which car to go for

R

ramlal

Registered User
Messages
39
Hi all

Can you please help me in deciding a car which one should I go for. I only drive 10,000 to 12,000 mile in a year. I live in midlands. The options I have is

Audi A4 2005 (petrol or diesel)
Passat 2006 (petrol or diesel)
Benz C180 2004 (petrol)

I personally like to buy last one but I am not sure if it would be effecient. How much does it cost to service these cars ? Does it looses it value too fast ? I currently have corolla on which I pay around €100 in year for servicing.

I have 3 years no claim bonus so I guess insurance should not be a problem. I currently pay €500 for that. Tax is €300.
 
Merc will breakdown and you'll spend all your time in the garage.

Go for the Audi in 2.0 TDI format.

EDIT: Although you only do 10k a year so petrol would probably do. Cheaper servicing.
 
To make up the savings in using a diesel to the original cost of the car, you'd probably need to be doing alot more miles as Gabriel says.
If you need the space, go for the passat, if not then the Audi.
try to go for the 1.8L FSI engines at the very least...these cars aren't light.
 
Anybody please advice me how much service of Audi costs ? And after how many miles needs to be done ?
 
that is a cheap service! Must get VVW the next time.

I was once in a mercedes dealership, and overheard a technician taking a phone call from a mercedes owner. The owner was complaining about the cost of the service. Once the phone was put down, I heard the technician say " if you can afford a merc, you can offord to pay a lot for the service".

I know a few people with merecedes, who wince every time they go for a service.
 
I had a 2.0L C Class hatchback (they wrongly call it a coupe!) and in 2002 the 15000km service was €280-300ish and the 30000km service was €350ish. I would say that would be similar to the Audi and VW. They charge about €100/hour incl VAT and will hit you for a min of 2 hours for a minor service and more for a major. Expect the service costs to trebbel your Corolla costs.
 
Thanks a million for your replies. Here is what I have decided so far.

1. Merc is expensive to run and it will break down for sure( John thanks for your reply but can you confirm on this ? Will you buy a merc again ?) .
2. Passat looks nice. base model has no power ( 100 BHP) so minimum is to go for comfortline ( 105 BHP) but few people say in the long run it is not good to buy. new model of VW has lots of problem (read it on this board)
3. So the last option is to go for Audi 1.9 TDI as it does keep its values and it is realiable to run.

I am hoping to keep the car for atleast 5-6 years beofre I change it again so should I buy Audi ?
 
I'd go for a BMW 3 series...think they are more reliable than the other 3. The new Passat is meant to be problemtic in petrol format (know a manager of a VW garage). Diesels are much better.
 
Go for BMW or Audi A4. Most passats are the old 1.9 tdi because of the insane vrt on a 2.0 tdi even though they are emit less co2 than a 1.6 petrol. The government here just don't get it. do they? The 1.9 passat has only 105bhp. Passat's give more trouble.A4 is much better made than the passat. Go for an 130bhp Tdi audi. Or 2.0 tdi 140bhp if it's 05. Go for one with leather seats, cruise, It will make a big difference to resale values. And will sell much quicker. STAY AWAY FROM MULTITRONIC automatic audi's. Good box when they work and i say When! I would only ever go for dsg.Dsg is a fantastic and economical auto box. I think audi call it s-tronic? not sure. Oh by the way if you don't do many miles in a year then go for a petrol, cheaper. but alot less low down grunt. Again diesels are better sell on. As for BMW's I don't know much about them but are suppose to be reliable. More so than passat.
 
My experience with the Merc was mixed over 2 years of ownership from new. The car was great to drive and be seem in but at 20k miles it need a complete set of suspension bushes, needed traction control replaced at 18kmiles, I had a full length glass roof which rattled a lot. But other than that it was fine, no breakdowns that left me stranded, just parts that were replaced under warrenty by the dealer. I changed to a new Accord and never had a single problem. The Merc lost €16k in 2 years, the Accord €10K over the same period but the Accord had bigger mileage when I sold it. I would buy a merc again, but not a new one and I would only buy one if I were doing small mileage as high mileage really kicks resale value to touch, less so with the Accord. Now I'm a confirmed jap car fan (mainly Honda but Toyota are ok), before the Accord I wouldnt have one! If you buy into an expensive brand then expect expensive costs, same for Audi and BMW.
 
Hi there

I must say thanks you all for helping me there. For now I have decided that I will not buy Passat or merc.

Reason I think are

1. Passat is not as good as Audi which I think I like better so it is out.
2. Merc seems to expensive. I can only afford 04 merc ( my budget is max 30K) and I can't afford to pay €850 for its service as people have complaint about it.

so as for now option is between 04 BMW or 05 Audi. I also have family in London so if anybody has bought car from UK and paid VRT here please let me konw if it is worth it.

I have seen from VRT web site that VR for 05 audi would be around 7.5 K. Any websites or suggestion for buying car from UK.

Thanks again.
 
I don't know what horror stories you have heard about passat but I think it is nice car. I have it and I don't had any problems.

I am not forcing you to buy it as it is your decision.
 

there was discussion about VRT/import from UK a few weeks back in this forum - you could do a search for this - I think the general consensus was that it is worth it.

Personally, I would say the BMW is a better choice than the Audi
 
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