[iceman7]

I have taken my first step into the world of the German Trinity; I bought myself a pre-loved Audi A4 2.0 TFSI Quattro.



What I Like:

• Clean, straight, timeless design. Not a single design line is out of place or forced
• FAST 2.0 TFSI engine. 221 BHP & 350 Nm Torque
• Rapid 7 speed S-Tronic gearbox
• Time tested quattro AWD – which I am using to the fullest on our snowed/iced roads
• 0 – 100 km/h in 6.4 seconds
• Mature ride and handling. 225 width rubber sticks to the tarmac offering tremendous grip
• Mile muncher and a very capable long-distance tourer
• Punchy 12-speaker sound system – deep bass and clear vocals
• Stellar safety kit
• Traction control which can be switched off
• Heated seats (all 4) – extremely useful in North Europe
• Ergonomics – multiple seat and steering settings help you find your PERFECT driving position
• The 4-spoke steering wheel
• Analog Instrument cluster – have always loved the fonts and color Audi use
• All black leather interiors
• Solid build quality
• Slow ageing interiors and exteriors. The car is from 2015, and it does not show its age. Inside or out
• Spacious boot

What I don’t:

• 7.5 – 9 kmpl in the city – par for the course, to be fair
• Rear floor hump makes it a 4-seater
• Slightly cramped interior at the back – legroom wise
• Lack of Bluetooth audio streaming to play music – fixed this using a plug-in BT adapter
• Lack of in-built navigation – Waze to the rescue
• Lack of air vents for rear passengers
• Current set of alloy wheels the car came with – Resolved now. Swapped with new wheels which will be winter wheels
• Long term reliability of the 7 speed S-Tronic. Although from what I am reading, the S-Tronic is a bit different from the 7-speed DSG, and hence more robust & reliable. Time will tell!
• Maintaining a Black colored car – it’s my first Black car. Like an epiphany, I realized much later that maintenance is going to be painful. Not a deal breaker, just needs extra care
• Cost of spare parts – this is uncharted territory for me currently

Sharp front. Still stylish after 7 years



Rear quarter after a night in snow. Notice the new wheels



Simple, well laid out instrument cluster. Love the fonts



The 4-spoke steering is meaty to hold

Background and Introduction

Unlike Netflix, there is no SKIP button here, so y’all going to have to read this.

The used car market in Estonia is insane. The variety and choice of pre-loved cars you can buy with a budget of EUR 25,000 (INR 21 lakhs) is just mind boggling. Bump that up to EUR 30,000 and you can probably buy just about any marquee. This led to an expected problem for me – I was a kid in a candy store. My choice of what I wanted to buy changed every day. One day I wanted an Octavia RS, next day a 3-series, next day a 5-series, next an E-class, next a Seat Leon, at one point I wanted an Impreza WRX STI. Such is the choice available. Absolute bonkers! After weeks of mindless browsing and going through hundreds of listings, I narrowed down my choice to an Octavia RS, 3-series, or a 5-series if I found a clean example.

I am quintessentially a BMW guy at heart. I couldn’t own one in India because of the upfront purchase cost and on-going maintenance costs. In Europe it’s the opposite - wide choice of clean pre-loved cars, and a great support eco system of skilled (non-dealership) technicians. This gave me the confidence, and more importantly, the affordability to look at BMW’s. Or Audi’s or Merc’s for that matter. As any self-respecting petrol head, I have lusted after a powerful, RWD BMW ever since I remember. Destiny had other things planned.

Up next was the Octavia RS. Same story as the BMW. Wide choice supported by a great service ecosystem. Add to this, the Octavia RS is absolute VFM and checks all the boxes. Sturdy, handles well, looks good, is spacious on the inside, has loads of luggage space, and more importantly, comes with a 2 liter, 165 KW (221 HP) engine. What’s not to like!

I trawled through our local website for used cars, and earmarked all RS’s and 3-series’s I was interested in. There was one stumbling block though – I hadn’t got my driver’s license yet. I had completed all my exams but was waiting for the final driving exam at the State Transport department. Wait time, 3 months. Painful 3 months. This meant I couldn’t go and test any of the cars I liked. Just sit and look at them. This was in August 2021, with the exam scheduled for end October.

