Audi A6 Avant or Audi A6 All road?

[mrnice.]

Hi,

Im expecting baby number 4 this summer and so need a bigger vehicle, Ive just sold my lovely little 51 plate VW Golf GT TDI and am currently looking at Audi A6 Quattro Avant and the Audi A6 Allroad. I have a budget of up to about £5500 but less would be better (£4500).

I like both of these cars but TBH seem to be swaying towards the Allroad, so I was wondering what the common faults and things to watch out for are when looking at purchasing? Ive done a search but unfortunately didnt find much sorry.

Ive been told by a mechanic friend that the allroad has a more reliable autobox and that the suspension compressor seems to go about every 4 years and costs around £400 to buy.

Any advice would be greatly apreciated as Im very new to all this.

Cheers

[vinpetrol]

Hi Mr Nice
I have had a 2003 2.5 TDI allroad for just over a year now and I am very impressed with it. I dont use mine as main car though I have a more economical A4 for that. The allroad is an Auto it is the first car I have owned with an auto box and by all accounts the box seems to be very reliable.
I use mine for occasional use towing caravan and winter driving. I can honestly say it is the nicest car I have had to drive and it feels roomy and comfortable on a long run. It is quite thirsty though. mine will return low thirties on a run when driving economically but probably averages 27 -28 .
When towing I need to remember the caravan is there because it pulls effortlessly but does get thirstier as low as 21 mpg. I intend to look into this though as mine seems to be a little thirstier than most on the Forum.
The suspension can be troublesome and expensive. You are correct about the compressor and also the airbags but there is a lot of great advice on here that will make it easier if you do go for one . Also a member is currently working on producing a refurb kit for compressors which should help keep the repair costs of these down. If you find one you like check the history carefully and see how many of these parts if any have already been replaced.
Summing up I would say your budget is realistic but budget for some repairs. hope this helps

Vin

[adamss24]

As above, the a6 is a good car but the allroad is in another league. I use mine for towing primarily and it does it brilliantly ! It does not handle as good as my a6 tdi quattro (bit hardcore with 300 Bhp and full sports suspension) but it tows better and it's more practical with the air suspension. No matter what you get, don't expect mpg wonders as the car is heavy 1700 Kg + for the avant and nearly 2 tonnes for the allroad.
£4500 will get you a tidy one, best look for post 2003 cam rollers models (BDG/BDH engines) as they don't have the same cam wear issues as the early AKE ones. Also there's a lower powered BDG/163 Bhp model which is underpowered but has slightly better fuel economy if driven like miss daisy ! Manual gearbox is a must, however the boxes on the quattro models are fairly reliable but can still go wrong.
Suspension is the main issue, check all 4 corners for sagging (go and see it after been left overnight) and for noisy, over- running compressor. Also rear shocks are known to go on cars fitted with a towbar as they most likely to be use for heavy work. Rear shocks are only available from dealer and cost 185 quid each !
Knocking from front suspension is also common but very expensive to put right. Lower suspension arms are dealer only items and cost £180 each- they are 4 of ! Top suspension arms are the same across the range. The suspension for a6 quattro is much cheaper with Lemforder (OEM) arms selling for £85 in Euro Car Parts !
Look for the best spec you can afford/buy and you won't look back. Cabin is rattle free and everything works even on very high mileage motors.
I have fitted mine with aftermarket Bosio nozzles, Turbo Dynamics hybrid turbo and a custom remap, goes really well and the fuel economy improved by 2L per 100Km brim to brim calculations. I also fitted audi rs6 rear antiroll bar, front H&R antiroll bar with poly bushes, solid track rod ends and a full ABT cat back exhaust- whisper quiet at high revs but has a nice growl at tick over. I have rebuilt the engine last year and ported the heads at the same time.
RS4 B7 front brakes with 8 pot calipers and 20" alloys from audi s8 all round. Needs color codding now and it will look wicked when it's finished !
Other mods are ABT front grille and rs6 avant rear spoiler- not fitted yet... Here's how it should look one day !




















