A6 C6 reliability issues

[vwhighline]

Just reading on this forum there seems to be an alarming amount of technical failures on A6's

I've had my 59 plate 2.0 tdi for 5 months now but don't enjoy the car as much as I should for the following issues;

Mild clutch judder, slight vibration at high speed, sensitive steering, slight notch in engaging third gear mostly when cold.

My previous car was a Passat 2.0 tdi highline which I took out a warranty for and in the two years I had it nothing went wrong and it felt brilliant and robust to drive. I thought that the A6 would be similar to the Passat but not so sure.

I'm a believer in over servicing the car. When I bought it from 'AC' garage they had changed the oil but I got my own mechanic to change it again to make sure it had best quality oil.

The car has done 45000. Yesterday I changed the Air Filter Element which was absolutely 'Filthy'. Service schedule recommended 57000 mile change, they must be kidding!!

So far on the car I've tinted the windows, changed the brake pads for 'Ferrodo'. Upgraded alloys to 18 inch S line. Used a Clay bar on Body work, Autoglym polish and finished of with Farecla G3 High Gloss Paste Wax.

Car looks great but concerned it may not be reliable, only time will tell!

[Guest 2]

What miles are on the car and have you had the wheels balanced//tracked?

[vwhighline]

Car has now done 45000 miles. I've had the wheels balanced and plan to get tracking done. I'm also going to change the spigot rings on the alloys.

[JimC64]

Just reading on this forum there seems to be an alarming amount of technical failures on A6's

I've had my 59 plate 2.0 tdi for 5 months now but don't enjoy the car as much as I should for the following issues;

Mild clutch judder, slight vibration at high speed, sensitive steering, slight notch in engaging third gear mostly when cold.

My previous car was a Passat 2.0 tdi highline which I took out a warranty for and in the two years I had it nothing went wrong and it felt brilliant and robust to drive. I thought that the A6 would be similar to the Passat but not so sure.

I'm a believer in over servicing the car. When I bought it from 'AC' garage they had changed the oil but I got my own mechanic to change it again to make sure it had best quality oil.

The car has done 45000. Yesterday I changed the Air Filter Element which was absolutely 'Filthy'. Service schedule recommended 57000 mile change, they must be kidding!!

So far on the car I've tinted the windows, changed the brake pads for 'Ferrodo'. Upgraded alloys to 18 inch S line. Used a Clay bar on Body work, Autoglym polish and finished of with Farecla G3 High Gloss Paste Wax.

Car looks great but concerned it may not be reliable, only time will tell!

Agreed on the above comments.

Personally having had my car from new, now 6 years old and 102k miles I love it, this is despite an unbelievable amount of issues for a brand such as Audi.
This is noted across the models and years unfortunately, so looks like an epic fail from Audi on that as far as I'm concerned.

Issues such as tandem pumps, DMF, rear light clusters, chrome window surrounds and others should be resolved quickly, one would think. Instead they seem to permeate through to the next years cars and well beyond......such a shame

[vwhighline]

Yep, problem is once you spend money on them you tend to feel obliged to continue. Had a BMW 523 years ago, spend £2500 in 3 years on it. Changed it for a 530 and in three years only replaced a front wheel bearing. Its difficult to predict but with modern cars there seems to be recurrent themes of mechanical failures. Maybe another warranty might be a good idea??

[Akash]

I think also the problem is forums can bring out the worst in cars a lot of the times.
Every manufacturer and every model they do will have their own share of problems. There are still 1000's of drivers who will not come on a forum and 1000's that do to vent/ask advice. And some get lucky. My 2007 A6 was so bad, it spent 6 out of the 9 months of ownership in the dealership before they sent it to Germany and got it scrapped. This A6 to be fair has only really had wear and tear out of warranty. Within, the gearbox went within the first 20k of it's life.

Yesterday on the M25 from the M40 (start) to the M23 (Finish), I counted no less than 17 cars with hazards on and bonnets up. None were Audi's but majority were BMWs and Fords. None had flat/buckled wheels either indicating it was engine trouble of some sort.
On the way back from Crawley, I counted a further 4 on my side - again, none were Audi's.

So back to the beginning, don't let what you read on here put you off (even if you do feel like driving it of a cliff at times as I do!)


I had some very strange stuff going on with my wheels - slight vibration at higher speeds, wouldn't track straight even though I spent a fair bit on tracking/alignment. In the end, it took an alloy wheel specialist to remove the tyres and find that one of them was no longer "round". Sure enough, alloy was fine but the tyre was shot due to some pothole no doubt. After replacing it, it's been fine

[JimC64]

That is the thing about forums Akash, you're right of course.

Most people that join, generally come to them due to an issue of sorts & looking for answers.......very few come to say how great their car is.

I like to think I've always been fair about my personal experience, from the start I have loved the car and still do, but it doesn't stop me from being honest & realistic about the faults / issues.

There are those that seem to follow marques blindly almost and won't hear a bad word said against them......that's just not real

[MarkTM]

^^^I'm one of the very few then...but admittedly only done 12k miles in 9 months of ownership.

Only a couple of things have niggled me, namely:

1) How does a modern car apparently eat brake pads/discs? My 17yr old Jag which weighs just 14% less has pads that last 40k miles and discs that have been on for over 60k with no signs of wear
2) Why are there so few aftermarket bits...e.g polybushes/sway bars etc?
3) Why did they make it such a PITA to change some components?
4) Why can't the freaking glove-box close with the push of a button


PS: OP, I'd still not drive anything else

[gupsterg]

Every manufacturer and every model they do will have their own share of problems. There are still 1000's of drivers who will not come on a forum and 1000's that do to vent/ask advice.

I agree ...IMO most people do a comparative of reliability against what they've owned as many of us can not have a fleet of vehicles...

Out of everything I've owned/immediate family nothing compares to the torment my car has put me through ...

I'm not in a bad financial position but always have bought used as depreciation is something I don't wanna have on me...

My 2007 A6 was so bad, it spent 6 out of the 9 months of ownership in the dealership before they sent it to Germany and got it scrapped.

Now you see people with warranty can let go of issues easier than those who have struggled through paying out of their own pocket and that's not just me I can link in many a thread where people have spent £1000's and are unhappy about it ...

Is modern motoring more unreliable?

This A6 to be fair has only really had wear and tear out of warranty. Within, the gearbox went within the first 20k of it's life.

A gearbox going in 20K is very poor IMO... I know a chauffeuring company owner which will not touch Audi's due to feeling they are not as reliable as other prestige brands... another acquaintance who had an A6 2.0 TDi 59 plate also had 2x gearboxes replaced under warranty...
This is the first car I've ever owned which I actually think I must set a monthly budget equal to a mortgage payment to maintain it!...

Owned since Aug 11 (70k on clock, FASH), covered 14k miles in that period, last count I had spent £6.2k ...

[Brycie]

1) How does a modern car apparently eat brake pads/discs? My 17yr old Jag which weighs just 14% less has pads that last 40k miles and discs that have been on for over 60k with no signs of wear My discs have been on for 65,000 miles since I bought it (not sure how long before that too) and don't need changing. My pads have only been changed once in that time too & are still going strong.
3) Why did they make it such a PITA to change some components? That's the same for all marques
4) Why can't the freaking glove-box close with the push of a button lol, some people are never happy. :

If it makes you feel any better lads, all cars have weaknesses their prone to & all manufacturers make a doozy from time to time. A friend of mine just bought a brand new Land Rover on a 13 plate, had the 'unveiling' at the dealership & everything. It lasted 3 days & 176 miles before going into limp mode & having to be repaired. Apparently the boost pipe to the turbo had somehow worn.