Audi A4 TDi SE 130

Audi A4SE (130TDI)

I bought this car to do a job - commuting when I changed job and lost the benefit of a company car. I bought it with a FSH on 62k miles, it now has 155k miles on it. Apart from service parts, the only thing that has required additional replacement has been the wiper mechanism (early cars didn't have caps over the spindles and they are prone to seize), just changed the original battery, over 9 yrs old and 155K miles! I'm intrigued by the comment below that it eats tyres, mine runs the standard 16" rims, softish tyres (Toyo Proxes TR1) and get over 30k miles out of each one. Car returns over 50mpg, less in town. (450 miles on town driving with up to 650 miles on motorway) If you want to drive like a saint, the DIS will happily indicate in excess of 60mpg.

For the money (I paid 5700) 3 and a bit years ago, probably one of the best purchases i've ever made!

i have a 53 plate 1.9tdi avant, its my first audi after owning a bmw and i will stay with audi from now on, there is very little bad said about this car, perfornace for a under 2 litre car is exellent out performs petrol cars in the same engine size, economy is good if driven properly getting an average of 38mpg around town 45 on a motorway although the 50/ 60mpg can be achieved if driven slow, has not let me down at all and very comfortable. i think it also looks the part............ bad points. goes through tyres terrible and at 100 quid a corner is not good

I have Owned an Audi a4 Tdi 130 or 2002 for a year.Simply love the car. I do a lot of miles on this car, Driving between England and Wales. No problems in anything. Surprising that this a a 8 yr old car and all the electricals and appliances still work fine. Excelent on diesel and drives great.

I have owned my Audi A4 TDi SE 130 SE for 3 years and have not got a bad word for it. I do 18,000 very enjoyable miles in it every year. The ride is excellent, acceleration and handling too. I speak to a lot of owners who say the same. For a 51 plate every single electical device still works (unlike my Galaxy).If driven sensibly it will return 700miles to a tank. I cannot comment upon the Audi dealerships because I have mine serviced locally by a mechanic i trust. I have read some of the other less complimentary posts and can only assume that either they have got a bad example or I have got a good one. My only grumple is when washing the windscreen, water will run off the roof and into any open windows.

I have a 53 plate 1.9tdi 130bhp on a triptronic/auto with sports mode. Delightful car which is nippy as well as comfortable. Really economical and smooth on motorway and sticks to the road on high speeds. Excellent handling on normal roads too. Also when cold in morning, the pick up is not effected unlike loads other diesels I have drove. Has sufficient space inside as well as the boot, this is coming from a 6ft 3inch lad. Cant fault this car, have had it for nearly a year now and beside service a chane of brake pads I have got nothing else done to it. I well prefer this to the BMW 320d because this is a lot smoother and economical with better interior finishing.

Reliability, after 95,000 miles I've never been stranded.

Cheap to run, 60 mpg driven sensibly.

A reliable car and good 'all-rounder' but doesn't excel in any department.

Depends which dealer you use. Not all are the same. Many dealers are now part of bigger groups like Sytner or Stratstone. These tend to be less private customer focussed. The body coloured bumpers on the 2004 A4 are a poor colour match. My Moro blue car bumpers are a lighter shade particularly in the sunlight. The 51-03 cars with a grey bottom section were a better colour match. Perhaps it was a poor colour matching process on the run out year before the face lift models emerged.

This is generally a good car but it can be fairly unreliable.

What ever I say, the Audi A4 TDi is an excellent car to drive. It feels agile, accelerates well even at speed in 6th gear, it holds the road beyond my nerve, and controls the grip and braking through systems I trust even if I don't understand how they do it.

I drive the 2 litre TDI Euro IV, and with a lot of hard driving both motorway at speed and round town stop start I get 50 miles to the gallon. It does 600 miles to a tank and with cruise control and carefull driving would do much better. Having said that I enjoy driving it so much I don't like to just idle along. FOrgive me one and all.

It looks great, even without the S-Line low suspension the SE model has the right curves to tell you this is a well designed car. It sits well on the road and wind noise is not evident until well above the limit! The ride is sporty though and my kids having no trouble in family Citroens and Vauxhalls get travel sick in the back of the Audi! But there has to be some sacrifice for good handling doesn't there.

Inside the equipment is well laid out and the fit and materials are the best I've seen in a car of this class. Easily beats the BMW3 series on the same matter. But there are a few niggles. Sure you get proper climate control and it works well, but compared to lesser cars, wheres the CD multichanger and folding rear seat as standard? Options thats where. Every thing is an add on option, but having said that you need to look deeper. The electronic that keep teh car on the road are good. The handling is excellent. The stereo is 150W and excelent even at high volume. The driver compurter offers useful features and differentiates between urgent and not so urgent warnings. The lights turn them selves off when you turn off the engine and so the quality is there and this more than makes up for the minor missives.

As for Audi, well, I can't comment on all dealers but my local dealer, took in my car with no warning, over a minor (non urgent) fault, solved it within an hour, were polite and curtious, made me feel weclome and sent me on my way reassure and fixed. SO far the service matches the quality of the car.

The past four years, I have been disappointed repeatedly with the reliance and dependability of my 2002 Audi A4 TDi SE, and have become fearful for my safety while driving.

First it was the ignition coils - one failed, it was replaced, and my Audi service reps sent me back out on the streets, knowing that other coils would undoubtedly fail. Of course, another one did, just weeks after the first one. During each of these episodes, the car continued to run but very roughly.

This winter, my car began having other problems. Driving home from work one day, the car suddenly stopped in the middle of the street. It restarted about a half hour later, but the "check engine" light was on. It had it towed to the dealer, and they diagnosed a faulty engine coolant temperature sensor.

Two months later, driving home from work on a Friday, the "check engine" light again flashed on. I called the service department and was told they couldn't look at the car until Monday morning. I had two weekend trips planned that involved about 200 miles of expressway driving. I asked the service rep what I should do, and he told me it would probably be all right to drive the car. Fortunately, it was. However, driving the car to the dealer on Monday morning, I was turning into their driveway from the main street when the engine stopped again! I coasted into the driveway, and tried to restart the car. It didn't start. This time, the diagnosis was a leaking breather hose.

I am very disappointed with this car. Before I purchased the Audi A4, I owned a Toyota Corolla, in which the floor rusted out, but the engine kept running; a Datsun 200SX; a Honda Accord; and a Saturn. I owned each of these cars between 5 and 10 years, and every one required far less maintenance than the Audi.