Wagon Stoke

[4matic]

Things like rattles and wind noise would drive me out of a car before a sizable repair. Hard to say what would drive me out of this car.

[Aldo]

Broken tie rod end off a cliff at 80?


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[I Skied Bandini Mountain]

Things like rattles and wind noise would drive me out of a car before a sizable repair. Hard to say what would drive me out of this car.

Preach. Rattles and squeaks drive me absolutely insane. Yet wifey is completely oblivious.

I've finally got her to avoid pot holes which will help keeping a car tight but it's been a battle.

[MontuckyFried]

When a new car costs $500 plus a month, it’s easier to rationalize repair bills as monthly payments when it’s an old car you haven’t made payments on in years.

When are you posting from? 2009? "Average" payments for new car are now over $700... for around 70 months on average from what I just saw looking it up. That's what kept me on a cheap, cash only plan for a while now. It takes a LOT of serious car repairs to even remotely make up that difference. However, I guess I'll stay away from cheap used Jaguars and Land Rovers for now, though.

[gravitylover]

Doh

[4matic]

Broken tie rod end off a cliff at 80?


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Mitigated for a while. They only last 50k on these cars.

[MontuckyFried]

Doh

Haha. Wasn't aimed at you, but I feel ya. HOWEVER, even NEW ones aren't immune from dealing with bullcrap. Was listening to Doug Demuro talking to Matt Farah on the Smoking Tire podcast and he was saying how his wife hit a pole in a parking lot, damaging the door. He thought it should be no big deal and took it to his usual body shop. Ended up taking MONTHS to track down a single door and about $5K. You can read about it here:
https://www.hotcars.com/doug-demuro-...over-defender/

[liv2ski]

When are you posting from? 2009? "Average" payments for new car are now over $700... for around 70 months on average from what I just saw looking it up. That's what kept me on a cheap, cash only plan for a while now. It takes a LOT of serious car repairs to even remotely make up that difference. However, I guess I'll stay away from cheap used Jaguars and Land Rovers for now, though.

Good damn, you're right and that is with 20% down on a $50k car over 6 years. Guess I am not buying a new car anytime soon. LOL, Jags and Land Rovers, you must have a serious S&M issue.

[frorider]

Or you could take that 10 grand and buy one of the good value options (Maverick etc) for $275/mo over 5 yrs. at current rates. $700/mo is an indication of the level of luxury people talk themselves into thinking they need and can afford. It’s not like the industry is forcing them.

[MontuckyFried]

Or you could take that 10 grand and buy one of the good value options (Maverick etc) for $275/mo over 5 yrs. at current rates.

HA! Have you seen what Ford dealers have been doing with marking up Mavericks? It's been nuts. Good freaking luck finding one you can pay $275/month for. Though you're not wrong that people are talking themselves into buying more car than they need. These loooooooong term payment plans aren't helping the situation. When people's vehicles they paid way too much for start crapping the bed around year 5, their warranty is long gone, and they still have 2 years of big payments to make, there's gonna be a reckoning in the marketplace.

[Cocximus]

Mitigated for a while. They only last 50k on these cars.

What's the story with that? I took a few Audis to 400k without any clunking. Why is the Merc eating ball joints?

[MontuckyFried]

What's the story with that? I took a few Audis to 400k without any clunking. Why is the Merc eating ball joints?

Prolly weight? That E63 wagon's getting close to 5000 lbs and prolly has the same ball joints from its e43 sedan counterpart that's like a 1000 lbs lighter. That's my guess at least. Ball joints are (typically) an easy swap thankfully.

[Self Jupiter]

I took a few Audis to 400k without any clunking.

[4matic]

What's the story with that? I took a few Audis to 400k without any clunking. Why is the Merc eating ball joints?

Part of the cheapening in build from the 90’s high water mark and still sorting it out. As much as I like the W211 the build quality pales in comparison to the w124. I thinks it’s just a weak link in the w211 and it’s the upper tie rods that are pretty cheap to replace. It doesn’t really clunk but kinda rattles and the steering is not as tight. And as stated. Mercedes are generally heavy cars.

