For many years now, I’ve been jumping from one shitbox to the next, refusing to sign off a healthy portion of my monthly pay-packet in exchange for a modern and supposedly reliable dishwasher of a car. No thanks, I’d much rather take a gamble on that 250,000-mile rusty heap on Facebook marketplace.
Besides, I’ve worked in the motor trade for some time, and when brand-new cars are being re-delivered back to the workshop inside of a week with failed oil pumps and seized engines, it really does make you question if a new car is any less problem-prone that a proven high-mileage hero anyway.
In truth, of course they are. For the most part, new cars work perfectly, boast comprehensive warranty packages, and will provide headache-free transport for many years. I just don’t care – I’m stubborn, I prefer older cars, and I don’t want to match my mortgage payment on a damn Kia.
So, that’s left me piloting some pretty uninspiring cars over the years, dabbling in the fine art of ‘bangernomics’ – buying and running a car for as little as possible. This has been fine, until recently however, as into my life entered a child. Two, in fact.
Crap. All of a sudden the wife’s complaints about failed window regulators, knocking suspension, engine management lights and broken door handles are getting louder and louder. The worst part is, I know she’s right too. OK, OK, time to grow up – I need a ‘proper car’.
I set myself a brief. I don’t want to spend the earth, as that would scupper my plans to buy an early 996 Carrera, or was it a V8 Vantage, or perhaps a Busso-engined 164? I’m not sure, it changes too often.
Anyway, a budget was set – £5,000. Not much, I know, but why spend more than you have to? Following in the footsteps of my father I began looking for a smart used Audi. He almost never broke down, not in his Audis, at least, so it seemed like a solid place to start.
Perusing the classifieds with a pocket lined with spendable notes provided endless hours of both entertainment and confusion. I’m not one to overthink a car purchase though, in fact, I famously under-think such investments.
Regardless, AutoTrader came up trumps and presented me with a clear-cut winner. A 2009 Audi A4 2.0 TDI Quattro S-Line. I’ll dive a little deeper into the spec shortly, but for my needs and budget, it ticked all the boxes and looked quite smart, too.
Credit: Audi
The only issue? It was for sale at a rather unreputable garage, it clearly had zero sales prep done, and the warranty offered was seemingly dubbed the ‘good luck package’. Oh well, time to roll the dice, I guess.
Sure, there were plenty of Audi A4s I could’ve picked from, but this particular sedan did have a lot going for it. The mileage was impressive for the year, just 78,000, and the spec was lovely too. A 2.0-liter turbocharged diesel ‘four’ with the higher rating of 170 horsepower, rather than the eco-spec 140. It’s a six-speed manual, too, and all-wheel drive. The S-Line pack furnished it with sporty bodywork, half-leather half-alcantara sports seats, and plenty of shiny red badges. All-in, it was a damn good car for the budget I was shopping with.
Credit: Audi
A deal was done, and the A4 was mine. I had moved from shitbox owner to just normal car owner – a momentous occasion.
I’ve owned the A4 for some months now, and, while I have had a couple hiccups (most alarming was the seized brake caliper setting ablaze roughly 12 minutes after purchase), it has performed admirably as the sensible daily driver I promised my wife it would be.
Credit: Audi
And, can I tell you a secret? This rather dull exec-spec sedan from the late 2000s is actually quite fun to drive! In order to get to know the car a little better, I decided to take my son for a quick break over to France for a few days. Covering 1,000 miles in a short space of time proved a fantastic way to get to know the A4 better, and it’s a journey I’ll cover separately.
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