Audi C5 RS6

Author
Discussion

Digger

14,588 posts

190 months

Monday 16th December 2013
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That seems bloody cheap, is the car very low mileage?

Warrantywise?

Welshbeef

49,633 posts

197 months

Monday 16th December 2013
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Digger said:
That seems bloody cheap, is the car very low mileage?

Warrantywise?
97k.
Nope its the same warranty firm the trader used wit it. I need to check them out before making a choice never heard of them before but will post up the name incase there are horror stories.

RobbyJ

1,566 posts

221 months

Tuesday 17th December 2013
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I would steer very clear of a C5 RS6. I nearly bought one a while back but bought a B7 S4 instead and never regretted it. The S4 was very reliable, not much slower, is still a V8 and the parts were much much cheaper.

I used to read the horror stories on RS246 all the time and they were very very bad! It seemed like most owners were too afraid to ever put their foot down whilst I drove my S4 like I'd stolen it and it never went wrong.

I'd either buy an S4, and RS4(with repalced DRC, but still expensive parts) or save your pennies for a C6 RS6. That said the B8 S4 is a great car too and can easily be remapped to 480bhp!

Welshbeef

49,633 posts

197 months

Tuesday 17th December 2013
quotequote all
RobbyJ said:
I would steer very clear of a C5 RS6. I nearly bought one a while back but bought a B7 S4 instead and never regretted it. The S4 was very reliable, not much slower, is still a V8 and the parts were much much cheaper.

I used to read the horror stories on RS246 all the time and they were very very bad! It seemed like most owners were too afraid to ever put their foot down whilst I drove my S4 like I'd stolen it and it never went wrong.

I'd either buy an S4, and RS4(with repalced DRC, but still expensive parts) or save your pennies for a C6 RS6. That said the B8 S4 is a great car too and can easily be remapped to 480bhp!
But the Internet is full of horror stories you wouldn't expect many to post up about a reliable car. However from what I can see it appears if certain parts did fail then the cost would make you feel. A bit poorer.

End of the day its an iconic car bloody fast very mean and moody looking great sound track and let's be frank who wouldn't want to own one even for a short time to scratch the itch.

I ran a Fiat Coupe 20 V turbo for 6+ years such a reliable car and I drove it like it was stolen very very often. Never broke down however online horror stories would put you off for life.

y2blade

56,029 posts

214 months

Tuesday 17th December 2013
quotequote all
Welshbeef said:
RobbyJ said:
I would steer very clear of a C5 RS6. I nearly bought one a while back but bought a B7 S4 instead and never regretted it. The S4 was very reliable, not much slower, is still a V8 and the parts were much much cheaper.

I used to read the horror stories on RS246 all the time and they were very very bad! It seemed like most owners were too afraid to ever put their foot down whilst I drove my S4 like I'd stolen it and it never went wrong.

I'd either buy an S4, and RS4(with repalced DRC, but still expensive parts) or save your pennies for a C6 RS6. That said the B8 S4 is a great car too and can easily be remapped to 480bhp!
But the Internet is full of horror stories you wouldn't expect many to post up about a reliable car. However from what I can see it appears if certain parts did fail then the cost would make you feel. A bit poorer.

End of the day its an iconic car bloody fast very mean and moody looking great sound track and let's be frank who wouldn't want to own one even for a short time to scratch the itch.

I ran a Fiat Coupe 20 V turbo for 6+ years such a reliable car and I drove it like it was stolen very very often. Never broke down however online horror stories would put you off for life.
Well said Welshbeef.

RobbyJ

1,566 posts

221 months

Tuesday 17th December 2013
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I couldn't agree more, it's a fantastic iconic car and I love them. Whilst there were lots of people commenting on their many thousands spend per anum it was the gearbox issues that put me off. They are £5k a pop and they can go pop at any time and the only answer seems to be another £5k.

Just see for yourself:

http://forum.rs246.com/search.php?keywords=gearbox...

I know forums are full of horror stories and you have to take them with a pinch of salt but when you look at the C6 RS6 forum you don't see the same shopping list of unreliability at all.

I'm not gloating, as I said they are great cars and hats off to you for owning one, I just didn't feel as brave and looked for other options as I didn't have the balls to tell my wife the summer holiday was off so I could have a new gearbox for my car wink

geordieexpat

482 posts

191 months

Tuesday 17th December 2013
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I went ahead and sold the M5 estate and purchased the 2013 4.0ltr twin turbo Audi RS6 estate - just waiting to get the cars changed over and pick up the RS6 when I am back from overseas

y2blade

56,029 posts

214 months

Tuesday 17th December 2013
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geordieexpat said:
I went ahead and sold the M5 estate and purchased the 2013 4.0ltr twin turbo Audi RS6 estate - just waiting to get the cars changed over and pick up the RS6 when I am back from overseas
Excellent, I look forward to hearing your thoughts on it.




AuthurDaley

566 posts

206 months

Wednesday 13th August 2014
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Thread resurection.

I was thinking about these today - I totally love the C5 RS6 and have been browsing classifieds. Seems to be a bit of a heart ruling my head at present as there does seem to be a very strong trend with RS6's having major issues and expense. I know first hand of two people hit by this;

- In 2010 a car under Audi extended warranty had 10k's work done in 1 year (did not include belts!)
- A friend currently has a 2004 RS6 off the road due to gearbox failure.

I am looking at an S or RS <15K and am considering an 2008 S3, 2006 S4, or 2001 RS4. So tempting to look at an RS6 for c.12k and keep a couple of grand back for any bills, but will 2k be enough! :s


Welshbeef

49,633 posts

197 months

Wednesday 13th August 2014
quotequote all
AuthurDaley said:
Thread resurection.

