1994 Audi 80 Avant from UK and Ireland - Comments

Persistent fault with the engine 'coughing' during heavy acceleration or high speed motorway cruising.

Electric windows failed (my fault - I tried to fix them!)

Handbrake ratchet broke after being sat on.

The accelerator pedal plate has come off, but the pedal is still usable.

Rear brake caliper seized (handbrake only) costing £100 to repair for MOT.

This is the first car I've owned and I've had it for just over a year. In this time it's been a mixed bag. It has been a great car overall, but it has a few niggles which prevent me from recommending that you rush out and buy one straight away.

The engine is great. It produces plenty of torque if not much power, and never feels like it's only got 90Bhp. It pulls well, giving traffic beating acceleration in 2nd gear, spinning the wheels in first if you get it wrong and helping the car be an accomplished motorway cruiser. It's a real sleeper on motorways. People in much newer cars see the tail of it disappearing as it accelerates from 70 to 95 Mph like it's on a steam launch rail! The engine is efficient and returns around 45 Mpg if you drive it like you've stolen it, and above 50Mpg on relaxed long distance drives. This allows you top drive 650 miles between refills. Not bad for a heavy car. My major complain about the engine is that there is a fault and under heavy acceleration or under load on the motorway (up hills) it sometimes 'coughs' and judders, preventing you from accelerating for a short period. I have spent around £200 having this fault investigated, but as no one could diagnose it and the car really isn't worth that much I've decided to live with it. It's not a worsening fault and it's not dangerous, but it can spoil an otherwise pleasant drive.

The gearbox and transmission is fine if unremarkable. There's a bit of slack in it as you'd expect after 120,000 miles, but it has always been reliable. The clutch is good with nice weighting and feel, but otherwise it does it's duty without invoking comment.

The brakes are a weak point. There is a lot of travel in the pedal and you have to really give it a stomp to get the car braking heavily. There's also little feel or feedback. It's the only time you feel the mass of the car. When they're biting they do work well however and the car comes to a halt in a surprisingly short distance. I have never managed to activate the ABS which suits me just fine.

The handling on this car is surprisingly good once you learn its characteristics. I have cheap tyres on it at the moment which don't due it justice as the road holding on damp roads is very poor. On dry roads however the grip is good and you can get a feel for the chassis. It is well balanced for a front wheel drive car. If you push it you can feel the front tyres beginning to scrub wide before they lose all traction and this gives you plenty of time to correct. I have only swung the back end of this car out once under extreme provocation on a closed road, and whilst it wasn't particularly fun, there was enough response to gather the car up without totally loosing control.

Overall it's not a 'sporty car' it's not quick enough and the wrong set of wheels are driven. Driven correctly it can be surprisingly agile and fast flowing roads are a revelation. Cruising long distance shows what this car is best at though. The ride quality is generally very good especially on new road surfaces. Potholes and rough concrete roads can upset the damping and lead to the sensation that the shocks have suddenly turned solid, but this is rare. I've been in new cars that have worse ride (2004 Vauxhall Astras for example).

The quality of the body and interior is very high, and the previous owner had a high quality stereo with a 6 disk CD changer and four more (discreet) speakers fitted which means it sounds great. There are no squeaks or rattles to mention and everything electrical still works. I love the design and quality of the interior. I think it looks better and is more ergonomic than many middle of the range modern cars. It is also very comfortable and the fabric seats still look new. The interior can get very hot on summer days though and the interior ventilation is poor. The fan has 4 settings which are silent, quiet, loud and really loud, unfortunately these don't correspond to more air being blown into the car! It's windows down on hot days. I like the looks of the car and the body is totally rust free. The estate (avant) version has dated much better than the saloon and still shares the basic styling cues with the new A4. The roof rails also help it look a it more streamlined.

In total this car cost me £5000 to buy (

Nice to know that someone else is happy with there Audi 80 tdi Avant.

I purchased mine with 112k 18 months ago, it's now got 142k on it. Did have a slight problem with the waste gate on the turbo which stopped me going over 60mph, but some mechanics at Seat bypassed it for me and it works fine now.

I too found that budget tires on steel wheels (195/60 15) were a little on the slippery side, so I found myself some second hand Audi 80 alloys for £100 with 2 OK tires on them. So I treated the wheels to 2 new Avon ZV3's (205/55 15), put those on the front and the older OK ones on the back. then proptly went into a wet car park and lost the back end! Problem solved 2 more Avon ZV3, mmm much better. Grip feels endless, only then I created one more problem. Body Role! Looking at the shocks I found that they were a bit worn so I've just purchased some 30mm Eibach lowering springs, Koni adjustable shock absorbers and some posh bushes, (£700, ouch). there not on yet, but I'll try and let you know the outcome.

To End I did test an Audi A4 110tdi Avant the other day (p reg), it may have had full electrics and climate control etc. but it just hasn't got the character of the 80.

Enjoyed your article.

Regards C.

Update by original author:

The alternator belt pulley bracket has broken, leaving me stranded on the A5 and £470 out of pocket for the repair! Arrgh! It's just a bracket and pulley!

Apparently they fail on this model quite a bit and a competent mechanic can tell you if they're going to as the wear is visible.