Edit: the w221 chassis is equal to 90’s quality Benz

[4matic]

Or you could take that 10 grand and buy one of the good value options (Maverick etc) for $275/mo over 5 yrs. at current rates. $700/mo is an indication of the level of luxury people talk themselves into thinking they need and can afford. It’s not like the industry is forcing them.

In California you pay license fees on value so I’m guessing at least $500 a year on a new Maverick.

[4matic]

Just picked up the car. Worth every penny to fix it. Quiet, tight, no more clunky shifts. Smoother engine now that the oxygen management is working again. Great car.

[lowsparkco]

Glad it worked out 4matic. It’s always tough dropping coin on an older sled.

A lot of you car mags know a ton more than me, can you discern what kind of upgrades this dude is repping on this ride….

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace...ibextid=6ojiHh

Seems like he hasn’t gotten the memo that used car prices are dumping. Makes me feel a bit better about the price I paid on mine. Love this color combo, I found one in the dark blue on chocolate leather down in PDX but I was too lazy to drive down there knowing the dude wouldn’t wiggle after I came over the hill.

[BmillsSkier]

What's the story with that? I took a few Audis to 400k without any clunking. Why is the Merc eating ball joints?

Granted I log a lot of road trip miles on my allroad every summer so my miles are likely higher than most, but even with that I'm fucking impressed with 400k mi. I'm at 140k on mine and its no joke tight as a drum. I was told a long time ago that Audi (at least since my vintage (B8.5) are all triple weld bodies with extra "beams" for lack of a better word in the unibody and the same goes for the interior.

I've had new BMWs turn into rattlecans while under warranty before this Audi made a peep. Look, I get that nothing is perfect, but I think TR said shoot to take your car to the moon before getting rid of it, and I thought about that and my average offload mileage for the daily drivers (that BMW didn't buy back, or weren't traded in at the other half's insistance) is about 227k.

Just picked up the car. Worth every penny to fix it. Quiet, tight, no more clunky shifts. Smoother engine now that the oxygen management is working again. Great car.

The pull is soooo strong to get a new one.



Happy with what I got and encouraging stories about other wagons like 4M's.


$10K could go a long way towards restoring the "right" Assfinder after all.

[MontuckyFried]

Glad it worked out 4matic. It’s always tough dropping coin on an older sled.

A lot of you car mags know a ton more than me, can you discern what kind of upgrades this dude is repping on this ride….

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace...ibextid=6ojiHh

Seems like he hasn’t gotten the memo that used car prices are dumping. Makes me feel a bit better about the price I paid on mine. Love this color combo, I found one in the dark blue on chocolate leather down in PDX but I was too lazy to drive down there knowing the dude wouldn’t wiggle after I came over the hill.

Mods look good, BUT they never have an effect on the market value of a vehicle. Just ask the banks. Same goes for dealer auctions. If anything, anything outside of bone stock can diminish the value, even tasteful mods like the Audi in question.

That said, considering a BRAND NEW A4 Allroad starts at $45.9K MSRP, this seller's asking price of $35K considering that it's 5 years old now and is going to be coming up on the BIG 100K services which include all the belts and tensioners. Even the little KBB valuator on your link states normal prices as being "$26,349 – $28,931," and shows this one as being extremely on the high side. Sweet looking ride, but that dude would have to come WAAAAY down. Get him to knock another 10 G's off the price and you got yourself a great ride at a good price. Heck, maybe even 5 G's could convince me if it's absolutely pristine and he's original owner with a good maintenance history.

Wife's on a business trip this week and scored big time with her rental car. National gave her brand spanking new A4 sedan and now she's saying we should toss that one (in wagon form) into the consideration pile for our next car as she is REALLY liking it a lot. You really can't beat the way any new Audi feels though when it has all those factory fresh bushings, suspension, tires, etc. They've always felt great right out the box IMO. I'm hearing their seats have come a long way too. I'm damn spoiled coming from a cushy Volvo, but I've heard that Audi's upped their seat game and catching up in that department. Is that true?