Then something else happened during that time. Due to a local government regulation, eligible members of the Estonian population could withdraw a part of their pension. This immediately meant more cash in hand, which led to demand for consumer goods, including cars. Due to the global shortage of chips, new car deliveries are backed up. What compounds the issue is that Estonia is an extremely small market – 1.3 million residents in the country – so it naturally sits way down the queue if you compare it to France or Germany. A close friend wanted to buy a new Octavia; dealership gave him a 10-month waiting time. This happened to a lot of people. They had the money to buy a new car, but they couldn’t have it today. This demand spilled over to the used car market. Suddenly, someone who was out in the market to buy a brand-new Octavia could buy a sweet, sweet 5 series for the same amount of money, immediately. The GOD’s of Economics awoke and thundered “If thy shall bring high demand, I shall increase prices!” And that is exactly what happened. Used car prices spiked. Well at least of those that remained on the shelves. All the cars I had shortlisted sold out in a month. Gone! PooF! I decided to put the whole search process on hold till I got my license. What is the point in drooling after something when you know you can’t get it today?

Getting my license. Well, almost.

End October arrived. Happy as a puppy I went for my driving exam. Messed up a roundabout, failed the exam, and back to the 3-month queue for the next exam. Everything after that was a haze but come early December, we got a lot of snow in Estonia. Heaps and piles of snow. And no Sir, it wasn’t going anywhere. This meant a lot of people who weren’t confident to drive in the snow started to cancel their driving exams and free up exam slots. I jumped at the opportunity and took the first available slot I could find. Come rain, come hail, come fire, come snow, I was doing the exam. D-Day arrived. Snow on the streets, driving examiner on my passenger seat, and an Opel under my butt, we set off on the exam. Long story short, I cleared the exam. Made minor errors but were overlooked because there was snow on the streets. Hello to the newest eligible driver in Estonia!! We are going car shopping again!

Car hunt – Part 2

This time around, I didn’t have to go through the process of deciding what I wanted. The months between my 2 exams gave me time to think, set priorities, and decide a budget. I went out on a focused search – a 3-series, or an Octavia RS. All good RS’s were sold. The one’s available were either too expensive or had more than 150,000 KMS on the ODO. A lot of good 3-series’s around, so started to short list them and decide when to test them. An acquaintance works at the local BMW dealership, so whenever I liked a car, I would send her the VIN # and she would get me the full history of the car. The local BMW dealership also had a good bunch of used, dealer certified BMW’s on sale, so I agreed to go and check them out. If you have been paying attention, life had other plans.

Car hunt – The Twist

During my entire search process, not once did I search for an A4. I had looked for C and E classes, but no Audi’s. Out of sheer curiosity, I checked A4’s that could be had for my budget. I found two – both, 2.0 TFSI Quattro. One of them had 77000 odd KMS on the odo, looked clean, and was priced well. When I saw pictures of the car, the surroundings looked very familiar, so I called the owner and asked for the address where I could see the car. As it turned out, he lived 4 houses down from one of my friends. Checked with my friend and he confirmed he had seen the car around and seems to be a clean car. We agreed to meet on Saturday for me to see the car. WILDCARD option has entered the room!

Saturday arrived. I made a run to a Skoda dealership which had a silver 320d xDrive sitting with them. Dealership was closed, so I moved on to the BMW dealership. The inventory of cars they had in there was staggering. 3’s, 4’s, 5’s, X5’s, you name it and they had it. I took fancy to a nice blue 320d wagon. There was one sales guy working and he had just gotten engaged with a customer before I walked in. I kept browsing, but time was ticking. I needed to go all the way across the city, to the outskirts to see the A4. It gets dark by 1530 in December, so I had to make good use of the remainder few hours of daylight. I excused myself from the dealership saying I would come back the following week (which I had all intentions of doing). Off to see the A4 then.

Reached my friends place, got into his Kia Stinger (which I must say is magnificent to drive) and headed to see the A4. Introductions were made, and as soon as the owner found out that my friend lives 4 houses down the road, things got easier. Looked around the car, inside/outside and all looked super clean. Then we went for a spin. Remember, the streets were still filled with snow. This was my first time driving the 2.0 TFSI, so I was gentle with it. Drove it for 20 mins and it pulled well, went through the gears well, made no sounds while driving, and just felt tight and right. And of course, I got my first taste of what quattro is capable of handling.

The car had 77000 odd KMS on the odo. It is a 2015 make A4 which was purchased by the Ministry of Finance in 2015 and changed hands to the next owner in 2018. Used as a second car, it barely did 11000 KMS a year (which is less by Estonian standards). No accidents, maintained at the Audi showroom, records available. I loved the car. I had forgotten all about the BMW’s I was going to see. This just felt right. Next up, we spoke about money. The car didn’t come with summer tires or wheels (they are expected as standard part of the deal here), so I had room to negotiate. We agreed on the price, but I wanted time to think it over. The owner was in no hurry to sell, so we agreed that I will sleep over it and let him know the next day. Till then, he would hold the car for me. Got back home and spent the whole evening reading about A4’s, quattro, and especially the 7-speed gearbox. One big advantage I had with the A4 was that it was at a price where I could buy it without a lease or loan. The BMW’s I saw were a bit pricier, and I didn’t want to part away with liquid money for that price range. When I woke up the next morning, I had my answer. Messaged the owner and told him we had a deal. I just bought myself (although verbally) my first ever German. My first Audi!!

