Coming back to MB from VAG

[such01]

ok, i need to talk myself out of getting a coupe, but it looks so much nicer than the 4 door!

 

[Crazyfool]

I've been s VAG owner for over 16 years, all Audis; always loved the styling and drive. I've always bought almost brand new apart from our V6 Audi convertible which is 20 years old this year. Best car I've ever bought, such good fun and the most reliable car I've owned. Had it for three years now.

My 2002 1.8T A4 was almost as unreliable as my previous Laguna, my 2009 2.0T SLine estate was the absolute pits! An absolute joy to drive, looked the part, but what a money pit. My next car was supposed to be the 3.0 TDI SLine A6, but my wife said she would divorce me if I went for another new Audi. The guy in the Audi garage at the time when I was giving him hell over an ongoing issue with my car said 'they don't make them like they used to', referring to our convertible.

I could imagine VAG have lost millions of pounds over the past two years, what with the TDI scandal and the cam belt and oil consumption issues on their TFSI's.

So I went for the E350 estate. It's no comparison to the coupe but I've owned it for just over one and a half years and I absolutely loving it. The engine is fantastic and the car itself is really comfortable. Think my wife loves it more than me!

 

[gIzzE]

......my 2009 2.0T SLine estate was the absolute pits! An absolute joy to drive, looked the part, but what a money pit.

See isn't it funny, I had the Avant one of these and thought it was one of the worst cars I have ever driven, the torque steer through the front wheels didn't just make the things unenjoyable, it made it positively dangerous.
It also had issues with injectors, coil packs, and clutch, but most was covered by Audi to be fair. Did think it looked nice though.

I think the thing with VAG is you notice their weakness' more when you go back to them, just going through their own cars doesn't highlight their weak points, it isn't till you get into something that gets the basics right that you notice.
Just things like a 50:50 balanced chassis, having RWD where you don't have to feather the throttle pulling out into fast roundabouts if it looks like there may be rain in the air, not having the engine hang over the front axle causing silly amounts of understeer, little things like that.

If anything though the gap is closing, Audi is not necessarily ironing these issues out, more a case of the other brands seem to be softening their cars somewhat and we are now seeing BMWs and Mercs that do undertseer slightly compared to oversteering. I guess they think more people will feel safer with that when testing their cars?

 

[Crazyfool]

See isn't it funny, I had the Avant one of these and thought it was one of the worst cars I have ever driven, the torque steer through the front wheels didn't just make the things unenjoyable, it made it positively dangerous. It also had issues with injectors, coil packs, and clutch, but most was covered by Audi to be fair. Did think it looked nice though.

I must admit I wasn't looking forward to rear wheel drive, but now I don't miss front wheel spinning. What I do have a problem with at the moment, and it's something to consider with the 350 engine, is tyres.

I took the car to the garage because someone decided to try and pull my rear wiper off! While I was there, the salesman said, lovely car; watch your rear tyres, it will rip them to shreds! Boy he wasn't wrong! I can't remember what the original tyres were, but I replaced them with Michelin Pilot Sport 3's. Neither have lasted more than 8 months. We have a problem with reversing into our drive which is on a gravel incline, but 8 months!! I am considering P zero's as a replacement to see if they are any better.

 

[gIzzE]

I doubt they will be, I got through a set of rear P Zero Rossos in 6k miles on my old 535d!

I would just keep all 4 matched, RWD cars can become really twitchy with some combinations of tyres.

 

[such01]

Thanks for the heads up re rear tyres. Currently getting through a front set on my VRS every 18k, roughly 10 months.

Usually get my tyres online and pay for fitting.

My currents fave's are vredesteins sessantas. Any idea if these will suit a 350cdi? Or would it be best going for the most advertised brands?

 

[gIzzE]

Yeah they are good, nice and quiet too.

I have used them a couple of times.

I am running Vredesteins Wintracs on it at the mo, just run them all year round.


What I would say is be careful though if mixing tyres on front and rear axles, I had Contis on the front and Vreds on the back when I picked the car up and the ESP light was constantly flickering and on wet round abouts it was very tail happy, as soon as I put the same all round on it stopped.

The Vredesteins Sessantas also have a very different tread pattern to nearly every other tyre out there, I had them on the front of our A4 and Michelin PS2s on the back and the back end came round on me twice, it was pretty lethal.

 

[such01]

Can anyone give me the real world MPG for the 350 CDI and also the average number of miles per tank before refilling?

I see the 350 has a bigger tank, compared with the 250.
Also, does the avantgarde eat tyres the same as the sport models?

Thanks

 

[gIzzE]

I used to get around 500 miles from a 70 litre refill, OBC used to say 37mpg calculated was 33mpg.
If I ran it on reserve I knew I could get another 70 odd miles from it.

