Planning to buy A6 S-line 2009-2010 2.0TDI

[hufodorp]

Hi all,

I'm planning to buy an A6 or A4 (haven't completely decided yet but my heart goes for A6). I have never owned Audi before so I am looking for some help and advise to what to check or look out for. Also would like to get some opinion on the car.

My main choice would be 2009 or 2010 A6 S-Line 2.0TDI (would like to get 170BHP) Automatic.

I have some questions:
-I have a friend who has an A6 2012 which got big problem with the automatic gearbox and needed to replace the transmission completely. Should I stay away from automatic or what to watch out for?
-I have heard that these 2.0TDI engines had a flaw with the oil pump which had a drive shaft issue. When the oil pump became a problem it did not provide enough oil pressure causing big damage to turbo and engine. Is this true and if yes which models and years are affected? Is there any way to find out if the engine in the car what I will want to buy had got this damage already?
-Should I stay away from high mileage sales? If yes what would be the max that should be still OK to buy?
-Are there any problems with these cars what I should be aware of?
-Is A6 a better choice for me or should I consider the A4? (I mean is there any difference other than the size?) Does A6 have more extras etc.? (this might be a stupid question but please forgive me as I don't know too much about these cars!)


Thank you for all the advices in advance,
Regards,
Pal

[johnsimcox]

Hi all,

I'm planning to buy an A6 or A4 (haven't completely decided yet but my heart goes for A6). I have never owned Audi before so I am looking for some help and advise to what to check or look out for. Also would like to get some opinion on the car.

My main choice would be 2009 or 2010 A6 S-Line 2.0TDI (would like to get 170BHP) Automatic.

I have some questions:
-I have a friend who has an A6 2012 which got big problem with the automatic gearbox and needed to replace the transmission completely. Should I stay away from automatic or what to watch out for?
-I have heard that these 2.0TDI engines had a flaw with the oil pump which had a drive shaft issue. When the oil pump became a problem it did not provide enough oil pressure causing big damage to turbo and engine. Is this true and if yes which models and years are affected? Is there any way to find out if the engine in the car what I will want to buy had got this damage already?
-Should I stay away from high mileage sales? If yes what would be the max that should be still OK to buy?
-Are there any problems with these cars what I should be aware of?
-Is A6 a better choice for me or should I consider the A4? (I mean is there any difference other than the size?) Does A6 have more extras etc.? (this might be a stupid question but please forgive me as I don't know too much about these cars!)


Thank you for all the advices in advance,
Regards,
Pal

On a 2.0 it is the Multitronic box. These are fairly reliable as long as you stick religiously to the fluid change at every 40k miles. Your friend has probably been unlucky. On any car you look at make sure there is clear evidence this has been done. If not walk away. With the auto there is no point in getting a TDie as there is no CO2 benefit, in fact you will probably struggle to find an auto with the TDie engine for that reason.

The oil pump issue relates to the previous engine that was dropped with the facelift (basically any car 2008 or earlier although there will be a few very late 2008 that are facelift). facelift on an S-Line is easy to spot as they will have BiXenon headlights with LED DRLs, pre-facelift have single Xenon with halogen main beam and if DRLs are fitted they are part of the main beam unit.

High mileage should be OK providing it has a perfect service history. you may want to look for one that has followed the fixed service interval rather than variable but with a high mileage it is more likely that the PO will have gone down the variable route. Anything upto 100k (given that you are looking at 4-5 year old car) should be fine. Make sure it has the cam belt changed and the water pump (should be done at 4 years/80kmiles although Audi kept changing the recommended interval)

On a facelift car there are no real problems to look for, all of the issues regarding water getting into the MMI and bluetooth units on the Avant were resolved in the facelift.

Almost all Facelift cars will have either the DVD or hard disk based sat nav, I think by 2010 the DVD system was standard across the range. In 2009 it was only initially standard on the TDie. The HDD version is identified by a small joystick type device on the MMI controller. Either system is not brilliant (only takes 5 digit postcode for instance and the map updates need to be done by the dealer unless you wish to chance your luck with an online source) and a TomTom is better and cheaper to run. At that age a Le Mans spec (later called Special Edition) might also be possible. This was the S-Line with heated front seats, rear parking sensors (almost essential on this car due to its size and even better with front as well) and 19" wheels.

