Another Day, Another Audi Courtesy Car... (Now with piccies)

Frank Bullitt

My wife rang this afternoon to tell me the A2 wouldn't start whilst at her friends house - it was turning over but not starting. The fact it was serviced yesterday strikes me as being a very strong coincidence. I told her to ring Audi Assist and I'd get on to the garage about taking the car in and getting a replacement.

I was initially told they didn't have any cars available and 'staff use the courtesy cars at the weekend anyway'. Met up with my wife at her friends, and managed to start the car but the engine warning light is on and the glow-plug lamp is flashing (it means an ECU-recorded fault); then when Audi Assist arrived it wouldn't start again.

The car was taken to the dealership and I decided to have a word about the lack of comprehension this could be related to their workmanship; as it was I spoke to the aftersales manager who was excellent, agreed it could be 'chance' but they needed to get me sorted for wheels as I was a customer; wife and son plus me do not go into a smart...

He apologised my current steed was filthy, but it's wheels so I don't really care and just pleased they have helped me out. It's an A4 Avant 2.0TDI S-Line Multitronic, which is the CVT transmission.

So, having driven an A4 3.0TDI yesterday, how did this one fare.

Inside it has a nice spec (Alcantara/ leather upgrade, cruise, MMI); I reckon Alcantara is much nicer than leather, it feels lovely and is nice and grippy; the sports seats are lovely too. The odd driving position is not an issue in the multitronic either.

Clearly it's not as quick as the 3.0TDI, in fact it's not very quick at all but relatively quiet and the engine settles to about 2000rpm at 70 when cruising. To be honest, I prefer it to the 3.0 (sorry...).

I was curious about the gearbox, as it's my first experience of a CVT. I found myself warming to it much more than expected - it's always at the right revs, dishing-up torque or (limited) power as required and doesn't sound like a cow as you'd expect although at low speeds there is what sounds like the belts 'whirring'. I can see the appeal of this and the new common-rail engine means accellerating at 3500rpm doesn't have to sound like hell. Handily in an auto, you can put the hand brake (finger brake?) on and take your foot off the pedal without the car starting to 'pull'; transmission creep is clearly designed-in for when all feet are off the pedals and the finger brake isn't applied. Overall, it's clever and I much prefer it to DSG. However, it has 7 pre-defined 'gears' but that's just too-many and not especially joyous.

Ride and handling on the S-Line? Loads better. The ride is similar to the 3.0 but much more controlled and I quite like that; no float or increased noise. It's firm, but decent. The steering is a million times better and reckon the 3.0 did have some speed-sensitive or 'active' set-up; save your money if interested. Overall it's rather nice to be honest and I could certainly live with it.

Boot space - blimey, it's not that much more than a saloon unless you keep everything under the cover; however, it gives you the flexibility and I reckon it's a handsome thing overall. My wife will be driving it until the A2 is back so she's going to have get used to the size (insert smutty joke as befits), lack of parking sensors, auto transmission and silly finger brake.

Twat lights? Yip, had them and contrary to popular belief they can be turned off but the dials become illegible without lighting so sadly I drove with them on; I followed my wife home (she was in the smart) and she did comment they were a complete distraction to her.

They have promised to look at my A2 tomorrow if they get the chance and won't fix it until Tuesday at the earliest if parts are required; I'm hoping it's something service-related otherwise I can see my arse-hole being widened whilst Uncle Audi insterts his many and varied impliments.

Oh, and contrary to the technicality the car wouldn't start at a friends house so according to a certain members this is not a breakdown, it just is...

DaveGibson · Re: Another Day, Another Audi Courtesy Car...

Martin

Come on, you know the rules!!

Won't start or stops unexpectedly = breakdown
Will start & run but horrible noise, so parked up = non breakdown

CVT sounds interesting, I've not driven one. The Avant is definately better looking than the A4 saloon and is one car where I would have to have the Estate. It sounds like you had the S Line Special Edition, as that had leather/Alcantara, bluetooth and cruise control. That's the model I was looked at, but a manual with the 170hp engine. The new engine is a big improvement in terms of refinement, but it's not the best 4 cylinder diesel around.

