Audi A4 Avant (08 on) - Review

Review by Dan Harrison on
Last Updated: 05 March 2012
If you can afford the new asking price, then the A4 Avant is one of the best family estates you can buy. It's roomy, comfortable, good to drive, safe, practical, and of course comes with the kudos associated with owning an Audi. You also get a wide choice of engines, including a range of exceptional - and highly economical - diesels. As ever there's a long options list and you should choose carefully - they can become a significant part of your final bill and some will not add any value to your car when you come to sell.
4.5 out of 5

Other Audi reviews

3.5 out of 5

Running costs

As a new buy, the A4 undercuts the BMW 3-Series and Mercedes-Benz C-Class, yet overall offers better levels of standard equipment. Fuel economy is good for all engines (especially the diesels), though the A4 trails behind the 3-Series fitted with Efficient Dynamics in this respect. Servicing at Audi dealers is expensive (particularly in London and other large cities), but vital in order to maintain its used value.

* based on most recent data

Estimated fuel cost for 10,000 miles per year

Unleaded

£1,306 - £2,046 *

Diesel

£1,002 - £1,644 *

The estimated fuel cost figure is a guide to how much this model will cost to fuel each year, so you can compare between cars. It's calculated by using the model's average mpg (calculated from both town centre and motorway driving) and the average fuel price. It's based on the following cost-per-litre: petrol 135p and diesel 141p. Prices are updated daily.

Summary Running Costs

Servicing period

As indicated by on-board computer. Can be up to 19,000 miles.

Warranty

Three years/60,000 miles

Road tax (12 months)

£30.00 - £270.00

Vehicle excise duty (VED) varies according to the CO2 emissions and the fuel type of the vehicle. For cars registered after March 1st 2001 VED or road tax is based on the car's CO2 emissions. For cars registered before March 1st 2001 it is based on engine size.

Full running costs data

3.5 out of 5

Green credentials

  • A
  • B
  • C
    116
  • D
  • E
  • F
  • G
  • H
  • I
  • J
  • K
    219
  • L
  • M

CO2 emission figure (g/km)

Fuel economy rating

The arrows indicate the best and worst CO2 bands for this model.

Emissions summary

The A4 is a big leap forward over the previous car when it comes to green credentials. There's significantly better fuel consumption and lower CO2 emissions across the range. The 3.0-litre TDI diesel is especially clean, even if its fuel economy figures aren't as good as the smaller 2.0-litre TDI. Although better than before, the A4 isn't as clean as the BMW 3-Series which uses a package of technologies called Efficient Dynamics to bring down fuel consumption and emissions to seriously impressive levels. However, Audi does have an automatic start-stop system (on 2.0 TDI and 2.0 TFSI models) to help lower emissions and improve fuel economy.

Find the exact engine and CO2