High mileage perils, differentiating automatics; clueless newbie questions.

[micahaudi]

Hi. I am looking at the A6 Avant as my next car. I have done some research and have already answered a lot of my *really* clueless newbie questions…

Crucially, my budget is only £2500. This means that I’m looking at 2005 – 2010 C6 examples which have typically done 100k to 250k(!).
I’m looking for something on the bigger side of 2litres. Happily, I understand this means there’ll be no cambelt to worry about. I have a few other criteria which reduce the field of available cars; it’ll probably be a diesel and it’ll probably be automatic and it’s unlikely to be local.

I am new to Audis and new to automatics…

I understand Audi automatics come in two flavours; Multitronic and S-tronic and that Multitronic’s bad reputation might be mitigated if it has had regular gearbox services.

S-tronic might also benefit from regular gearbox services (depends who you ask) and S-tronic would be my preference over Multitronic given my understanding of their characters.

Please *do* challenge any of my assumptions and assertions but my intended questions are:

1. Which should I trust more at such high mileages; manual or S-tronic?

2. I'm not sure car dealers reliably differentiate S-tronic from Multitronic, how do I differentiate same from dealer’s photographs of the car’s interior? Is there a another way?

3. What are the other potential perils of such high mileage vehicles?

Many thanks in advance.

[A8Cruiser]

Hi!

mileage... that is something I never worry about. However, make sure the car has had a few (as few) owners as possible. As then they are likely to have cared for it more.
Gearboxes... that age Audi has manual, multronic (FWD only - don’t touch), S-Tronic later on I think? and tiptronic for the quattro models.
the tip boxes are usually good for many a mile, but can benefit from a fluid change - especially if the miles are up at 140k plus.

Please ignore any Multronics. Just walk away.
S-Tronics... not quite sure on them, they can go bang if people have been launching the cars a lot. Check the service history for any issues and fluid changes.
The tiptronic changes should be smooth as. Any jerks.... walk.

Hope this helps...

[herby0001]

What's the big turn off with the multitronic auto? My mechanic said that so long as it has had it auto gearbox fluid changed every 40,000 miles, it is fine, otherwise leave it alone. Maybe that is the key. Other than that, what are the problems?

My next car will be an A6 2.0TDI Special Edition S-Line, something like that, and was seriously considering the auto - I have always driven manuals, but since driving an Octavia with an auto box for a week, I loved how smooth it was. Admittedly, it was brand new and I'm guessing newer technology than a 2011 A6 auto box, but nevertheless, made me think of autos.

[Jinxit]

If I remember correctly the multitronic is essentially a CVT type gearbox with varying bands. Audi no longer do this and was short lived. It’s a very sluggish box at takeoff. I have driven some and hated it.

The S-tropic is the DSG duel clutch box that is great unless it goes wrong. Standard fit on 2L A6 TDI now. Should be reliable if serviced every 40K. I have this in my current car (86k miles with no issues) and have it ordered on my next car.

The Tiptronic is a higher torque conventional gearbox.

Someone will correct me if I’m wrong

There is no manual option on the current A6.

[KevTrem]

What's the big turn off with the multitronic auto? My mechanic said that so long as it has had it auto gearbox fluid changed every 40,000 miles, it is fine, otherwise leave it alone. Maybe that is the key. Other than that, what are the problems?

My last C7 had the Multitronic and I loved it. Great gearbox until the oil cooler died and filled the gearbox with engine coolant destroying the gearbox. A normal auto or even manual gearbox would of been fine after a flush. When working how they should a CVT gearbox is effortless to drive and great to live with daily. When they go wrong they cost lots quickly. I paid £1000 to have the gearbox flushed 3 times, new oil cooler fitted and the refilled with genuine Audi oil to find out it had destroyed the internals and needed a full rebuild at a further cost of £4000.

I had that car for 50k miles and had the gearbox serviced every 35k instead of the recommended 40k miles. I wouldn't touch another CVT.