which did not have a patch of rust even at 13 years old.
Meanwhile nothing could tempt me into the Audi A4 at the time as I sat in my mint condition Ford Mondeo (no rust at 10 years old yay!). I know the A4 is ultimately better, but I think at the time other manufacturers were catching up with family or executive offering for less money, so maybe that why you have this hard split of people who either love them or hate them and no in-between.