Potential new owner

[darich]

I’ve decided that after 4 years away from Audi ownership (I previously had a 2006 A4 Tfsi Q SLine SE with a remap), the time is right to return. My circumstances are such that I can now afford an A6. I really like the Black editions and have a budget of I’d guess around £22k at the most. That means that I’m probably looking at around a 13-64plate with under 40k miles. Prefer saloon but not ruling out avant.
Around 9-10k trade in and I’ll borrow the remainder. It may well be later in the year before I eventually buy one but right now I’m at the stage where I’m reading everything I can on each model, and watching and reading reviews etc.
I obviously have a few questions.

I fancy the 3.0Tdi engine but don’t need the power for anything other than vanity. I won’t be towing and the car won’t be loaded. Is the 3.0Tdi worth the extra outlay in purchase and in running costs? How much extra?
I’ve seen one or two cars with what looks like air condition controls on the centre console for the rear, but not on others. What is that?

Running costs. My annual mileage is around 8-9k miles so running costs won’t be huge. Is the service interval every 20k? Or 12 months?

Excluding any finance/debt payments, I could spend as much as £300 per month on running costs for fuel, service, insurance etc. My guess is that this will be plenty (insurance is around £300 for 3.0tdi for me)

And finally.....are there any good indy garages in Hamilton/Lanarkshire area so I can avoid dealer prices??

Apologies for the barrage of questions to start but I appreciate any advice and answers you can give.
Dave

[Elansear]

Hi I would say try to go for a facelift car as they have a very good spec and at least S-Line. Rear controls would be a FL car as it has 4 zone A/C rather than 2 zone. Try for one with the Tech package as it gives you larger screen and the option of Nav in the dashboard. I have a 2L FL which has enough power for day to day use, and £20 road tax... The only thing that is worth having with a BE is Bose, you will find S-lines with Black pack, i.e. rear windows, de-cromed but no Bose, I would go for that over a BE, but thats for me. Good hunting.

[ukgroucho]

Yes the 3.0Tdi is worth it - this has been discussed extensively so do some searches - but in summary the A6 is a big car and the 3.0 really suits it. Many people with the 204 and 245BHP units report similar fuel consumption to the old 177BHP multitronics. Certainly it seems easier to achieve closer to the factory stated MPG on the bigger engines.

Unless you're going to hunt down a manual gearbox, at the age you are looking at - pre-facelift - the 2.0 is the multitronic gearbox... Some people love 'em some don't. But they do require servicing.
The 3.0 Tdi 204 front wheel drive was also the multi box... For the 3.0 Tdi 204 engine the "exception" is the allroad - they are quattro and s-Tronic.
The 245BHP 3.0Tdi is quattro and s-Tronic. The 313BHP BiTdi is conventional auto box (Tiptronic ZF unit).

Standard spec at the age you are looking at is 2-zone climate control - you have 2 dials in the dashboard that you can use to adjust zircon temp etc. on the left or right side of the car. If there are adjusters in the rear it has been upgraded to 4 zone climate. You also get the digital temp readouts in the front as part of that and (apparently) the aircon is a bit more effective. Some folks with 2 zone complained that it was not as effective as the 2 zone they had in their C6 generation cars. The 4 zone in my car is at least as good as what I had in my C6.

If you are only doing 8 or 9k a year then I would say go for the fixed service interval rather than variable as you probably do quite a few short trips. It will be around every 9.5k miles - so once a year or so. The variable is unlikely to stretch to anywhere near 18k unless your 8 - 9k miles consists of lots of long trips and I would not want to leave old oil in the car for extended periods.

[darich]

Hi I would say try to go for a facelift car as they have a very good spec and at least S-Line. Rear controls would be a FL car as it has 4 zone A/C rather than 2 zone. Try for one with the Tech package as it gives you larger screen and the option of Nav in the dashboard. I have a 2L FL which has enough power for day to day use, and £20 road tax... The only thing that is worth having with a BE is Bose, you will find S-lines with Black pack, i.e. rear windows, de-cromed but no Bose, I would go for that over a BE, but thats for me. Good hunting.
Thanks.
S line is min spec I want.
I've seen a couple with the ambient lighting which looks and sounds great.
May well be after summer but I enjoy reading and researching. Might stretch to a 15 plate if it's after summer.

