So, had the Cabrio a month already, and covered 1500 miles, which is more than I expected to.
Very very impressed. Probably the quietest car I've had in years, even with a canvas roof! No extra wind noise from the roof, and the petrol v6 under the bonnet just purrs away lazily. No squeaks or rattles from the dashboard or roof. Top marks Audi! Puts the 2005 A3 Sportback that I had before for a short time, to shame. Hard to believe the 2 cars carry the same manufacturer's badge.
Bought the car from a Merc & Mitsubishi main dealer, they prep'd it to perfection and had it sitting in the middle of their showroom for me to drive away. 48k miles on the clock in almost 6 years, done by the first (lady) owner. Almost like driving away a brand new car!
Getting an unscientific 34mpg so far, mostly driven on open roads at 50-70 mph, but lots of hills around here. I'm not complaining at this thirst. Car is very heavy too.
Niggles? The indicator stalk seems very stiff to operate, then the penny dropped: previous owner was a woman, she probably never used it 8-) arf arf!
More seriously, the car might not be exempt from Audi's infamous thirst for oil. I had to top-up with a litre of Shell's finest synthetic stuff the other day. No smoke or worrying signs, a lot of them seem to do it apparently...
Will treat the car to a main dealer's service at 60,000 miles, and this one's a keeper!
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Audi Cabrios seem to last: there is a 1998 one about three miles from here - looks very nice despite being "garaged" on the street.
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>> More seriously, the car might not be exempt from Audi's infamous thirst for oil. I
>> had to top-up with a litre of Shell's finest synthetic stuff the other day. No
>> smoke or worrying signs, a lot of them seem to do it apparently...
I would guess the thing has never been "driven" specially during running in, and it will always be a burner now.
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>> More seriously, the car might not be exempt from Audi's infamous thirst for oil. I
>> had to top-up with a litre of Shell's finest synthetic stuff the other day. No
>> smoke or worrying signs, a lot of them seem to do it apparently...
Pretty normal these days.
Not sure why - my old cars rarely used a drop between services (70k+ miles Ford and Vauxhalls)
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Wooden tit be an idea tony, for downunder Nick to use a 'thicker' (semi syn say) oil in his chariot?
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We've had our A4 cabriolet from new - it's just over 4 years old now - and it's used a litre of oil every 5k miles or so; it's apetite hasn't changed with age. The car has certainly spend more than its fair share of time being drived pretty hard, but despite that it still doesn't rattle at all. Feels as rock solid as when new. It does squeak from the rubber window seals at very low temperatures sometimes, and at speeds that would get you banned in the UK wind noise definitely increases!!
Well worth picking up an Audi wind deflector if you can find one locally on ebay (dealer price will make you wince...); all cars have the slots for it AFAIK, and it makes a real difference to top-down motoring in spring/autumn
Amazed at your economy - our 2.0T manual has averaged a calculated 31 mpg or so. The DIS over reads by about 5%, though some are even less accurate than that. Still, even if yours is 10% out I'd still be impressed!
What's the service schedule for Audi in NZ? Ours was delivered set up for Audi Variable Service (AVS), but in practice that meant a service every 13~15k miles, which was once a year, so its been serviced annually, alternating betwen an 'Oil' and 'Inspection' service.
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That synthetic 5W-40 stuff does seem very thin, Dog, maybe something a bit beefier might help?
Wind deflector sounds useful, but then I guess if I fitted it there'll be no room for my little nipper in the back?!
Pleased with 34mpg, then again the car's done almost no urban/city traffic runs at all. I do mostly long runs, and once clear of the hills around here I can cruise at 65mph on mainly flat roads. I'd have thought the 2.0T to have got about the same figure?
Fixed service schedule of 30, 60, 90,000kms over here, with an interim oil change in between inspections. First owner serviced it at main dealers for first 4 years, then did 1 service outside of the network. Straight back to the main dealers when it failed its MOT this time last year (worn brake pipes, and rear indicator bulbs no longer orange). The place I bought it from had also changed all 4 tyres and fitted new front disks too... Cambelt change over here is at 80,000 miles, so will need to face that bill one day...
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Nice car Nick, the A4 cabriolet, I showed 'the wife' a black one on Autotrader :)
"Apparent "design fault" with 2 litre (petrol) engines that leads to excessive oil consumption"
HJ.
I wouldn't call 5W-40 thin, Nick, check out the A4 specific forums/clubs and see what they suggest for that particular engine:
www.bing.com/search?q=audi%20a4%20oil%20consumption&PQ=audi%20a4%20oil&SP=3&QS=AS&SK=AS2&sc=8-11&form=MNMTSS&pc=MANM
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Yes, the wind deflector does make the rear seats unusable for passengers. The other odd thing is that there are no electric window switches in the rear...
The oil consumption doesn't bother me - ours, at 1 litre every 5~6k miles, doesn't seem too excessive. It's driven quite briskly on the whole... FWIW our A3 (1.6) also needed a top-up a couple of times, irritatingly just before a scheduled service on both occasions!
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Audi A4 Cabriolet - First month with a used A4 Cabrio - madf