I was thinking about these today - I totally love the C5 RS6 and have been browsing classifieds. Seems to be a bit of a heart ruling my head at present as there does seem to be a very strong trend with RS6's having major issues and expense. I know first hand of two people hit by this;

- In 2010 a car under Audi extended warranty had 10k's work done in 1 year (did not include belts!)
- A friend currently has a 2004 RS6 off the road due to gearbox failure.

I am looking at an S or RS <15K and am considering an 2008 S3, 2006 S4, or 2001 RS4. So tempting to look at an RS6 for c.12k and keep a couple of grand back for any bills, but will 2k be enough! :s
My wife's Honda diesel recently had a new condenser plus a few other bits and bobs that was c£1k for a 140bhp TDI.
Whereas my RS6 touching wood has only had routine servicing costs

AuthurDaley

566 posts

206 months

Wednesday 13th August 2014
quotequote all
Sounds good.

Guess the main things to look for are DRC recall done or replaced, gearbox oil changes, and belts changed. Will keep an eye on classifieds and rs246 for an enthusiasts car as opposed to a random trade car smile

Welshbeef

49,633 posts

197 months

Wednesday 13th August 2014
quotequote all
AuthurDaley said:
Sounds good.

Guess the main things to look for are DRC recall done or replaced, gearbox oil changes, and belts changed. Will keep an eye on classifieds and rs246 for an enthusiasts car as opposed to a random trade car smile
Well with belts you could buy it needing the work done - then you will know 100% that it is all done plus water pump etc


DRC by now all should have been replaced in one way or another


Discs and pads are VERY expensive - non OEM front discs are £250each...(rear discs are more)
So ideally buy a car with fresh pads and discs or totally worn out so again you get to replace (negotiate accordingly)


I would say though that in general these are rare cars and the "market price" can be widely different car to car - condition is everything and a nice thick service book standard work and other preventative works are what you want to see. You will struggle for low number of owner cars due to age and also these are the sorts of cars people own for a period of time very few are long term ownership propositions.


Radiator by now if still original will be needing changing


One thing with these as the engine is so large the engine bay is so tight that many mundane jobs are engine out ie lambda to change these £100 parts you will spend £4k plus on taking the engine and gearbox out...
Oil leak - engine out



Its a great car brutally quick for its era - still plenty quick today loads of grip its iconic but it can come with £70-90k car running costs.
Future classic? It already is one no question, layer cake has cemented its icon status to more than just petrol heads.



Tyres £800-1k should last 6k miles


Mpg I drive it as a daily driver and I bought a fast to to use its performance (but not all the time) that said tank to tank in running c19mpg and its super unleaded only, on long motorway runs in seeing 28mpg as its very long geared in 5th

longfellow

Original Poster:

551 posts

142 months

Tuesday 26th August 2014
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Not sure I'd agree with all of the above but I thought I'd share my experience as I've now owned my Plus for just over 4 months.

First off and most importantly the gearbox.
This is probably the most expensive part of the car to replace and if you are unlucky enough to buy a car that needs a refurbed gearbox, you won't see much change from £4k. Bear in mind that the easiest way to remove the gearbox is to take the engine out with it and whilst that's out, you can quite easily spend another large chunk of money replacing other parts that will more than likely fail in the not to distant future. EGT's for example.

When taking the cars out for a test drive, make sure the gear changes are smooth and there is little to no slipping. If you're in D mode, you may catch the gearbox out by accelerating when the revs are very low causing the 'box to panic and instead of just grabbing a gear, it will allow the TQ to slip slightly so it can think about what's going on.

When considering a car, check to see if the gearbox has been serviced as it's recommended to service it at around 40k intervals. Depending on what you read, this can vary.

DRC/Suspension
Well documented issue and if it's still on the car, I'll put money on that at least one of the shocks is leaking. It's quite an expensive item to service and requires special tools to do so. MRC and Unit 20 I think have tools to do the job.

If you want to play it safe, make sure the DRC has been replaced with coil overs. Bilsteins are highly praised as an alternative.

Uprated ARB's are a great investment and the Hotchkis products are awesome. It improves the cars handling a great deal.

Tyres
Not as expensive as what Beefy states above and if he's only seeing 8k from a set then he's driving like a lunatic pretty much everywhere.
I've covered over 7k since I've had the car the Michelins that are currently on there have plenty of tread left.
Once these have worn down, I'll be replacing them with either GY Eagle F1's or Vreds. Both are around the £140 mark each so you're looking at £600 for a set fitted.

Brakes
Depending on where you go and what you chose, you can probably get all 4 replaced for around £800. ECP often have discount codes for these which always helps.

Engine
Pretty solid really and as long as it's been serviced regularly and looked after by it's previous owners, all should be well. They're pretty bombproof as well.
MAF's can be pricey if they need replacing and just remember there's 2 of them. These can be changed quite easily but just make sure everything's seated properly when you put everything back.
Diverter Valves can also fail but it's not that much of a ball ache to change them.
Rocker Cover gaskets can leak but I don't think they're a huge amount to change and I'm pretty sure they're a DIY.

Intercoolers
Check these carefully as you're looking at around £6-700 to have them refurbished. This is a DIY if you fancy it, you just need to remove the bumper.
If you intend to modify the car then you're probably better off replacing the original IC's with Wagner products.


I think that covers most aspects but just be mindful of the fact that these were £60-70k super cars in their time and do need a little TLC now as they're getting a little long in the tooth.

Don't let high mileage and a high number of previous owners put you off, sometimes these can be just as good, if not better than a low mileage example. This is a lesson I learned when I was looking around.

Oh, some cars will have been remapped but as long as it's been done by a reputable company then it should be fine (hopefully).

RS246 is the place to be if you need C5 info. There is a buyers guide which is definitely worth a read.

Good luck and as long you buy with your eyes wide open, you'll love the little beast.