I hope the A2 gets fixed quickly and without it costing too much.

Frank Bullitt

Martin

I'm not sure, as I made the rules up as I went along

However, as you needed help to get it to start, then I think you need to classify it as a breakdown I'm afraid!

It was slightly less than £30k when the special edition was available (it was called the Executive S Line, but that sounds terrible!), but even thought that's quite expensive, it does compare OK with the competition. It's particularly spacious either, but would have been just about OK, but the extra practicality of the Avant would have been essential.

Parking sensors aren't even std on the SE, which is quite an omission as they want something like £350 which is ridiculous. Almost as ridiculous as my other Audi bugbear, paying £200 for leather door armrests when you've already got full leather. That's an option right up to and including the S6 and is std on BMWs, right down to a 116i as long as it has leather seats.

Frank Bullitt

I've had a root-around and this one has a phone-prep thing in the armrest, not sure if this is connected to bluetooth (suspect it isn't though). The Alcantara trim is on the door cards too, and it really is nice.

I've noticed some oddities in both A4's spec too, such as a lack of vanity-mirror lights which seems like penny-pinching (the A2 SE had these as standard), although BMW needn't shout too loud since they took cruise control of 3er SE's...

My wife has been driving the A4 today and really likes it - the handbrake confused her at first but overall she thought it was nice. However, when I told her how much it was she thought they'd gone mad!

The garage called too - the problem is not related to the service but a 'crank speed sensor' which has thrown in the towel; it'll be fixed Tuesday and the bill will be £244. Ouch.

EDIT: The A4 fails the 'rear facing child seat behind me' test too - it's no better than the A2, my knees are in the dashboard...

Roadrunner

My mother has the Multitronic transmission on her A4 Avant (last of the 1.9 130 TDis) and I have always liked it. If you put it into sport mode it holds the revs in the sweet spot right through all the 'gears' and makes for instant, lag free, point and squirt progress from any speed.

Frank Bullitt

That's exactly it - in a petrol that sits at 6000rpm it would get annoying but in the diesel it sits at about 2500rpm when making progress, 3500 when being pasted; ideal for a diesel rather than running out of revs; it's not a 'B-road blaster' but having driven to Solihull and back yesterday I've really warmed to the transmission; incredibly suitable.

It is the Executive S-Line, so says the paperwork, so assume it has the phone-thing instead of bluetooth as a NCO. It's definately a nice car but not terribly quick and the road noise gets horrific on some surfaces - parts of the M6 sounded like a troll was trying to get into the car! Can't see how it's worth £30K still but my wife thinks it's nice.

I think it's only longitudinal-engine Audi's that have the multitronic - shame.

Martin

I think you'll find it does have bluetooth, the phone prep part allows you to have a direct connection so the phone can be charged and you get better reception as the handset is connected to the cars aerial.

I knew it was the Executive S Line, even from this distance!!

Frank Bullitt

I'm going to have a dick-about with this bluetooth paring thing and see if it works as I've never been convinced by this kind of set-up - there is a 'phone' button on the stereo so assume walloping this will start proceedings...?

Having spent much of the day in the car I really rate Alcantara; I'd choose it over leather if ever having an option.

I also noticed cars are much more likely to pull out of your way compared to the A2 (not that I was 'pushing' people at all, they just peeled-off like banana skins as soon as I came anywhere near) and there was much less tailgating despite me setting cruise to 70 on the A14 - only a SII Disco sat on my rear bumper whilst I was overtaking some wagons but he soon backed off when realising it didn't make a hoots difference.

I might get some twat-lights fitted to the A2. Then again...

Martin

I expect it will be always live, put your phone in pairing mode and see if it finds the car.

The BMW system is the same, it has a bracket and you can buy an adaptor for your phone. Only £50 or so......

Don't even think about putting twat-lights on the A2!! I don't think it was the twat-lights that cleared the motorway, people just got out of the way because they expected an aggressively driven Audi to bully them out of the way!! Xenons do a good job of clearing the outside lane, even when attached to a MINI!

