Buy advice requested - A6 Allroad 2.5 TDi or Quattro Avant

Hi folks - I'm relatively new to this forum & I'm seeking some guidance on buying an A6 Allroad 2.5 TDi Tiptronic or a more standard A6 Avant Quattro. We've already got a Mk4 Golf GTi & I've previously had a 2004 A4 Avant 1.8T Multitronic, so I'm reasonably familiar with the respective brands.

I commute 90 miles a day on A roads & am currently driving a 2002 Volvo V70 D5 which averages 40+ mpg & generally seems to drive very well. Where I work in Basingstoke seems to be the snow-capital of the south of England & I'm looking to get a decent sized estate car with 4 wheel drive that will cope with more that the lightest flurry of snow (unlike certain rear wheel drive German cars that are stranded in the car park :p).

There are a few Allroads on the market now for between £5K & £7 which seem to be quite good value, but I have concerns about the suspension problems I have read about on the forum. I don't really need the extra ground clearance that the Allroad provides, but I think the overall package would be more practical.

My other option is a Avant Quattro which would probably be just as good on the road, but maybe is not as 'funky'.

Has anyone got any advice on buying & running either of these two cars, or things that I should be aware of? For example, a regular 12K mile service on the Volvo costs £250 at an indendant specialist - would I expect to pay more for an Audi? Should the Multitronic gearbox be avoided? On my A4 it needed a new 'box after 18K miles as the control electronics & sensors failed.

Any assistance would be very much appreciated.

Thanks

Simon

ive had a '99 V plate A6 Avant quattro 2.5 tdi for 18 months now and its a great car. its auto/tiptronic with steering wheel buttons which i really like.
fuel economy is approx 30mpg round town and ive had low 40's on a run to Scotland fully loaded for holiday.

its not an allroad but it does work well as a family buss and only really loses out to the allroad on ground clearance

i had the infamous low temp reading due to knacked thermostat when i got the car, this hampered the alreadey lowish mpg.
i had the hole cambelt (needs to come off to do the 'stat really) and associated items changed including the 'stat and the temp was sorted.

its a great car to live with and although mine is 10 year old i think lots of modern cars today woudl be happy with a cabin as nice as this one is.

as for the recent snow, ive found the car great for straight line traction up hill and round country lanes etc. cornering in snow cant really be done too fast as your still trying to change the direction of 1.7 tone of metal! but it is good.
only lost the backend once on terrible black ice, managed to keep hold of it but it did slip a fair way out......show me a car on normal tyres that can cope with black ice, quattro or no quattro.

all in i love the car and feel pretty much hooked on audi quattro's, however with our volvo XC90 family wagon i feel a downsize coming up, maybe an A3 quattro with DSG...similar ingredients as the current a6 but smaller body.

as for what ot look for im no expert but there are some horror stoys on here about cam wear and stuff but as with any car tere are common problems. hopefully FSH will help back up your faith in a car.

my cambelt and associated items cost about £540 all in so factor that into the price, either knock it off and have it done yourself or find a car thats had it done recently

enjoy, i certainly am.

Obviously you know about the air suspension problems on Allroads. That doesn't mean they aren't reliable, in fact I know a fool who is continuing to run his Allroad with a faulty air bag. He obviously didn't listen to me when I told him he'll only make it worse as the compressor will work overtime and that will soon die, taking a £400 repair job up to one more like £1k. His problem anyway.

I'd avoid the Multitronic on the C5 generation A6, it seems like it was an excellent design possibly rushed out before it was ready. It's a common failure on the C5, but doesn't seem to be so unreliable on the new 4F A6s... sounds like Audi may have perfected it on the new shape.

If you use the search box and read up for A6 advice and common problems you'll find all you need to know. In my experience if they're serviced regularly (every 10k) using genuine parts they can run a long, long time.

Hi, I am new to this forum and I have just bought a 2002 52 reg A4 2,5tdi qhattro sport Auto Tiptronic. This car is fab and grips really well in snow. I am now wanting to buy the same car but manual as my wife cant get on with the auto box. My car is silver and was a one owner before me and has FSH with 70344 miles on the clock. Anyone interested can buy it for £7950 as this is what Audi have offered me trade in. Please call 07976 833798 Leeds based. It has 10 months test and 10 months Audi full warranty etc.