I'm looking at new Estate versions of above as opting out of company car.
Performance figures are very similar, but obviously the diesel will use less fuel, but it costs £3K more, so doesn't appear to make sense unless it's worth more on resale (prob at 3yrs, 80-90K miles).
Any thoughts, anyone?
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Glass's trade in for a 42k mile Y reg C180 Classic auto estate £12,075. For the same but a 220CDI: £14,350. So you get some but not all of the difference back.
HJ
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The C220 CDI will not only feel more punchy in every day driving, it will also be more refined (particularly at motorway speeds) and be more economical. You could look for a nearly new (ex demo) 220CDi to bridge the cost difference otherwise look at a 200CDi same engine though slightly less powerful and less torquey.
I would try to go for a 220CDi.
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Thanks for replies.
I'm assuming that my 80-90K over 3 yrs is going to destroy the resale value anyway, so the unknown (to me) factor is whether someone looking for that kind of car with that kind of mileage would be more interested in the petrol or diesel version.
I have/am looking at nearly new, but (like BMW) they seem hardly any cheaper than brand new.
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An 80-90k diesel car will fetch a fair bit more than an 80-90k petrol car, I reckon you'll still get at least £1500 of the diesel premium back when you sell, even at that mileage.
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I agree, plus you'd save roughly £2.5k on fuel (based on 45 vs 32 mpg).
Surprisingly, no one has said "Don't buy a C Class" yet, either.
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dont like class handbrake i think its dangerous
and the south african made ones (as rh drive ones now are?) are not as good as german ones
carnt think what i would buy instead though as its pretty unique in its little segment
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dont like class handbrake i think its dangerous and the south african made ones (as rh drive ones now are?) are not as good as german ones carnt think what i would buy instead though as its pretty unique in its little segment
I'll be getting Auto so handbrake not an issue - & I've seen comments that even in with manual transmission, you get used to it.
I think (but would like confirmation if anyne knows better) that the estates are still built in Germany.
It is a it unique at the moment - A4 or BMW 3 series have equiv models, but I really wanted diesel/auto/estate and new A4 diesel Avant isn't available with auto yet, and new 3 Series estate won't appear until later in 2005.
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Some non-prestige metal:
Mondeo (Aprilia calls this the autobox from hell);
407 (Stylish, will get cheaper);
C5 (Big);
Laguna 2.2 (Flimsy but torquey and fast);
Passat (Old but surprisingly good);
Rover 75 (Not that powerful, gentlemanly);
Saab 9-5 (Old engine);
Vectra (Bland but apparently the 1.9 engine is amazing).
You do have cheaper options but I suppose none of them is as inspiring as the new Accord, which comes with either a diesel engine or an autobox, but not both.
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Some non-prestige metal: Mondeo (Aprilia calls this the autobox from hell); 407 (Stylish, will get cheaper); C5 (Big); Laguna 2.2 (Flimsy but torquey and fast); Passat (Old but surprisingly good); Rover 75 (Not that powerful, gentlemanly); Saab 9-5 (Old engine); Vectra (Bland but apparently the 1.9 engine is amazing). You do have cheaper options but I suppose none of them is as inspiring as the new Accord, which comes with either a diesel engine or an autobox, but not both.
You could make a case for any of them.
Nearly-new Mondeo is probably the sensible option. 407 ought to be good but I've had horrendous problems with my current 406 (made worse by useless dealer and dis-interested Peugeot).
I had an Accord diesel for a week and does have an awesome engine, and I liked the fact that it's 5 speed - 6 speed in many others seems pointless. It's just it's neither one thing nor the other - it's not really prestige (so doesn't hold its price over time) but it's not cheap up front either.
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I think the new A4 Avants are due in January or February: surely a dealer would take orders?
If you don't need the new model, there should be some good deals on new and nearly-new ones. The FWD Avant 2.5 TDI (like mine) has the multitronic auto box; the quattro has a conventional Tiptronic.
A few months ago there was a thread querying the soundness of the multitronic - all I can say is, for what it's worth (touching wood, which you can if you type with two fingers like me) that mine has done 13,000 miles in 9 months without trouble.
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If we're moving on to the new A4, there is a test which includes availability dates of the variations at:-
www.honestjohn.co.uk/road_tests/index.htm?id=158
and an earlier test of LHD 2005 A4s at:-
www.honestjohn.co.uk/road_tests/index.htm?id=144
Versions driven are 3.2 V6 petrol Multitronic, 2.0TDI 140 manual, 2.0FSI Multitronic, 3.0TDI V6 quatrtro Tiptronic, and 2.0T FSI 200PS quattro manual, which is the hot favourite drivers car.
HJ
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Audi's website only shows auto being available on 2.5 or 3.0 diesels - either of which would be nice, but just too expensive.
I've also heard too many horror stories about poor Audi customer service (about both the dealers and Audi themselves). After a nightmare year with my current car (406) I really don't want to go to another manufacturer with a poor reputation.
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If you have concerns about customer service I'd be wary about going anywhere near a Mercedes Benz garage. The service I get from my local Audi dealers (I have been to three in the past month for test drives and received good service at all of them) is far superior to that my wife receives from Mercedes Benz who have treat her like something unpleasant you find on the bottom of your shoe! Rudeness when booking in the car, jobs not carried out as requested, no call to inform when car is ready as promised, charging for items which aren't part of the service and not valeting the car and for this they charge £65 per hour on the smart. This rises to over £90 an hour for Mercedes services.
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Thanks for this - I have heard similar things about Mercedes dealers but apparently when Mercedes themselves get involved then they sort things out.
Sweeping generalisation - ALL franchised dealers are crap.
What I'm concerned about is the 'corporate' level of response when things go wrong.
The response you get when going in for test drives is usually down to the individual you happen to come across. Out of Audi/BMW/Merc where I live (Chester), Merc were the best and BMW the worst. I've been into my local BMW dealer twice and never managed to actually speak to a salesman. I rang another BMW dealer and sales answered with answerphone!!
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