Just be advised, repair costs are not cheap unless you have access to a breakers yard and your own tools...

My beloved 1994 80 Avant has just passed 182k miles, and it is astonishing how well it drives. Apart from the expected slack in the gearbox this car has been maintained to the letter. Having Audi history to 96k miles and independent specialist history to 176k miles, I am about to send it to my local specialist for it's next service.

Basically, this car cost me £700 to buy and another £160 to put things back the way they should be. I found some adventurous wiring on the cooling system, and the temp gauge had failed well before I took ownership, although an enterprising fitter has wired the oil temp gauge to read coolant temperature.

This car does not smoke, rattle, or squeak. It uses less than a litre of oil for every 1500 miles. I find it amazing that a 12 year old car can have no rust or blemishes, and have more road presence and good looks than a lot of today's cars lose after 3 or 4 years.

It is no sprinter nor racer, but for this car to be in such good order after such a long life is testament to good servicing and impeccable engineering. I look forward to enjoying it well beyond 200,000 miles.

Hi

Interesting reading your articles.

Just bought a 1994 Audi 80 Avant TDI for £625, it needs a little tlc, but is in OK condition for year.

It has an auto box which has done 200k, it's sticking from 2nd to 3rd gear and is also lazy to go into revearse.

I haven't had a chance to check the car thoroughly and hope it has the wrong gearbox oil, fingers crossed!

I would be very interested if anyone knows of any common faults with these auto boxes, or have any suggestions to sort the problem out.

Many thanks.

Original Author:

I have now sold this car after 20 months of ownership.

It turned out to be a bit of a dog. After the above mentioned belt failure it developed an ABS fault and had to have suspension components replaced for it's MOT. It cost a fortune to run. Total cost of ownership was about £9,000 over 27,000 miles (including insurance, fuel and servicing). So whilst it was economical on diesel it was astronomical on everything else!

They're good cars, just buy carefully or they'll cost you an arm and a leg.

I own a 2.0 E SE (petrol) Avant, I agree with most of your comments, these Audis DO need to be owned by someone with a fair amount of mechanical savvy. I needed an Air Flow Meter, £440 off the shelf, £40 second hand from a breaker. I LOVE my car, having advanced the ignition slightly, it now is quick and with a decent set of tyres on it hustles along well. Mine is pretty thirsty, only getting 30-33 mpg, whilst my old saloon would do 35-37 mpg. Take them to a specialist for work, although Audi still have a good parts stock and are extremely helpful. Reading Audi tracked down a part for me, doing a stock check in EVERY UK dealer and the Germany factory, good work! If you can wield a spanner and have slightly deeper pockets than 'Mondeo Man' this car will leave you with a smile.

I've just bought a 93 advant 80 tdi for £1000 139K 2 owners full service history with all receipts and mot's and two cam belts fitted. Will let you know how I get on. Checking the alternator belt pulley bracket is priority.

I have owend a audi 80 93since 1995. there is 248k on the clock. I have just converted it to vegetable oil. Also recently had a sticking right rear brake caliper. I heard you can't take these off easily. but other than that its going well.

I've just purchased a 1994 Audi 80 TDI Avant in white with 200k but full stamped service book (yep, 20 stamps!!) and every MOT from new for £1100. A bit more than I wanted to spend, but I believe you get what you pay for! Initial impressions are that's it's a very well built handsome car. I love the look of it, although it's a bit marmite in that department, some of my family/friends/colleagues love it, others hate it!

I bought it to be able to throw all my MTB gear in the boot and cruise to the Welsh hills to do my riding in comfort and hopefully be cheap on fuel. My old 306 D Turbo with 157k was starting to show its age, was a bit smokey but was nice to drive and relatively quick considering what it was. It always returned 45mpg no matter how I drove it. I could granny it everywhere and never get more, but nail it the next week and it stayed the same! How odd. The Audi isn't as quick, but what it lacks in speed it makes up for in comfort and build.

I'm a little wary that its not particulary good on fuel at the moment. My 25 mile commute to work is very stop/start/up/down back roads and it seems to be drinking the diesel! I've had 250 miles out of half a tank and I was hoping for 650 miles out of a complete tank which looks a little ambitious. I've not actually managed to do a 'proper' run in it yet so i'll know then if I can get the 50mpg its supposed to give!

But enough of that, I'm still enjoying driving it and am looking forward to see how the 'old cheap car' pans out...

I got a '93 Audi 80 avant 2.6E auto, on eBay of all places, for GBP900. Odd, but so far it's been worth it. I love this beasty; the stonking v6 sounds like a v8 (new exhausts soon, I think) and it goes like stink. It's dark green and discreetly handsome in a very masculine, "German" sort of way, and it feels hewn from rock. There's 160,000 on the clock and I'm expecting a lot more. It's a mile-eater par excellence and will swallow a surprising amount of luggage for a smallish estate (no wheel arches in the load space). Problems? Well it chews brake pads and tyres, it needed a power steering pump 5,000 miles ago (£320) and it has a small, not too bothersome water leak. Fuel consumption around town is a disaster, though much improved on an A-road run, and for such a powerful car it wimps out when hitched to a caravan (must be those exhausts?).