Audi A6 Avant 2005-2011 - A few questions before purchase

[ShadyMarkus]

Hey Everyone,

As thread title suggests I don't have one of these yet but I think I've finally chosen the 3.0 TFSI A6 Avant (2008+) over the following shortlist:

- VW Touareg 3.0 tdi
- Volvo XC90 2.4d
- Jeep Grand Cherokee 5.7 V8 (LPG conversion)

New proposal suggested:

- VW Passat R36 Estate

Therefore 1st question. I appreciate this is a VW/Audi forum and therefore likely to be bias somewhat but has anyone owned one of the above and can share their experiences vs an A6? For reference my needs are as follows:

- 4wd (We drive to Poland annually where they have real snow. We currently use a Subaru Legacy 3.0 H6 saloon for this)
- Big boot space (baby on the way and currently own 2 saloon cars. When doing the above trip to Poland I need to be able to travel with circa 2 weeks of gear at a time + baby related stuff)
- Needs to be reliable. (Subaru has been bullet proof but I had a Rover 75 some years ago and while the engine was superb the, electrics not so much)
- Economy - Not really an issue providing it's sort of 20+ mpg. Prefer petrol as it's better in Polish winters (diesel can freeze) and also cheaper than diesel outside of the UK.

With all of that being said, some more questions:

2) Is the A6 Avant Petrol worthwhile taking into account my requirements? I've always loved the A8 but being another saloon I'm not sure I'd gain a huge amount over my current Subaru in terms of space unless I get a roof box which I guess I could do with the Subaru anyway)
3) Based on above comment, should i buy an A8 instead
4) What sort of mileage can the 3.0 TFSI reliably? IS it worth buying an 80,000 mile car or will it die at 100,000 miles
5) My budget is flexible. I'm thinking around the £10K mark though looking at current examples on Autotrader this may need to be £14k ish for a low owner example as they seem fairly rare and pretty undesirable.
6) Should I be looking at a different engine?
7) £14k isn't too far off a new shape diesel, albeit bottom of the barrel, 3.0 diesel. How does the new A6 compare and would they be worth considering at this price? Heard from other people the build quality isn't as good despite looking the bees knees with pop out satnav etc.
8) Trim spec, was leaning towards the S-Line over SE (similar to BMW M Sport I believe). Should I be looking at anything else i.e. Le Mans edition etc.

Sorry for all the questions folks. I'm looking to make my purchase in the next 5 months so planning well ahead of time so I can keep my eyes peeled for the right car rather than rushing for something at the last minute.

Thanks in advance for all your help though Hoping to become a regular poster here and will therefore be able to contribute back at some point.

[Alan02]

Hi, I have the 2012 version 3.0 TFSI. Around the doors I get around 26-30 mpg. On a long run around 34-36. No issues to report.

[ShadyMarkus]

Thanks for your reply Alan. In that case then the ones I'm looking at must be the C6's which I believe is a different engine is it not (supercharged instead of twin turbo or something like that)? Would expect the mpg to be slightly less than what you're getting in that case.

[MarkTM]

IIRC the A6 C6 saloon has the largest boot of any production saloon Audi (yes bigger than an A8!)

I had thought that modern diesel wouldn't freeze until -30 due to winter additives?

It makes a brilliant motorway cruiser and I've had as much as 950 miles from a single brimmed tank (51mpg)

[OVI82]

Hi there.Although i haven't owened any of the other cars you're interested in the one thing that I would STRONGLY recommend is that if you eventually decide to go for the A6 is that you get the estate version.I bought mine almost 3 years ago and a year later our daughter was born and I'm kicking myself for buying a saloon.Don't get me wrong,there's plenty of boot space but not much in terms of height so when the time comes to take the buggy in and out your back will get sore.The estate is much more practical than the saloon version.
As for Le Mans vs S Line after 2009 they both offer the same level of equipment in basic form unless any extras were ordered from new.
With regards to your comment about the petrol vs diesel in the cold weather I'm not entirely sure that you will have any issues with the diesel at -30 degrees.I'm saying that as I've travelled to Eastern Europe on 3 ocassions with the previous A4 diesel at temperatures of -22 degrees.Car parked over 2 nights and the only issue I had was that the doors froze so I couldn't get them opened at first.But once I was in the car it started straight away.All I deed was change the coolant to a much more concentrated formulation.

[Alan02]

Thanks for your reply Alan. In that case then the ones I'm looking at must be the C6's which I believe is a different engine is it not (supercharged instead of twin turbo or something like that)? Would expect the mpg to be slightly less than what you're getting in that case.

Mine is Supercharged. The later models have gone back to Turbo.

[neilos100]

Hi there.Although i haven't owened any of the other cars you're interested in the one thing that I would STRONGLY recommend is that if you eventually decide to go for the A6 is that you get the estate version.I bought mine almost 3 years ago and a year later our daughter was born and I'm kicking myself for buying a saloon.Don't get me wrong,there's plenty of boot space but not much in terms of height so when the time comes to take the buggy in and out your back will get sore.The estate is much more practical than the saloon version.
As for Le Mans vs S Line after 2009 they both offer the same level of equipment in basic form unless any extras were ordered from new.
With regards to your comment about the petrol vs diesel in the cold weather I'm not entirely sure that you will have any issues with the diesel at -30 degrees.I'm saying that as I've travelled to Eastern Europe on 3 ocassions with the previous A4 diesel at temperatures of -22 degrees.Car parked over 2 nights and the only issue I had was that the doors froze so I couldn't get them opened at first.But once I was in the car it started straight away.All I deed was change the coolant to a much more concentrated formulation.

I'll second that with the diesel....I'm in Czech Republic as we speak and although not particularly cold yet it's going down to around -16 next week.
All the filling stations have 'winter diesel' which has an increased cetane level to prevent gelling. Good till around - 26C . Coldest I've had over here is - 24 and had no fuel issues whatsoever. Battery didn't like the cold so much though!

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[Scott K]

The A8s rear seats don't fold if that makes any difference. My uncle had the Grand Cherokee for a very short time. He liked it but no way is it getting 20+mpg. The volvo is now showing it's age especially with the new model out - the audi and VW still look good.

[ShadyMarkus]

Hey there, thanks for this. That's great advice as truthfully I keep looking at the saloons (more for your money) but then keep thinking there is little point in replacing my current Subaru Legacy H6 Saloon 4wd with another saloon. Equipment is an interesting point though. I've seen a saloon for sale with HUD and heated steering wheel (love toys in cars) but at you say it's down to individual cars more than models. To be honest so long as I have Xenon headlights and 4wd I'll be a happy man. I have xenon lights in my Honda Accord Type S and they make my Subaru's headlights look like candles by comparison.

Also, interesting comments regarding the fuel not freezing. I drove a Rover 75 (BMW diesel engine) to Poland a few years back. At -17 degrees it was quite lumpy when initially starting it so always put it down to the fuel as once it warmed up i.e. closer to freezing, the lumpiness was no longer present. Sounds like it may just be because it was a Rover though and not it's fuel Makes my search easier too as there aren't many petrol A6's about which is a shame. In some cities now diesel cars are banned so I'm told. Hey ho.......

[ShadyMarkus]

Hey thanks for the reassurance on the diesel front. Battery wise I've always used the Bosch S5 in my Subaru H6 3.0. They have never let me down and seem to have great cold cranking power. Therefore whatever is on when I buy it I'll probably default back to one of those.