A near neighbour has a 54 plate (current shape) A6 which is polished every week and generally very well looked after. He's just fitted LED twat-lights below the headlights.

It looked nice before!

PG

Interesting to see that the Multitronic works so well. I've alwasy wondered what it would be like and did alwasy wnder why they didn't / couldn't fit a normal auto box to the A4 / A6 fwd versions.

Frank Bullitt

I tried the bluetooth but you need to put a password in the phone from the car, which I don't have.

Did more B-road driving today and as expected it's not so good. The gearbox looses what feel the controls otherwise had, even the 'manual' mode struggled a bit. So it's an ideal A-road and motorway tool, but not so good on the back roads. Grip is excellent and the steering is reasonable though.

Not that you haven't seen one before...

Boot is a reasonable size although the buggy does force the load cover up slightly:

I do like the interior, the Alcantara especially so. It's a comfy place to be:

Fails the FB behind FB test though (indeed FB junior behind FB test):

Martin

Have you tried the obvious, 0000 and 1234 for the password? It worked on the MINI I borrowed overnight!

The new A4 S Line Avant is a pretty good looking car imo.

Frank Bullitt

Tried all the zero's, but will have a go with 1234 tomorrow.

Doesn't help that its unwashed; takes the sheen off the car (litterally) and the alloys are scummy-filthy; from the interior screen showing the delivery stickers writing when slightly misted up it's clear this car has never actually been washed in 3500 miles. My wife has decided she wants one but it would run the piggy-bank dry so she can forget it!

Apparantly I get the A2 back tomorrow, they finished the job at the end of the day and I'm near the garage for a meeting first thing so it's ideal - they have knocked the price down to 'under £200' which is a small mercy I suppose, although a check of Elsa (Audi's parts and part-replacement guide) suggests that to fit this sensor the oil filter has to be removed because they practically touch eachother; call me a cynic but it's just possible the mechanic knocked the sensor when fitting the filter at the service...

Still, so long as it doesn't conk-out again I won't grumble.

Martin

I forgot to mention that one thing I found really strange and a bit cheap looking about the A4 interior is the exposed cup holders. Even the Jetta has a slide across cover so they aren't exposed. Although interestingly (but probably only to me), it's less solid feeling that the one in the Passat, but could we be identical to the one in the C Class.

The picture reminded me.

Dr. Hfuhruhurr

That rear space is terrible, given how much larger the car is than both its predecessor and its direct rivals.

Boxer6

Bob Sacramento

We've had a couple of A4 2.0TDi multitronics and I generally liked it but they don't half scare the Bejesus out of you when you're trying to pull out sharply at roundabouts; you see the gap, press the loud pedal and listen to the revs rise as you creep out ever so slowly, beginning to panic. Just as you see the whites of the approaching driver who is about to T-bone you it shoots off, leaving you with brown trousers and a heart rate of 220bpm.

Frank Bullitt

The 1234 option worked and I have to say it was impressive - never been a fan of the bluetooth concept but it worked a treat!

The rear space is poor and, I think, worse than the 3 series. I was sat with Johan behind me at one point but the space left for me was no better than the A2.

I found multitronic fine pulling away from junctions but can't say I tried any 'do or die' manouvres, it's just quite relaxing.

Got the A2 back yesterday morning and very glad too - it feels like an old friend who has had some ill-health is back buying his round in the pub. Marvellous. True to their word it was under £200 too.

Twelfth Monkey

Dr. Hfuhruhurr

PG

The rear space does look really poor and I thought that Audi had justified the bigger size of the new A4 by saying that it was to improve interior space? Our old shape A3 looks as if it was bigger for legroom in the back. Audi's longitudinal engine fwd layout is something that I almost feel they stick with for emotional reasons. I'm not sure it has any real benefit at all in either packaging or handling terms? If you're going to stick the engine north-south, just connect up a propshaft and make it rwd?

Dr. Hfuhruhurr

Frank Bullitt

Another Day, Another Audi Courtesy Car... (Now with piccies)

Re: Another Day, Another Audi Courtesy Car...