New member. Thinking of buying my 1st ever Audi.

[Toni Hughes]

Hello Audi peeps.

So I've spend the last two evenings trawling through approx 30 pages of A6 posts as I'm thinking of buying one. I'm the kind of person who's obsessive about researching any major purchases, so this site has been great. Really enjoyed reading through the A6 C6 section.

I was hoping that you guys could give me ANY info, good or bad, that would help me decide. I also have a few questions that you could clear up for me. :)


A really good friend of mine for 25yrs, a mechanic, bought this car about 1 month ago for £5000. The guy he got it from is in the trade, and a friend of his, so he got it for trade price (he gets company lease vehicles before they go to auction).


Now, the thing is, the same guy has now offered him a newer A5 which he really wants, so he said that I can buy his A6 car from him for what he got it for (£5000).


The car is absolutely mint, and I do mean mint.; If you looked at it and drove it, you'd never know it from a brand new car. Even the leather seats look like they've never been sat on. It's just had a full service and and new cambelt fitted (genuine Audi parts). The inside of both exhausts are shiny steel, spotless, which I guess is testament to how clean the engine runs.


The thing is though, I don't want to be buying a car that's a money pit, expensive repair bills over the coming years.


How reliable are these cars at that sort of mileage? Is the auto box still strong at that mileage? As it's just done 140,000 miles, it is due a transmission fluid change, but I plan to get this done if I buy it. (every 70,000 so I believe?)


Audi A6 SE-E
59 plate
Multimedia pack, inc satnav. (which MMI is this? it has a colour screen, 2 SD card slots and a 6cd changer)
140,000 miles
2.0 deisel, 130ish bhp (which engine is this?)
7speed automatic, with flappypaddle gears. (which gearbox is this? CVT?)


Waddya reckon? I know it's a great price, but could be expensive if something went wrong.


Now I know that ANY car could go wrong at any time, it's always a gamble, but I know there are many C6 owners on here, so was looking at opinions on how reliable these are. What should I look out for? Does this car have any common faults?

I've been out in it a couple of times. The engine starts on the 1st turn, the auto box is silky smooth, not a single knock, rattle or squeak from anywhere.


I plan to keep the car for at least 5yrs, will be a 2nd car, so only be doing around 4000 miles per year.

[brummieboy]

I have been the same in researching my cars - you have my sympathy!

I have owned a 2005 2.0TDI manual A4 and now a 3.0TDI A6. My view is:

2.0TDI under powered for big A6.
Multitronic is said to be unreliable. Also means its not Quattro (that would be tiptronic which is good).

But, if the car suits your needs, you like it and its a deal - what do I know!

[Toni Hughes]

Thanks Brum :)

So the 7speed auto box with flappy-paddle is the Multitronic...yes?

To be honest, I'm not really interested in power/speed, more interested in economy. I've been out in it a few times, and it seems to pull well enough, enough for a 40+ year old anyway. My boy-racer days are well behind me :)

[Guest 2]

Welcome to VWAF

First off, if you're only doing 4k a year, don't buy a diesel.

High miles are fine as long as it's been meticulously looked after. Multitronic (on fwd autos) needs its fluid changed every 38k, so if this has not been done, or has been done late then walk away.

Does the MMI have a joystick within the main mmi knob? If so, its the HDD version, if not its DVD and really for a car you're barely going to drive (again diesels wont like this nor will the DPF which you can't remove!!) you'll not notice the difference between the two.

Don't buy it unless you're going to use it more, the higher price of diesel you won't benefit from the mileage.

[santiago]

If you are looking for economy the 2.0 diesel is ideal. It has plenty of power and my manual version gives me over 50mpg.

[Toni Hughes]

Hi Chris. Thanks for the welcome :)

I know what you're saying about not buying a diesel for low miles, but it won't be doing many short trips, mainly longer trips, 40 miles+, just not very often.

Not sure about the joystick within the joystick, will take a look next time.

If the DPF causes me any problems, I'll just bypass it. It's not a problem. I know it's a recent 2014 MOT requirement, but I know a guy who knows a guy ;)

I normally wouldn't consider a diesel for low mileage, but a mint 2010 A6 for £5000 is very tempting.

[Guest 2]

Hi Chris. Thanks for the welcome :)

I know what you're saying about not buying a diesel for low miles, but it won't be doing many short trips, mainly longer trips, 40 miles+, just not very often.

Not sure about the joystick within the joystick, will take a look next time.

If the DPF causes me any problems, I'll just bypass it. It's not a problem. I know it's a recent 2014 MOT requirement, but I know a guy who knows a guy ;)

I normally wouldn't consider a diesel for low mileage, but a mint 2010 A6 for £5000 is very tempting.

If doing long journeys you should be fine, diesels, dpfs and autos don't like short journeys.

You may know a a guy who knows a guy but that to me is saying he's not following the MOT rules :)

You can check all the spec from Audi along with SH by ringing 0800 699 888 and Customer Services will tell you anything you need about the car.

[Toni Hughes]

Thanks for the comments so far chaps. :flowers1:

So what are the things to look out for with this car? Any common faults?

[dan2485]

Rear windscreen can need replacing for radio interferance when demist is on (only in cold conditions) so in the winter you could be looking at £370 to replace the screen.

The clean exhaust is due to the DPF not how clean the engine runs as if blocked then this will require a regen or replacement (more to do with low mileage journeys).

As for the power issue the AUTO is supposed to have less power than the manual, i have a manaul and its fine unless to are wanting to tow a horsebox/caravan.

If your guy who can do dodgy things regarding the MOT maybe he can sell you a dodgy car?

[Guest 2]

Have a look at previous 'new owner' threads, it's all been done before :p

[Toni Hughes]

If your guy who can do dodgy things regarding the MOT maybe he can sell you a dodgy car?

If it was the same person, I would totally agree with you, but the guy I'm buying the car from doesn't do MOTs.

[man le-mans]

For that money it's cheap. Look around what 5k gets you and it won't get you that even with tho's miles
The auto box was all sorted by that year anyway but as chris said 4k a year isn't a lot of miles for a Diesel engine and they should be used ideally on longer trips. Anything you buy is a gamble tho like you pointed out even with cars with half that miles.
if it's that good let me know if you don't buy it and I will