Transfer of ownership

The car was leased with a bank. This meant I couldn’t just pay the money and bring it home. The current owners would first have to pay the outstanding lease amount, then get the car transferred on their name, and then sell it to me. If I went for the leasing option, it would take 3 weeks for me to get my hands on the car. Plus, there was the Christmas and New years week in between which would have slowed things further. After waiting for so long, I wasn’t ready to wait any more, especially when we were on the penultimate step. We agreed that I wasn’t leasing, and I would make them the transfer as soon as the car was in their name. Estonia is a high trust economy where your word is sacred. If you say it, you do it. Period. If I backed out of the deal now, this would mean the current owners paid a chunk of money to the bank for nothing and messed up their cash flow. I had practically bought the car. Monday morning the owner paid back the lease balance to the bank. I checked with them how long the transfer would take, and I was told it would be 2 days. I set my expectations to taking the car on Wednesday.

Tuesday evening, the owner called. Car was in their name, and we were free to make the sale. I had just finished work, so immediately got onto making the money transfer to them, and then set off to pick up the car and complete the paperwork. Estonia is 100% digital paperwork. Almost everything you want to do with government services can be done online. I reached the owners place, we signed a physical contract of sale, went to the transport department website, and transferred the car to my name. That simple. 1 form, few clicks, digital signature, and the car was transferred to me. I was now a proud owner of an Audi A4 2.0 TFSI quattro!!

Driving the 2.0 TFSI quattro

The 2.0 TFSI was sold in various power variants in Europe. The one I picked up comes with a healthy 165 kw (221 HP) of power. The engine is mated to a 7-speed S-tronic gearbox. After reading all DSG horror stories, this was the only concern I had while buying the car. From the articles I have read online, I have understood that while in essence the S-tronic is similar to the VW DSG (dual clutch, et al), the difference lies in the fact that S-tronic uses dual multi-plate wet clutches. These are specific for Longitudinally mounted engines and have dual separate oiling circuits (1 for controls, 1 for gears). This box can handle max torque of 440 Nm. While this lays my mind to rest partially, I do understand that this is a highly complex and sensitive gearbox, so I have my fingers crossed! That said, and make no mistakes, it is as feisty as I expected it to be. Lightning-fast gearshifts that you don’t even notice, eager to upshift, aggressive kickdown, and will hold high revs in M mode. I have no idea how high it can rev before upshifting, and I have not had the heart nor road conditions to do that. The car doesn’t come with paddle shifters, but you can push the gear lever to the right to engage S mode, and then push it forwards for up shifts or backwards for downshifts.

In D mode, the car will rapidly upshift at or just before 2000 RPM and I am usually doing 90 kmph in D7 with the revs at 1500. Push the throttle at this stage and it immediately drops a couple cogs (at times 3), and suddenly the world is coming at you faster than it was a few seconds before. There is some drama. You see the revs jump, you are pushed back in your seat, and you feel the quattro system intelligently deliver the right amount of power to the right (correct) wheel and propelling you ahead. In the city, I am pottering around at 50 kmph in D6 or D7.

Estonia has speed limits of 50 in the city, 70 on some roads in the city, and 90 or 110 on highways. As a new license holder, I try very hard to stay within these limits, and I do. But others don’t. And I have no words to explain how my right foot is aching to just bury the throttle. In the 20 years I have been driving, I have learnt the most self-restraint in the past few months. That said, overtaking traffic on highways is a breeze. You are doing 90 in D7 at a whisker under 1500 rpm. To overtake, you change lanes and bury the throttle. Before you know it, you are doing well over 120 and past the object you set out to overtake. Proper, proper fun. I had absolutely no idea that Turbo petrols can be this much fun. And all of this feels safe inside the cocoon of the car. How, you ask?

quattro

quattro = magic happening. You press the throttle, you feel all 4 wheels moving, you are launched ahead of everyone around you, proper on rails. Take it on snowed roads and just experience the quattro system absolutely dominate everything else around it.
Technically, Audi uses a full-time AWD system (trademarked as) quattro. This permanent all-wheel drive system uses a center differential to deliver power 40/60 F/R in normal situations, and up to 70/30-15/85 F/R in extreme use case situations. My knowledge on the quattro system is limited to what I read, and what I experience daily, so I am keen to learn more on how it works.