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[darich]

UKgroucho....thanks.
My commute is about 11miles each way with about 90% at 55mph or more so there aren't many short trips.
Advice on 3.0 is good so thanks....I'd also want quattro having had it before. Awesome in winter....wouldn't not have it again.
The 300bhp diesel is probably a little out of reach. But the 245bhp v6 isn't.
I'll check the boxes that in cars I see....and keep the servicing in mind.

There used to be a vwaudi indy at Bothwell but it looks like the website is down so I think that may have closed.


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[darich]

UKgroucho.....reading your post then....the 3.0tdi with 245bhp and s tronic gearbox.....is that maintenance free? Or do the s tronic boxes need servicing too?
That is probably my preferred drive train...3.0 v6 tdi with quattro and see tronic. Never driven an auto before but I'm sure it's a great set up.

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[darich]

Ok....quick Google...s tronic is serviced every 38k miles. Handy to know if the one I'm looking at
Is approaching that mileage. 🖒

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[Tendaimwari]

You may struggle to find a FL 3.0tdi that ticks all your boxes, especially price vs mielage. If you go S-Tronic make sure it has been serviced regularly and on time.

[darich]

You may struggle to find a FL 3.0tdi that ticks all your boxes, especially price vs mielage. If you go S-Tronic make sure it has been serviced regularly and on time.
Thanks. It may be later in the year giving me more money and the car a bit less value so by end of summer I maybe could.
You're right about s tronic. I may even use upcoming service as a bargaining point....but many of the cars at the age I'm looking..ie up to about 4 years old.....are approved used.
I'll keep s tronic servicing in mind though 🖒

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[A6ian]

I’ve decided that after 4 years away from Audi ownership (I previously had a 2006 A4 Tfsi Q SLine SE with a remap), the time is right to return. My circumstances are such that I can now afford an A6. I really like the Black editions and have a budget of I’d guess around £22k at the most. That means that I’m probably looking at around a 13-64plate with under 40k miles. Prefer saloon but not ruling out avant.
Around 9-10k trade in and I’ll borrow the remainder. It may well be later in the year before I eventually buy one but right now I’m at the stage where I’m reading everything I can on each model, and watching and reading reviews etc.
I obviously have a few questions.

I fancy the 3.0Tdi engine but don’t need the power for anything other than vanity. I won’t be towing and the car won’t be loaded. Is the 3.0Tdi worth the extra outlay in purchase and in running costs? How much extra?
I’ve seen one or two cars with what looks like air condition controls on the centre console for the rear, but not on others. What is that?

Running costs. My annual mileage is around 8-9k miles so running costs won’t be huge. Is the service interval every 20k? Or 12 months?

Excluding any finance/debt payments, I could spend as much as £300 per month on running costs for fuel, service, insurance etc. My guess is that this will be plenty (insurance is around £300 for 3.0tdi for me)

And finally.....are there any good indy garages in Hamilton/Lanarkshire area so I can avoid dealer prices??

Apologies for the barrage of questions to start but I appreciate any advice and answers you can give.
Dave

If you really like the Black Editions, among other things it's mainly the look, the wheels, the black out stuff etc that draw you to it. I personally would chose this before the 3ltr etc. but if you can stretch to the 3 ltr it's not just vanity, have a drive in one if you haven't already, it changes the driving experience. And not that much more expensive to run, £300 insurance is not a lot. The ride comfort on the 20in wheels is really not that bad. The piano black inserts in the interior add extra class, just need to look after it, even if it does get light scratches they polish out. Service is normally 19000 miles or 2 yrs. Tyres for quattro need to be considered, they wont last as long as 2wd will, that being said mine lasted 19000 miles and cost me £470 for 4 Avons, and they're better than OEM Yokahamas.. My previous 2wd 2.0 BE lasted 24000 for the front and maybe another 5k for the rears, I didn't change them before I swapped.

Of course, a lot of this is subjective, but if you, like me, like the look of BE there's a reason and nothing else will be as good.

[darich]

Yep...I totally agree on the outlook that nothing else will be as good. I had an A4 Sline before so would be ok with another but I do like the styling of the Black Editions.

All I need to do now is find a decent indy nearby and then start pulling money together so I can make a purchase later in the year.