[BmillsSkier]

I went from XC70 T6 to allroad and the seats are every bit as good which is saying something. The seat heaters are better.

Sometimes even a touch hot.

[MontuckyFried]

Granted I log a lot of road trip miles on my allroad every summer so my miles are likely higher than most, but even with that I'm fucking impressed with 400k mi. I'm at 140k on mine and its no joke tight as a drum. I was told a long time ago that Audi (at least since my vintage (B8.5) are all triple weld bodies with extra "beams" for lack of a better word in the unibody and the same goes for the interior.

There has to be something to that. Only Audi I've owned (that I've shown off in the wrenching thread... of course) had north of 160K, maybe 170K? I forget. What I DO remember is that car was also plenty taut. No rattles or squeaks despite the mileage and being nearly 2 decades old. Now the plastic INTERIOR was completely falling apart, which is par for the course for German cars for some reason, BUT the frame/body on that vehicle was fantastic. Drove super tight and handled great.

My old Volvos are also impressively rattle/squeak/rust free despite their age. Some build quality DEFINITELY went into the very structure of all these vehicles, that's apparent. The electronics on the other hand...

[MontuckyFried]

I went from XC70 T6 to allroad and the seats are every bit as good which is saying something. The seat heaters are better.

Sometimes even a touch hot.

Wow. That IS saying something. One thing I liked about my A4 was the little rotary dial for adjusting the seat heat from like 0 to whatever whereas my Volvos just have the 2 dummy settings, basically high/low/off. Regarding seat heaters, I'll give GM one thing, one thing I loved on my Trailblazer and old Cadillac was the button to apply heat to the back only and not the butt. Lifesaver when I was dealing with some back pain issues but it was summertime. Wonder if the Europeans have caught up in that department yet. Prolly with their fancy infotainment setups.

[simple]

Last time I shopped an Audi there were 3 different seats available. Regular, sport, and luxury would be how I termed it. Nappa leather was what they called it I believe

[lowsparkco]

Wow. That IS saying something. One thing I liked about my A4 was the little rotary dial for adjusting the seat heat from like 0 to whatever whereas my Volvos just have the 2 dummy settings, basically high/low/off. Regarding seat heaters, I'll give GM one thing, one thing I loved on my Trailblazer and old Cadillac was the button to apply heat to the back only and not the butt. Lifesaver when I was dealing with some back pain issues but it was summertime. Wonder if the Europeans have caught up in that department yet. Prolly with their fancy infotainment setups.

2019 allroad has high, medium, and low seat heat both butt and back come on together, no other settings. I do like that it turns the passenger side off when there’s no one sitting in it. Also, has backseat heaters which is nice.

I have the medium of the three options packages, Premium Plus, I think it is. Seats are nice, comfortable on long trips, but they’re still car seats, no magic bullet. My favorite thing is probably the air flow through them in the summer.

Between the steering wheel heat and the seat heat and cool, and really good defrost on the glass I like that I’m not blowing a ton of air around the cabin. Don’t like the noise and it drys me out to constantly sit in front of a hair dryer to stay warm. Cabin is quiet too, but I would guess that Volvo, MB, and BMW also excel at quiet cabins.

[Mustonen]

Granted I log a lot of road trip miles on my allroad every summer so my miles are likely higher than most, but even with that I'm fucking impressed with 400k mi. I'm at 140k on mine and its no joke tight as a drum. I was told a long time ago that Audi (at least since my vintage (B8.5) are all triple weld bodies with extra "beams" for lack of a better word in the unibody and the same goes for the interior.

…

The pull is soooo strong to get a new one.

$10K could go a long way towards restoring the "right" Assfinder after all.

I think we have more or less the same car with the same mileage. I’m pushing 150k. It drives nice and smooth and has plenty of pop. No rattles except the sunroof. Mileage could be better. Looks good except for a couple light dings and a plastic wheel fender piece that did a weird fade/peel thing. And it’s probably too nice/fast to give to one of the teenagers (though I could turn off the APR tune).

I figure I’ll see if I can hit 200k with it. Might wait for the EV version of the A6 allroad. But every couple weeks I dive down the rabbit hole. …