Practically, this has been of great use to me. We get snow here from December (if we are lucky) until the end of March. And when it snows, it snows. No mercy at all. The quattro system has got me out of quite a few tricky situations which a RWD would surely not be able to handle. Latest situation being a 120 kms highway drive where the highway was covered with slush, standing water, and snow. Every morning I see my neighbors in their RWD and FWD cars struggle to get out of our parking lot, and then all the AWD’s drive like nothing has happened. There are pro’s and cons of having the quattro. The biggest con is the weight distribution and handling attributes. An AWD is safer, but a RWD is more fun.

Handling

I am currently riding on 225/50/17 Bridgestone snow/ice/winter tires. These are specifically designed for driving on snow/ice and have more grooves than a regular summer tire. Add to that, they have nails/spikes embedded to be able to grip in snow, and more importantly on ice. Before I moved here, I had no clue about how different driving in/on snow and driving on ice could be. Driving on snow feels more like driving on sand – sometimes packed, sometimes loose. Driving on ice is another thing altogether. Think of a surface that is glazed and with zero grip. Too ambitious on the throttle and you will lose traction immediately. Too late on the brakes or panic braking and you are rendered a helpless passenger in the events that follow. The spiked tires and quattro make things a lot easier and manageable. Push the throttle and the car senses how much grip each wheel has and delivers appropriate power or braking to respective wheels. You need to try hard to trick the quattro into making a mistake. Driving in snow/ice is the most difficult in a RWD because you are constantly gauging how much throttle you need and to keep the back in place. But it’s a lot more fun for sure.

Quattro combined with disc brakes on all 4 wheels makes handling a lot more predictable on the A4. European cars will offer you the handling dynamics that the Japs or Koreans very often can’t. The steering is weighted perfectly – not too light, not too heavy. It’s just perfect in its weight and calibration. I am unsure at this moment if it is an EPS or a Hydraulic one. My money is on it being an EPS. The car does feel a bit front heavy, and I haven’t had the opportunity to test how fast it will take corners, but I am pretty sure it will do just fine.

The 225/50/17 tires are meaty, cushy and offer the perfect balance of ride quality and comfort. You do feel some bumps transfer to your backside, but nothing dramatic or bone shattering. Perhaps when I switch to summer tires and upsize, is when I will see a significant difference. 225 width offers a wide surface contact and traction – especially when power is sent to all 4 wheels. The only times they have broken traction are when I have purposefully been hard on the throttle in the snow trying to drift the car a bit. The traction control system lets you have fun for a few seconds - with the TCS light in the dash flashing wildly - and then takes over quickly to put an end to your tomfoolery. I haven’t dared to switch off TCS and drive in the snow yet. Perhaps I need to find an empty parking lot and see what happens. But again, it is a quattro, and it will be a lot more manageable and less dramatic than a RWD with TCS switched off.

Summer tires – We are 3-4 months away from when we need to switch over to summer tires. It is prohibited to drive with Winter tires in summer for the prime reason that if they have nails/spikes, then the road surface is damaged. A lot of people drive on all weather tires. This saves them from having to buy 2 sets of tires and wheels and change them 2 times a year. But that will change in winter 2022 as Estonia has changed the specifications of the mandatory winter tires which can be used. My dilemma now is whether to stay with 17 inches wheels and buy a new set of wheels and tires, or upsize to 18 inches? In either case I need to buy a full set (wheels + tires). 18 inchers look much better and will cover the wheel well completely. Ride should become more sharper and a bit more fun. I don’t mind sacrificing ride comfort for this. I had earlier considered 19 inchers, but they are going to be too uncomfortable to live with every day and are a lot pricier to get.

These are MAM wheels which I am planning to get for Summer tires. These are 18 inchers

Kitna deti hain?

I get anywhere between 7.5 – 9 kmpl in the city, and between 13 – 15 kmpl on the highways. The more I think of this, I realize that this is par for the course. It is a 2-liter engine producing 221 horses, coupled with AWD, and riding on high grip winter tires. Frankly I do not mind this at all, especially when she starts flying over 2000 RPM. I use 95 petrol, but I am considering 98 petrol once every 5 tanks. Need opinion from experts here if that is OK to do?

Audio setup and Quality

Sound is delivered through a 12 speaker Bang & Olufsen system – 4 speakers and tweeters in each door, 2 speakers on the dash, 1 mid in the center of the dash, and a woofer in the rear. Sound quality is rich and punchy. The ability to customize Bass, Mid, and Treble gives you a wide range to setup the sound to your liking. I have absolutely no complaints on the sound quality, and it meets my expectations perfectly.

