Advice Sought A6 Engines and Multitronic

[ADBS65]

Hi, I am hoping that you will be able to advise me, as i am looking to buy my first Audi. I am looking at A6 primarily, although would not discount an A4. I currently average 10k per annum, generally communting with a few longer journeys per month thrown in. I only need to seat 5 adults on a rare occasion, usually there is only 2 of us in the car. I am looking at a 2008 model year 2.0ltr diesels with mutlitronic and around 70-80k miles. I have read about timing chain issues, which I think were on the C5 series but have been sorted now by the use of gear drive? I have also read about the hex drive to the oil pump failing, I am not so sure if this would affect the vehicles I am looking at. On this and other forums, it appears that the multitronic is OK, if you change the oil regularly, but if they go wrong they are a £4000 repair!
I know it is a lot to ask on my first post, but what would you advise. Is the 2.0ltr diesel in 2008 a solid engine and should I look to a manual gearbox and avoid the multitronic? Any other advice welcome.

Thanks
Andy

[Guest 2]

Timing chain is only on the V6 diesels on the C6.

Oil pump balance shaft still affects 2008 pre facelifts buts are at less risk of failure compared to the early models.

Have you driven a multichronic? They're not a conventional auto and personally I didn't like the one I had on loan. Gear oil every 38k religiously, if it hasn't been done walk away.

[bennettp23]

Hi, I am hoping that you will be able to advise me, as i am looking to buy my first Audi. I am looking at A6 primarily, although would not discount an A4. I currently average 10k per annum, generally communting with a few longer journeys per month thrown in. I only need to seat 5 adults on a rare occasion, usually there is only 2 of us in the car. I am looking at a 2008 model year 2.0ltr diesels with mutlitronic and around 70-80k miles. I have read about timing chain issues, which I think were on the C5 series but have been sorted now by the use of gear drive? I have also read about the hex drive to the oil pump failing, I am not so sure if this would affect the vehicles I am looking at. On this and other forums, it appears that the multitronic is OK, if you change the oil regularly, but if they go wrong they are a £4000 repair!
I know it is a lot to ask on my first post, but what would you advise. Is the 2.0ltr diesel in 2008 a solid engine and should I look to a manual gearbox and avoid the multitronic? Any other advice welcome.

Thanks
Andy

It will pay you back much if you stretch to a facelift model, most niggles fixed. Multitronic is smooth as silk.

[Rusyp]

About the Multitronic, I'm on my second car with this gearbox and I'm very happy with them. They are very smooth (the best auto's i've ever had). The thing to remember Audi has sold 100,000's of them and would not keep making them if they were all bad, as this would cost them too much in claims. Please do note though as A6_Chris says they DO require new oil every 38,000 miles......

[ADBS65]

I take it you are talking about the C7 version 2011 onwards? Or did they face lift the C6 at some point. I think the 2011 MY are out of my reach :-( I do fancy an A6 as they are very roomy, just concerned about reliability.

[Schmittster]

I've got the 2.0 170 diesel multitronic. It's the C6 facelift 2010 (60).

Pictures can be found here

I did have a few concerns when initially deciding what model to get but like you I read through plenty of forums and asked lots of questions.
As others have mentioned, the multitronic on the 2.0 is very different from any other automatic car you may have driven and takes some getting used to. I still find that initial pull away (i.e. accelerating into a gap in the traffic) slow, not because of the engine power but because the gearbox feels like it is pulling away in 2nd. Even in sport mode it takes a moment to think about it and if you are unaware then the oncoming traffic can close in quite quickly. Once aware of this you can change your driving style accordingly and the rest of the drive will be effortless and silky smooth.
My car had its oil changed by the last owner at about 36000 miles and the car now has 65000 so i'll get it done this time next year (I average about 8K/yr).

I went for the facelift version for a couple of reasons.... Firstly, because I just love the look of it. For me it just looks that little bit more than the pre-facelift. Secondly, all the issues that you mentioned above were sorted by the time they got to the facelift.

why I chose the car I did...
I was quite torn between the SE, S Line and S Line Special Edition (formally Le Mans)... I loved the spec and the look of the S Line special Edition but was unsure about the hard ride on the lowered suspension and really low profile tyres. For this reason I had an initial look at the SE, but this was brief... the looks just didn't excite me so I moved on to the S Line... this looked the part, had enough kit and would have satisfied my needs...this was until my local Audi dealership showed me the S Line Special Edition. The slightly larger wheels and increased spec did it for me. I took it for a test drive, and yes, was very aware of the hard ride but knew that It wasn't anything I couldn't get used to. I had come from a Vauxhall omega that had soft squidgy suspension but cruised the motorways gracefully so anything that was a bit more of the sporty side was going to feel harder. I bought it and haven't looked back :-)

After a year of ownership I can safely say that I still absolutely love the car.

I highly recommend trying the 2.0 multitronic to see if you like it and it may be worth trying one of the larger engined cars (2.7/3.0) with the tiptronic and see which best fits your driving style and budget.

[haysy]

I have a 2.7 with the multitronic gearbox and I love it, however I had a go in a 2.0 A4 multitronic and didn't like it at all. If you can by a v6, silky smooth and lovely to drive!