If I was using it for all long runs that could jump to 630 miles, so about 37mpg, OBC would show 41.

It isn't the trim that dictates the tyres, it is the engine.


I am in a 350 petrol now, I have done 6000 miles on my rear tyres and they have worn less than 1mm. There is so much torque going through the diesels they tend to gobble rubber.

 

[such01]

Thanks for that, that's a fair bit lower than i am getting now, around 43mpg.

I may consider a 250 and get it mapped at some point. Perhaps the 250 may be easier on tyres.
Seeing that I'll be doing 25k miles annually, I don't want to be getting much less MPG and changing rear tyres every 10k. I'll have to check the difference in cost of 17 vs 18 inch tyres.

Thanks

 

[gIzzE]

Mate of mine has the E250 and came from 2.0tdi Passat estate, he was getting 45mpg from the Passat and is seeing a calculated 37mpg from his E250cdi estate, OBC showing 42mpg.

He had an A6 avant in between the Passat and the E250cdi as well, but he got rid of it after about 10 months as he was not over keen on the auto 'box (I presumed it would be the same as the Passat?) and struggled to get much over 32mpg from.


So you get around 480 miles from a £50 fill up in the Octavia? Is it a manual or auto?

 

[gIzzE]

Just to add, many E350 cdi owners say they get 45mpg average from theirs.

Not sure I believe them though, that is somewhere between 750-800 miles on a tankful. I think that is probably what the OBC says.

 

[such01]

Mate of mine has the E250 and came from 2.0tdi Passat estate, he was getting 45mpg from the Passat and is seeing a calculated 37mpg from his E250cdi estate, OBC showing 42mpg.

He had an A6 avant in between the Passat and the E250cdi as well, but he got rid of it after about 10 months as he was not over keen on the auto 'box (I presumed it would be the same as the Passat?) and struggled to get much over 32mpg from.


So you get around 480 miles from a £50 fill up in the Octavia? Is it a manual or auto?

I normally get around 480-520 with a 55 litre fill up which comes in around £60 ish, on a manual with a stage 1 remap. Can be as low as 440 if i don't do much mways.

I am liking the thought of 750 mile between fill ups. Is this actually achievable? That would be just 3 stops for refilling every month.

 

[Deleted member 37751]

The 7G plus box was rolled out in late 2011 (all 2012 should have it) and makes a massive difference to the fuel economy -

Local:


On a run:


I actually saw 59mpg on a very steady run but didn't get a picture.

 

[Deleted member 37751]

Also a good way to check if an E350 has the 7G plus is if you look on the Auto Trader website and for each car you view go into technical specifications it shows that those with the better mpg results are the newer box, think there's about 5mpg difference "extra urban".

 

[flango]

Also a good way to check if an E350 has the 7G plus is if you look on the Auto Trader website and for each car you view go into technical specifications it shows that those with the better mpg results are the newer box, think there's about 5mpg difference "extra urban".

Don't rely on this data its generally garbage and they get it mixed up particularly on crossover years. The dimensions data is also a joke AT should take more care but they couldn't care less happy to fleece traders a small fortune though to advertise

 

[such01]

So would a 61 plate 250 CDI have the 7G+ gearbox then or would it be best to go for a 12 plate?

Might be a stretch at £15k.

Is there any other way of checking?

Thanks chaps

 

[gIzzE]

4cyl cars are easy to tell, gear shift moved to column on them.

But stick with the 350, so much nicer.

If you get 440 miles out of yours if not many motorways that is only 36mpg, so don't think you will be far out.
If you do a lot of motorway work you will little in it between 250 and 350 mpg wise imho, once you are rolling they are pretty close.
It is the weight of these cars that eat fuel rather than the engine.

I got just under 600 miles from my E350 petrol doing 90% motorway work from a tank, although it was all pretty much slow motorway work.

 

[such01]

4cyl cars are easy to tell, gear shift moved to column on them.

But stick with the 350, so much nicer.

If you get 440 miles out of yours if not many motorways that is only 36mpg, so don't think you will be far out.
If you do a lot of motorway work you will little in it between 250 and 350 mpg wise imho, once you are rolling they are pretty close.
It is the weight of these cars that eat fuel rather than the engine.

I got just under 600 miles from my E350 petrol doing 90% motorway work from a tank, although it was all pretty much slow motorway work.

All the 250's and 350's I have seen have the gear shift on the column.
On another note, do these suffer with DPF problems if not driven properly and is there any way of checking pre purchase?

Thanks

 

[gIzzE]

Then the 250s are 7g+, the 350s have always had it.

No more than any other diesel.

Check what exactly?