What does not meet my expectations is Audi’s complete disregard and ignorance of providing BT connectivity to stream music. The car has BT, but that can only be used to do phone calls. Try streaming music, and it just won’t recognize your phone. As a point of reference, a friend in India has a 2014 Jetta, and that has audio streaming capabilities. All I get is a CD player



But the saving grace is that this can be resolved. Audi offers a connectivity port in the glove compartment. It is a 30-pin plug which is called Audi Media Interface (AMI). You can buy a variety of aftermarket BT adapters that connect with the AMI and allow you to stream music. The choice is wide here. A simple EUR 20 adapter will let you stream music but won’t allow controls from the steering or the in-dash stereo and won’t show your playlist on the dash. Some of them won’t work with Spotify, while the others won’t work with Apple Music, or Tidal.

Then there are expensive one’s which cost EUR 80 – 100 that are specifically, custom made for Audi’s to address this need. These connectors/adapters not only allow you to play music but also enable steering controls for browsing music, moving tracks forward/backward, and update your entire library of songs and playlist on the dash and center console. I bought something called “Invery Airdual Bluetooth 5.0 Adapter” from Amazon Germany. Cost me EUR 110 with shipping. Its practically plug and play. I had my phone connected within seconds, and my entire playlist updated on the dash in about a minute.

Sound output (volume) is a bit lower than that from the radio, but there is no loss in bass, treble, or mid. I have nothing against Estonian radio stations (they play very good music and talk less) but on long drives I prefer having my library of music. Only downside of this adapter is that it constantly draws power from the car even when the car is switched off. I read this much later than I had received the product. My workaround is to just disconnect it if the car is not going to be used every day.

Navigation

The car doesn’t come with navigation as standard, so I use Waze on my phone instead. Waze has up to date maps, extremely good navigation, recognizes speed limits on roads and highlights them if you are going too fast, and most importantly, lets other users highlight hazards on the road, in real time. The best feature is that users can also update in real time the presence of cops on the maps. So, if you have a cop car hiding in the bushes with a speed gun pointed at the road, users can just update this on the map. I don’t speed, but it’s a good feature to have.

Lighting

The car comes with a simple halogen, dual headlamp assembly powered by H1 and H7 bulbs. The previous owner changed the parking bulbs from normal ones to LED bulbs, so they now look like DRL’s. The front headlamps provide decent illumination in both low and high beams. Fog lamps are halogen as well and provide ample spread and illumination. It’s the same at the back, all halogen bulbs.

Earlier on I did think of swapping them all with LED/projector units but refrained from doing so. Mainly because 1) I do not want to tinker with the original setup, especially with electronics, 2) Cost, 3) We are headed into summer where we will have more than 14 hours of daylight; more than 20 hours in June, so switching to projectors or LEDs provide no additional benefit, and 4) there is a risk that the car won’t clear the mandatory technical evaluation which needs to be done every couple years. A swap would make the car look much better, but the cost is just not worth it. I’d rather use that money on some kickass wheels and maintaining the car.

Other points

• The car comes with a space saver spare tire and is neatly placed in a compartment in the boot. This allows full access to the boot space
• Boot space is adequate and can take 3-4 suitcases along with smaller bags
• Rear floor hump makes fitting a 5th adult impossible
• All doors have deep storage slots which can hold water bottles and other small items
• Arm rest is fixed between the front seats and can be adjusted for height and reach. Makes driving very comfortable
• Large storage area below the arm rest is equipped with a 12v socket
• Car comes with a separate ashtray and cigarette lighter compartment just ahead of the gear level. It has a smooth opening and closing mechanism. Looks chic in design and operation
• IRVM and ORVM auto dim when there is too much glare from behind
• Upwards retracting ORVM’s are so cool
• Bonnet opens with the help of a single hydraulic strut that also keeps the bonnet open
• All 4 doors get puddle lamps and red door open indicators
• It has been sub-zero weather ever since I bought the car, so haven’t had the chance to test the cooling. If it is a warm summer, then I can test this

As my closing to this review, I am going to reiterate what GTO say’s (loosely translated) – always buy a car with a great engine. Bells & whistles will stop exciting you one day, but a great engine will keep you happy every single day you drive it! I have found my great engine.

[vishy76]

Let me be the first one to congratulate you on your acquisition. Welcome to the VAG family. What a way to join the club! The 2.0 TFSI is one of the best turbo petrols Volkswagen ever built and paired to the legendary Quattro system, I can only imagine how much fun it would be.