Personally I would go for the A6 because of the space, if that is not an issue then your budget may get you a newer A4. The specs were broadly similar although full MMI was only included on the A4 if you took the sat nav option

Edit: Just realised you are in Ireland so the specs will be different from the UK, however the basic mechanical issues still hold true.

[hufodorp]

On a 2.0 it is the Multitronic box. These are fairly reliable as long as you stick religiously to the fluid change at every 40k miles. Your friend has probably been unlucky. On any car you look at make sure there is clear evidence this has been done. If not walk away. With the auto there is no point in getting a TDie as there is no CO2 benefit, in fact you will probably struggle to find an auto with the TDie engine for that reason.

The oil pump issue relates to the previous engine that was dropped with the facelift (basically any car 2008 or earlier although there will be a few very late 2008 that are facelift). facelift on an S-Line is easy to spot as they will have BiXenon headlights with LED DRLs, pre-facelift have single Xenon with halogen main beam and if DRLs are fitted they are part of the main beam unit.

High mileage should be OK providing it has a perfect service history. you may want to look for one that has followed the fixed service interval rather than variable but with a high mileage it is more likely that the PO will have gone down the variable route. Anything upto 100k (given that you are looking at 4-5 year old car) should be fine. Make sure it has the cam belt changed and the water pump (should be done at 4 years/80kmiles although Audi kept changing the recommended interval)

On a facelift car there are no real problems to look for, all of the issues regarding water getting into the MMI and bluetooth units on the Avant were resolved in the facelift.

Almost all Facelift cars will have either the DVD or hard disk based sat nav, I think by 2010 the DVD system was standard across the range. In 2009 it was only initially standard on the TDie. The HDD version is identified by a small joystick type device on the MMI controller. Either system is not brilliant (only takes 5 digit postcode for instance and the map updates need to be done by the dealer unless you wish to chance your luck with an online source) and a TomTom is better and cheaper to run. At that age a Le Mans spec (later called Special Edition) might also be possible. This was the S-Line with heated front seats, rear parking sensors (almost essential on this car due to its size and even better with front as well) and 19" wheels.

Personally I would go for the A6 because of the space, if that is not an issue then your budget may get you a newer A4. The specs were broadly similar although full MMI was only included on the A4 if you took the sat nav option

Edit: Just realised you are in Ireland so the specs will be different from the UK, however the basic mechanical issues still hold true.

Hi John,

Thank you for the detailed answer. My plan is to find something in UK and import it back here so mainly I'm looking the British market. I just have 2 things I don't quite get.
What is the "PO" you have mentioned that have gone down on the variable route?
What is the TDie "e" stands for? Is there a difference between TDI or TDie? Here in Ireland the cost difference in TAX is not much between the manual and automatic which I would bother for (at the moment I have a car which has a tax of €1100 for a year).

[johnsimcox]

Hi John,

Thank you for the detailed answer. My plan is to find something in UK and import it back here so mainly I'm looking the British market. I just have 2 things I don't quite get.
What is the "PO" you have mentioned that have gone down on the variable route?
What is the TDie "e" stands for? Is there a difference between TDI or TDie? Here in Ireland the cost difference in TAX is not much between the manual and automatic which I would bother for (at the moment I have a car which has a tax of €1100 for a year).

PO = Previous Owner

The TDie denotes the 134bhp engine that was introduced as part of the facelift. It is the same engine as the 170bhp engine but detuned to deliver lower CO2 and better fuel consumption. Other changes for that model were the inclusion of the Sports suspension and the ditching of the spare wheel in place of a can of gunk. At launch it also included DVD Sat Nav, Phone Prep Low and Leather as standard within the SE spec (and hence the S-Line spec) all of which were extra with any other engine. I think by 2010 all of this had become standard across the range.