Here it's in the last year snow- no drama:

[Kyojitsu]

With 4 kids won't you need a seven seater?? There are aftermarket seven seat conversions with two rear facing seats for the boot - mine came with the seats but I have no use for them and they sit in my storage unit as I haven't got round to flogging them.

From a practical point of view the boot size and interior space is identical on each car - it's very roomy and with seats down you can carry tons of stuff. Seats are a bit different on the Allroad. The main difference is suspension and on the Allroad the air suspension gives a very plush ride. It's one of the best riding cars this side of a Range Rover and has a slightly raised driving position. If you do take a look at an Allroad you absolutely must test the suspension works on all four settings - the control buttons are just to the left of the steering wheel on the dash above the stereo. The car should be level laterally and longitudinally and its 'natural' position is Level 2 (Level 1 being the lowest). If wonky or uneven walk away. The car should find each level within around 20-30secs and the compressor sound shouldn't be too noticeable. You'll find it won't raise equally - usually back end first, then the front catches up! The dashboard green lights stop flashing when the level is reached. If you see a little yellow car symbol with an up/down arrow on on the instrument panel - walk away as there's a fault. If it takes forever to change level the compressor is probably ******* or there's a leak.

It handles ok but you'll find the Avant a bit sharper if that's important to you. Interior fit and finish is excellent and I agree they don't rattle or fall apart. I haven't used mine for towing but the Allroad should come with a tow hook that detaches and stores in the spare wheel well.

I'd say the economy would be similar on both cars - possibly less on the Allroad due to ride height and extra frontal area. I get around 34mpg from mostly motorway miles and I don't cane the car. It's a Tiptronic auto which I really rate. You'll get better mpg with a manual but they're rarer.

Finally go for as late a model as you can afford and don't be put off by high mileages provided the cam belts have been changed at 80k intervals and there's a solid service history.

[Phutters]

I haven't used mine for towing but the Allroad should come with a tow hook that detaches and stores in the spare wheel well.

When I ordered mine, I wasn't anticipating needing to tow anything so I didn't order it with the detachable towball option, for that's what it was in 2004.

An option.

As a consequence I had to dig deep to find enough arms and legs to fill the store cupboard in a prosthetics ward when I did need to get a towball fitted, starting with the special bumper reinforcement piece that needed to be fitted instead of the standard bumper reinforcement piece.

You really would have thought that out of all the cars Audi made at the time, the allroad was the one which should have come with a towball as standard.

It's probably that dumpy little Kraut Angela Merkel's fault.

In light of subsequent experiences, I'd have cheerfully de-specified the electric seat up-and-down thing and swapped it for a hitch. I've only ever used the electric seat up-and-down thing once, and that was to enable me to see over the steering wheel the first time I got in. In the intervening years I've become neither taller nor shorter, so it really is a luxury in every sense of the word, and as it happens, Mrs Phutters is exactly the same height as me so she doesn't use it either.

The car is indeed a brilliant tool for towing, though.

And one last thing. I've been getting 36.4 mpg over the last 1200 miles.

Good, innit?

[allan_audi]

When I ordered mine, I wasn't anticipating needing to tow anything so I didn't order it with the detachable towball option, for that's what it was in 2004.

An option......

I can confirm that the tow hitch is indeed an option. I had to dig deep into pockets too... for the £400-500 needed to fit the Westfalia OEM tow hitch, it was discounted too....

[mrnice.]

Cheers for the great well informed replies gents,

adamss24: Deep dish alloys, performance mods and quad exhausts, I think we will have a lot in common I have a lot to discuss with you as and when my pocket allows

vinpetrol: I saw the refurb kits hopefully they will save a lot of people a lot of money in the future, I was hoping MPG would be higher but at the same time I appreciate its not a small car, but compared to the V8 Landy or the brick shaped caravelle hopefully my pocket will be slightly better off, the VW touran would probably be the more sensible choice but its a people carrier and TBH Ive never really used "sensible" when Ive chosen my vehicles, smiles per gallon not miles per gallon is my motto! That said the more I save on fuel the more I have to spend on toys for my new toy.