You are right when you say it might lack a few bells and whistles, but the tranny and driving dynamics are two things that will never go out of date. Also enjoyed your writing style on that note. It takes a lot to keep a drowsy man gripped to a thread at 3 in the night Do add more images of the car.

I believe the S-tronic on your car is the DQ500 transmission which is a wet clutch gearbox (experts can confirm). This is what was primarily used on AWD setups before they switched to the 381 (very recently). Won't really worry much about the reliability. Just change the fluid on time and you should be fine (every 60-70K km or 4 years)

Coming to the 2.0 TFSI, it did have timing chain issues before but I again believe those have been sorted on the later ones. The timing chain tensioner was updated and the issue was not reported again post this fix.

Wishing you many happy miles with her

[mobike008]

Congratulations on your first German car. I have driven many Audi's in my life but, not this particular model but, the specs look interesting and satisfying for a performance lover.

Car looks well taken care of from a cosmetic perspective. Hope the mechanicals also stand their ground for a long time to come.

How many miles on it now? Where are you located in Europe? Sorry, if I missed these points if covered in the report.

Also, what is the gas price down there? It will determine the happiness quotient of a 7kmpl average.

Cheers and Enjoy a lovely ownership period. !!!

[sandeepmohan]

Lovely car you got there. I've started to appreciate Audi design only recently. There is a certain elegance their cars have that the other two Germans marques miss. I mean, each brand has something that wins its target customer.

Its bizzare that bluetooth and navigation is missing in your region. My friends 2012 A6 3l TDI has both. I have seen a Japan import 2014 A4 2T equipped with these features.

I too jumped on the German camp last year. Got myself a red 2013 328i Sport. As nice a car to drive, I do miss the agility and grip of an all wheel drive system. I can sort of relate to what you are saying as my previous car was a 2005 Subaru Legacy sedan with a 3l flat six engine. I regret selling the car. Its not a fair comparison as the BMW is far better equipped and more modern. When it comes to the drive, I'm gonna pick my old Subaru though. I find the 328i soft for a BMW and body roll sets in too soon. The engine is definitely more responsive on the BMW, however, when you cane it, the noise that it makes tells me it isn't happy doing what I am asking it to do, whereas my Subaru made it sound and feel effortless.

Another thing that took me by surprise was the build quality of an Audi. Personally, I feel they are better made cars than a BMW, especially the interiors and overall feel of materials/plastics. I am talking about the 2010 - 2015 generation. My BMW has a lot of creaking plastics and the inner hand grips of the doors are falling apart. Its not a fair comparison. I get to travel and drive my friends 2012 A6 and it feels several notches more premium than my 3. Granted its a higher segment car but I did not expect it to be so different. Everything about it feels top class. My BMW feels fragile in comparison. Its to the point where if I head down the path of another German again, it will be an Audi. Eyes closed.

In some of these smaller countries, used is the way to grab yourself a nice ride. Its puzzles me no ends why anyone would want a new car when the used market is flooded with fine samples from almost every car brand. Like Estonia, New Zealand's used car market is flooded with various options. You are spoilt for choice. Its primarily a Japanese market. Germans are also present. We get two kinds of used cars. One is NZ New which is a car imported and sold directly by the manufacturer. The other is Japanense used cars imports. The latter has more options with some minor (or major, depends on how you look at it) trade off's. Is also cheaper than NZ New. With Japan having strict rules and repeated inspection for cars past their 3 year mark, most folks dump their cars after the 5 or 6 year mark. Few touch or go close to 10 year mark. A good chunk of these cars are imported into New Zealand. Most of them are low mileage samples. The catch is your radio and maps won't work. Its can be sorted but is usually expensive. One needs to be careful while shopping though. The right dealer is important else you could end up with a lemon. If dealing direct, an AA inspection is a must. I was fortunate to buy from a dealer who runs all their imports through an AA pre purchase inspection. You pay a bit of a premium but I later realized it was money well spent. A few bits such as the rear AC vents cracked, suspension creaking and the idrive screen failed within a month from purchase. Fixed at no cost to me. They provided a stand by car too. All this, from a used car dealer. I did poke them to give me their Tesla but they did not budge for that :-)

Like yourself, I looked at a Skoda vRs and some VW GTI's too but all of them had brushed the 100k km mark. I was not willing to gamble with that sort of mileage. Not with a German for sure. A diesel maybe. Not a petrol. In the end, I found a nice low mile Japanese import of a BMW 3 and settled for that.

[AKSarkar1]

Congratulations on entering the world of the German Trinity!

Thank you for the lovely shots, made me reminisce of my days in Europe as a student! I remember for the longest time I wanted to get an Audi in Germany during the course of my studies but that part of the German car market was out of reach for a relatively broke student!