As I said with the auto box the TDie engine made no economic sense since it actually generated 1g CO2 more than the 170bhp version and that meant it sat in a higher UK tax bracket for both road and company car tax. Also do not get blinded by the apparent excellent fuel consumption with the 2.0 Auto. Because the gearbox is a CVT design it is great when travelling at a constant speed (as is the case with EU tests) but is real life it fails to deliver and forums like this are full of people complaining that they are not getting consumption figures anywhere close to the claimed numbers. I can't help thinking this in part has led to Audi dropping the Multitronic box on the current A6 and it will no doubt disappear from the A4/A5 when the new model is announced next year

[hufodorp]

PO = Previous Owner

The TDie denotes the 134bhp engine that was introduced as part of the facelift. It is the same engine as the 170bhp engine but detuned to deliver lower CO2 and better fuel consumption. Other changes for that model were the inclusion of the Sports suspension and the ditching of the spare wheel in place of a can of gunk. At launch it also included DVD Sat Nav, Phone Prep Low and Leather as standard within the SE spec (and hence the S-Line spec) all of which were extra with any other engine. I think by 2010 all of this had become standard across the range.

As I said with the auto box the TDie engine made no economic sense since it actually generated 1g CO2 more than the 170bhp version and that meant it sat in a higher UK tax bracket for both road and company car tax. Also do not get blinded by the apparent excellent fuel consumption with the 2.0 Auto. Because the gearbox is a CVT design it is great when travelling at a constant speed (as is the case with EU tests) but is real life it fails to deliver and forums like this are full of people complaining that they are not getting consumption figures anywhere close to the claimed numbers. I can't help thinking this in part has led to Audi dropping the Multitronic box on the current A6 and it will no doubt disappear from the A4/A5 when the new model is announced next year

Thank you John for all the info. Hopefully soon I will find the best for myself.

[hufodorp]

Hi again,

I'm looking 2010 S-Line SE at the moment. All look good in it but have no idea what does Bluetooth Phone Prep - Low mean? Can somebody explain to me?
Also what was the standard "features" in 2010 170bhp S-Line SE? What extras were available for them?

[johnsimcox]

Hi again,

I'm looking 2010 S-Line SE at the moment. All look good in it but have no idea what does Bluetooth Phone Prep - Low mean? Can somebody explain to me?
Also what was the standard "features" in 2010 170bhp S-Line SE? What extras were available for them?

"Bluetooth Phone Prep - Low" means that the car has full Bluetooth phone integration, level of integration differs by phone but usually you get caller info, transfer of contacts and limited speech activation (such as "Call Fred"). You also get the docking pint in the front centre armrest to allow you to fit a phone cradle to then slot your phone into. Cradles from Audi are c£100 and not available for all phones and for phones that include the functionality (not iPhone!) it also allows the docked phone to use the rooftop aerial for better signal. The dock also charges the phone

The S-Line SE is what was previously the Le Mans spec so should have S-Line spec (Leather, 18" wheels, Sports Suspension (or no charge S-line suspension with extra 100mm drop) Sports seats, Xenons with washers, S-Line Body Kit, Black headlining and DVD based Sat Nav - think it was standard by 2010). SE adds rear parking sensors, heated front seats, metallic paint and 19" wheels

[c4a5er]

brochure here....... https://www.audi.co.uk/content/dam/a...ember%2009.pdf

the Special Edition is a re-badged Le Mans

[hufodorp]

Hi again,

I have finally found my A6 is just collected it today in UK. It is a late (december) 2010 A6 S-Line Second Edition 2.0TDI 170BHP.
I'm very happy with it, she has full Audi history from Audi Crewe and she got 104k miles on the clock. Cam belt has been replaced but not water pump. She is in a very very mint condition and I'm over the moon

I have 2 questions on it though:
-How can I get my phone playing music through bluetooth (only phone option is working at the moment)
-How can I get the acoustic parking aid showing on the MMI as well? At the moment it is only audible.

I have noticed one issue though. The rear windows were closing perfectly while I had the windows a little bit wet. Now when they are dry, both rear windows are running out of the side rail/beed while they are closing. The windows are tilting a little bit horizontally. If I help them keeping in the side rubber/beed they are closing fine. What is the cure for them?

PS: I would be curious what options hacks can be done on this to improve the features inside?

Thanks for the answers in advance.

[Guest 2]

Bluetooth music will require audi music interface with a viseeo tune2air add-on.

Vcds yok need to show the visual lines for parking given that the sensors are factory fitted and the control module supports the feature.

Not sure what you mean by option hacks?


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