Kyojitsu: yes you are right I will need a seven seater (technically 6) hence the reason Im looking at the Allroad and A6 Quattro Avant, Do they not do the 7 seat option in the Quattro Avant? I briefly looked into doing the 7 seat conversion as it would give me more choice when shopping for one (buy a 5 and convert myself) but was under the assumption that it was a lot of cost and hassle + changing V5 etc. My Landy is 7 seats but very thirsty, we were reluctantly going to get a VW Touran as we thought they were the least people carrierery of the people carriers but then I convinced Mrsnice that a longnose VW caravelle would be a better (cooler) choice, she then stumbles across 7 seat A6s so here we are. It will be the mrs driving mainly and with the kids Im way past my boy racer days so Im not looking for a rocket.

Phutters: I have my Landy for towing and I will possibly go for one that hasnt been used for towing as I usually find it has put more strain on the drivetrain and other componants but at the same time its always handy to have a towbar.

allan_audi: Thanks for letting me know it was an option, at that kind of price if it hasnt got one I wont be buying one lol.

My situation is this: Ive always had nice fast cars that I have loved, that is until I started to have a small family and I had to replace coupes/hot hatches etc with 5 doors with lots of boot space hence the Disco, we have then also had a daily driver (such as my 51 plate VW Golf GT TDI) to help with fuel costs but sadly now a 5 seat car is no longer an option. So Im looking for a nice compromise: Reliable, must seat at least 6, must not be too thirsty/expensive to buy/service/maintain, must let me hold onto some street cred lol. Im keeping the Land Rover and also have a 2010 Ford Transit Jumbo (both with tow bars) so carting things about is no problem.

Ive only driven an auto once and didnt like (I suppose its what you are used to) but talking to a mechanic friend who has an auto Allroad he has said that the manual boxes seem to develop more issues (poss due to the low range?) and that once I drive the auto I will never look back.

I do almost all the work on my disco myself (and my other cars) and would like it to be the same with my next purchase, I do understand the Allroad is a much more complicated machine than my primative beast but for anything i cant do l have a friend who is a pro mechanic who also owns a 2.5 TDI Allroad and all the tools/diagnostics to help me - but at the end of the day he will charge me as he has a business to run.

Im still learning so any more info is still greatly appreciated.

[adamss24]

I would recommend you keep looking for a Caravele or a multivan as it's a more reliable engine than the v6 although not as smooth...especially as you're looking to seat 6 !

[mrnice.]

Hi and thanks for your reply, sorry its been a while Ive been Soooooooo busy! Perhaps I should explain my situation a little better, whereas I do nearly have 4 children (ages 3, 5, 10 and another due July) one is from a previous relationship (10) and as such doesnt spend all his time with us. We dont do mega miles (mainly school runs weekly shop, visiting friends locally) very rarely are all 6 of us in a single vehicle at any one time and if so only for small journeys (THB its mainly the Mrs and the little 3 ones that will be using it) but still the option of the 6 seats is important to me "just in case".

Ive spoken to someone I know who owns one of these vehicles and had a good drive in it (auto and I liked!) and as he knows me and my lifestyle and needs he agrees this will suit me fine for my purposes, and if not hey I can always sell it, its not like having a tattoo.

So im off to see one tomorrow, 2002 Auto 2.5 TDI 7 seater, its very tidy and has loads of the factory extras fitted: Heated front seats, Digital climate AC, Navigation Plus,cruise control, Front and rear parking sensors, Alloy wheels with 4 new tyres, Xenon headlights, Sunblinds, 6 CD changer, Adjustable suspension, Walnut dash trims, Electric & heated door mirrors, Leather steering wheel, on board computer. Full service history with lots of paperwork. Recent new battery, new rear brake pads and discs, major long-life service 30/11/11. MOT til March 2013, taxed until end Feb 2013, 120K 2 former owners, Ive asked about the suspension etc and he says all is good, full service history and as part of the deal hes having the cam belt done on it before we take it.

So I now have a list of things to look out for but obviously the more the better as funds will be tight and I will not be able to afford to sort unseen faults for some time so any more info still greatly appreciated.

So fingers crossed fellas.