Definitely agree with your point of German cars ageing well, the design is truly ageless and especially with the black colour on that A4 nobody would be able to say that the car is 7 years old. To be it looked maybe 2-3 years old.

Wishing you happy miles ahead with this beauty and making us a part of the occasion!

[bhargav2015]

I totally get the emotions running through your veins. I was a broke Engineer in Mumbai at the peak of Covid lockdown (June 2020) watching the car market, when I fell in love with and took the plunge on a A6 3.0TFSI. Never looked back since. Incidentally, parts are aplenty in and around your geography. A couple of things I bought on eBay came from Estonia; other VAG components from Lithuania, UK & PRC. So rest assured, you're at the right place. An A4 putting out 220 odd horses with 350Nm of Torque makes for an exciting package. The A6 is larger in proportion and heavier; the fun-to-drive factor wanes a little due to that, in my opinion. Also, the Quattro system is a hoot around corners and in your weather conditions. Make sure it sees all the scheduled services and I don't think the Gearbox will trouble you in that weather. Check with the local VAG dealership if there are historical cases of the 'box packing up and the resolution offered by Audi.
Most importantly, spend time understanding the cars limits and have fun in it. With time, you will surprise yourself with how well you can flick-n- gun it while keeping the rubber side down!

[shancz]

Congrats on your car and you're in an excellent place to enjoy it to the max

Had a short spin in an A5 Sportback once and during a left turn at a roundabout, which I entered 20-30kmph faster than usual and expecting the front to wash out(like the Jetta I was driving then) but it didn't. I felt as if something had grabbed hold of the wheels and flung the car in the direction the wheels were pointed, that was my introduction to the quattro(or some related electronic aid like the TCS) and unfortunately the only one till date

You've chosen well considering your snowed situation and you're going to have a good time.

[iceman7]

Originally Posted by vishy76

Let me be the first one to congratulate you on your acquisition. Welcome to the VAG family. What a way to join the club! The 2.0 TFSI is one of the best turbo petrols Volkswagen ever built and paired to the legendary Quattro system, I can only imagine how much fun it would be.

Thank you Vishy. Everyday is a revelation on how much fun this engine, quattro, and gearbox is. I don't miss a sunroof, or projector lamps, or anything else. Just pure driving pleasure. We have a lot more snow now, so the quattro is keeping busy.

I completed 80,000 kms on the weekend, so a gearbox service is up during the next car service.

More pics coming up after I get the car washed.

Originally Posted by mobike008

Congratulations on your first German car. I have driven many Audi's in my life but, not this particular model but, the specs look interesting and satisfying for a performance lover.

Car looks well taken care of from a cosmetic perspective. Hope the mechanicals also stand their ground for a long time to come.

How many miles on it now? Where are you located in Europe? Sorry, if I missed these points if covered in the report.

Also, what is the gas price down there? It will determine the happiness quotient of a 7kmpl average.

Thank you. . The car had just one small paint chip when I picked it up. Otherwise, its top notch inside out. The mechanicals seem to be holding up pretty well for now, fingers crossed.

I picked it up when it had 77,4xx kms on the ODO. I crossed 80,000 kms this past weekend. I am based in Estonia.

95 Petrol was EUR 1.53 the day I got the car. It increased to EUR 1.59 in a couple weeks, and last weekend it jumped to EUR 1.63. But I really don't mind this. In a few years from now, when the electrics have taken over, we will all reminisce how much fun it was to drive petrols. I am going to make the most of this last decade of petrol cars.

Originally Posted by sandeepmohan

Lovely car you got there. I've started to appreciate Audi design only recently. There is a certain elegance their cars have that the other two Germans marques miss. I mean, each brand has something that wins its target customer.

Its bizzare that bluetooth and navigation is missing in your region. My friends 2012 A6 3l TDI has both. I have seen a Japan import 2014 A4 2T equipped with these features.

Thank you. And congratulations on your 328i

I believe the spec I bought was perhaps the entry level spec, and hence missed BT connectivity. I have seen other A4's here of same vintage and they have some features that my car doesn't. But again, none of them were deal breakers for me.

I am a full convert and big believer of buying pre-loved cars. The choice is just massive, and the value they offer is just un-missable.

Originally Posted by AKSarkar1

Definitely agree with your point of German cars ageing well, the design is truly ageless and especially with the black colour on that A4 nobody would be able to say that the car is 7 years old. To be it looked maybe 2-3 years old.

Thank you. One part of me always wanted to own a black car.