[Scott K]

If you like the saloon it's worth looking at the A8. About the same size and better spec as standard.

[darich]

If you like the saloon it's worth looking at the A8. About the same size and better spec as standard.

Thanks Scott.

I had a look. Not sure about the size being similar but the styling isn't quite to my taste until about 2015...and that's then too expensive for me :)

[darich]

I wondered if anyone could give me an idea on monthly running costs?

Mileage wise I'll be doing around 10k per year so I'm guessing around one and a half tanks of fuel per month, a service every 19k miles would be almost every 2 years (approx £300 per service?). Insurance, around £350 and tax around £150.
Does this sound reasonable?

[Scott K]

Depends on the gearbox. S tronic needs a service every 38k so that service will be about £700. Also a sunroof adds costs to servicing. You go onto fixed price service costs after 3 years and those costs are all on the Audi site. At 3 years you will have mot and brake fluid change. Set of tyres every 2 years as well (depending on driving style, type of tyres, size).

[darich]

Depends on the gearbox. S tronic needs a service every 38k so that service will be about £700. Also a sunroof adds costs to servicing. You go onto fixed price service costs after 3 years and those costs are all on the Audi site. At 3 years you will have mot and brake fluid change. Set of tyres every 2 years as well (depending on driving style, type of tyres, size).

Thanks Scott.
I had no idea on the price of S Tronic servicing so did a search. Sytner Audi do S Tronic oil and filter change for £175. Audi site says £225. Thank god for that...£700 would've been a deal breaker I think! lol
MOT and brake fluid I can handle....tyres...yeah...probably every couple of years.

I also found an indy garage in north of Glasgow which seems to be ok although I've never used it. Reviews seem fairly positive so I could use there and the costs would be less than Audi dealer.

[darich]

Another question.....

I see some models are listed as 204bhp, some as 245bhp and some as 272bhp.
Why is there a difference? Is it dependent on the year? or something else?

[A6ian]

Another question.....

I see some models are listed as 204bhp, some as 245bhp and some as 272bhp.
Why is there a difference? Is it dependent on the year? or something else?

They changed in 2015 at same time as face lift:
204 - 218 PS
245 - 272 PS
313 - 320 PS

BTW, think Scott K meant that service would be £700 including 38k service/oil change and 38k gearbox service.

[darich]

They changed in 2015 at same time as face lift:
204 - 218 PS
245 - 272 PS
313 - 320 PS

BTW, think Scott K meant that service would be £700 including 38k service/oil change and 38k gearbox service.

Cheers Ian....that price for the engine service too makes more sense.

And thanks for the info on engine power

[Scott K]

Thanks Scott.
I had no idea on the price of S Tronic servicing so did a search. Sytner Audi do S Tronic oil and filter change for £175. Audi site says £225. Thank god for that...£700 would've been a deal breaker I think! lol
MOT and brake fluid I can handle....tyres...yeah...probably every couple of years.

I also found an indy garage in north of Glasgow which seems to be ok although I've never used it. Reviews seem fairly positive so I could use there and the costs would be less than Audi dealer.

Didn't mean to scare you, I meant the total cost for the major service including the s tronic would be about £700!! For you it would only be about every 4 years so not too bad.

[darich]

Cheers Scott.
S tronic service at around £225 is ok...could even stagger that so it's not at same time as service.

The more I look at the 3.0 black editions the more I want one!! Lol

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[Scott K]

The BE are nice and the BOSE sound is great. The thing I didn't like about the BE was the 20" rotors. For my mileage it was a big expense for tyres and the ride wasn't so good.

[ukgroucho]

They changed in 2015 at same time as face lift:
204 - 218 PS
245 - 272 PS
313 - 320 PS

The other point to note is that when the 204 got it's facelift and went to 218 it also go s-Tronic instead of Multitronic... you can still get FWD or quattro versions I think.

[darich]

The other point to note is that when the 204 got it's facelift and went to 218 it also go s-Tronic instead of Multitronic... you can still get FWD or quattro versions I think.
Looking at adverts it looks like you can get fwd and even manual versions....but not 3.0 with fwd....3.0 is quattro only although a few are manual.

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[ukgroucho]

The 218 was certainly available without quattro initially (after the FL) but I don't know how many people would order that spec....