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Buying advice for A5 B8

2K views 7 replies 5 participants last post by  nigelbat 
#1 ·
Hello,

I'm looking to purchase an A5 coupe, 3.0 tdi with a manual gearbox ideally although I'd be happy with the automatic if recommended. I average around 10k miles a year but am just looking for something I can enjoy driving.
Currently I drive a 2007 Bmw 530D m sport with the automatic gearbox but after driving this for the last 6 years, owning bmw's my entire life and after test driving an 3.0 tdi Audi I'd like to give an A5 a whirl.

I'm looking for some buying advice as the market seems flooded with different spec'd A5's, some with full or half leather, others with different types of audio options. The audio part completely confuses me as there seem to be 3 options as far as i can see from briefly shopping around. Service history is a must although im not really fussy on colours however i'd like to avoid red or grey cars and mileage of no more than 160,000 as I know these cars are good for it. My budget is £5000 and I'm UK based. Judging by my budget Im assuming I could pick up a decent early example.
What do you guys recommend I look for and also watch out for when shopping?

Thank you in advance,

Rupert.
 
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#2 ·
Make sure at that mileage you have a full service history and good maintenance.

make sure that the following has 100% been replaced:

-Diesel particulate filter (120k miles)

make sure the transmission oil was changed every 38k miles too!

And as a final bit of opinion, any car over 100k miles is a bit of pot luck to be honest. There’s a host of issues that comes with an aging car but these are the two most important:
-transmission issues
-dpf issues

Also the bearings on the car too, but it is an audible ticking noise, sort of like two marbles hitting eachother (balls in the bearing I know lol), drive with the windows down so you can catch anything that sounds iffy.

Trust your gut feeling! If you think the seller is dodgy, walk away. If you feel the car doesn’t sit right, leave it. Period.

~Alex
 
#3 ·
Well said Alex, all good tips!! Be prepared to spend some of your hard-earned to bring her back to good condition, and I would ask an Audi specialist to help with the selection.
 
#5 ·
If you handy with tools and able to work on moderate jobs like brakes and suspension then you could drive a old premium car for a bargain.
I was a BMW man like yourself. Owned a BMW E92 LCI 320i for 5 years untill it was stolen. Over the 5 years replaced 4 fuel injectors, front/rear disc and pads, 4 shocks & 2 front lower control arms. If I visited the garage for those it would have hurt my wallet a bit.

8 months ago bought a 2009 A5 2L TFSI. I bought the car knowing all 4 shocks leaking but it had a new engine fitted by Audi 30k miles ago, so for me that was the key factor. I have since fitted 4 Sach OEM shocks cost me less than £200. I later replaced both upper control arms and 1 lower control arm .. all TRW brand and cost me another £200.
That £400 spent on the suspension has transformed to a different car to what I picked up 6 month ago.

I would think you need to put asside £1k if DIY repairs or £2K to £3K if visiting garage for immediate maintance.
 
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