Originally Posted by bhargav2015

I was a broke Engineer in Mumbai at the peak of Covid lockdown (June 2020) watching the car market, when I fell in love with and took the plunge on a A6 3.0TFSI. Never looked back since. Incidentally, parts are aplenty in and around your geography. A couple of things I bought on eBay came from Estonia; other VAG components from Lithuania, UK & PRC. So rest assured, you're at the right place.

Congratulations on the A6. Estonia has a big eco system of car tuners and mechanics who are specialists in one brand. We have 2 large garage chains here who work only with VAG cars. There are similar ones for BMW's and Merc's. This gives me the peace of mind that I needed to be able to maintain the car. And of course, since I am in the EU, getting spares is not a problem either.

[e46]

Congrats on your pre owned A4 purchase.

I am inquisitive to know a few things, would be good to get your inputs:

1. Did you take your DL exam on an automatic?
2. How do you find out the history of the car? Do you trust the history given by the dealers?
3. OT - how did you land in Estonia? (company transfer/ self search etc). I am quite keen on moving to Nordic/ DE/ Nord Europe on a BC.

Drive safe,
Abhishek //M

[FIAT3031]

Congrats on the pre owned.
Ive picked a similar model A4 B8 (2015 -53k kms)
Surprisingly I’m getting 13-14kmpl in city driving (this is after multiple tank to tank fill ups methodology)


Coming to the BT setup, I love how your BT doesn’t need to be fired up using external USB source as well. The one I’m using needs an add on USB power n also doesn’t display the music file name.

I think I’ll buy this one too in some while

Attaching few pics for reference (including FE pics)

[Air_Kerala]

Congrats on being the proud tamer of 221 horses. You have a wonderful prose, which makes it an enjoyable affair to follow along as you hunt for cars in Estonia. I wish you thousands of enjoyable miles and look forward to regular updates on this thread. On a side note, even I really like the font Audi uses on their instrument cluster. They are pleasing to the eye. Cheers

[iceman7]

Originally Posted by shancz

Congrats on your car and you're in an excellent place to enjoy it to the max

You've chosen well considering your snowed situation and you're going to have a good time.

Thank you. quattro works like magic and keeps getting me out of tricky situations everyday.

Originally Posted by e46

Congrats on your pre owned A4 purchase.

I am inquisitive to know a few things, would be good to get your inputs:

1. Did you take your DL exam on an automatic?
2. How do you find out the history of the car? Do you trust the history given by the dealers?
3. OT - how did you land in Estonia? (company transfer/ self search etc). I am quite keen on moving to Nordic/ DE/ Nord Europe on a BC.

Drive safe,
Abhishek //M

Thank you. I took my driving test on a manual. This permits me to drive both, a manual, and an auto.

Regarding history of the car, I took 3-4 things into consideration - 1)We have a VIN # search based database here which you can use to check all accident history of a car. If insurance was ever used to fix an accident, then it will show in this database. 2) Official transport department website allows you to look at history of the car, purchase dates, ownership change dates, KMS recorded at each milestone. 3) Records with Audi Estonia. 4) Given the previous owner lived in a friends neighborhood, I was able to gather offline history of the car, and 5) I took a leap of faith

How did I land in Estonia? I came for work. Loved the place in my first visit. Got an opp to move here. Grabbed it with both hands. If you are a software engineer/developer, you will be welcomed here with a red carpet. Massive need here for developers. I am not a software engineer/developer.

Originally Posted by FIAT3031

Congrats on the pre owned.
Ive picked a similar model A4 B8 (2015 -53k kms)
Surprisingly I’m getting 13-14kmpl in city driving (this is after multiple tank to tank fill ups methodology)

Coming to the BT setup, I love how your BT doesn’t need to be fired up using external USB source as well. The one I’m using needs an add on USB power n also doesn’t display the music file name.

Hello again. And thank you. Congrats on your Audi. She looks lovely in White. My guess regarding lower FE on my Audi is 1)quattro consumes more power, hence more fuel, 2) running on super grippy 225 width winter tires, and 3) snowy conditions make braking and acceleration work overtime. Waiting to see what FE I get once it's summer.

I am satisfied with the Invery BT adapter I bought. Doesn't need a separate power source, enables steering controls, and most importantly, displays your playlist on the Music Interface screen. A bit expensive, but worth the money.

Originally Posted by Air_Kerala

Congrats on being the proud tamer of 221 horses. You have a wonderful prose, which makes it an enjoyable affair to follow along as you hunt for cars in Estonia. I wish you thousands of enjoyable miles and look forward to regular updates on this thread. On a side note, even I really like the font Audi uses on their instrument cluster. They are pleasing to the eye. Cheers

Thank you.