Discussion
Afternoon all,
I'm thinking about selling the 535d Touring and grabbing myself one of these but I would like a bit of clarification please.
Pretty much everything you read on tinterweb tells you to stay away due to the catastrophic running costs.
Now from what I can make out, it seems the main and most significant issues are the gearbox or should I say torque converter and the DRC.
If I was to look at examples with coilovers and a refurbished gearbox are they still likely to catupault me into bankruptcy?
I know the intercoolers are prone to leaking but I'm expecting preventative maintenance.
Can anyone provide some insight and information please?
Cheers,
H
I'm thinking about selling the 535d Touring and grabbing myself one of these but I would like a bit of clarification please.
Pretty much everything you read on tinterweb tells you to stay away due to the catastrophic running costs.
Now from what I can make out, it seems the main and most significant issues are the gearbox or should I say torque converter and the DRC.
If I was to look at examples with coilovers and a refurbished gearbox are they still likely to catupault me into bankruptcy?
I know the intercoolers are prone to leaking but I'm expecting preventative maintenance.
Can anyone provide some insight and information please?
Cheers,
H
Very expensive car to maintain , lots of common problems all expensive to fix.
Had one last year , it had 11k spent on it in 18 months before i bought it . Then i spent nearly £2k on it in 6 months .
Still wasnt right .
I have got a C6 S6 v10 , far better car , no drc or gearbox problems.
Had one last year , it had 11k spent on it in 18 months before i bought it . Then i spent nearly £2k on it in 6 months .
Still wasnt right .
I have got a C6 S6 v10 , far better car , no drc or gearbox problems.
They are a gamble like anything else in life. Some will provide sterling service, others will throw up some pretty horrific stories. See my garage for an idea of my costs over the last year. This is a year where it needed its cambelt and front brakes replacing. Also had some bodywork done.
If you go for coilovers avoid H&R it goes soggy and as soon as you put anything in the boot, it's on its arse.
If gearbox goes it's £3.5K to replace. No more than any other premium slushboxed car/4x4 of the time. Some of the costs for other items especially through dealerships are expensive. Internet postings from (possibly misguided) owners spending ridiculous amounts on their cars means they have a very bad reputation for reliability and cost in fixing if they do expire. Shop around and with a bit of lateral thinking costs can be reduced considerably.
Get VAGcom so as to diagnose the myriad of niggly things that inevitably crop up with these cars. If you need to take your car to a specialist for everything and are not handy with the spanners costs can rise very quickly.
When they are working well, they are very special indeed. Just go into ownership with your eyes wide open to potential pitfalls and a decent slushfund and you'll (probably) enjoy ownership.
If you go for coilovers avoid H&R it goes soggy and as soon as you put anything in the boot, it's on its arse.
If gearbox goes it's £3.5K to replace. No more than any other premium slushboxed car/4x4 of the time. Some of the costs for other items especially through dealerships are expensive. Internet postings from (possibly misguided) owners spending ridiculous amounts on their cars means they have a very bad reputation for reliability and cost in fixing if they do expire. Shop around and with a bit of lateral thinking costs can be reduced considerably.
Get VAGcom so as to diagnose the myriad of niggly things that inevitably crop up with these cars. If you need to take your car to a specialist for everything and are not handy with the spanners costs can rise very quickly.
When they are working well, they are very special indeed. Just go into ownership with your eyes wide open to potential pitfalls and a decent slushfund and you'll (probably) enjoy ownership.
Edited by Ug_lee on Friday 1st November 18:54
The Terminator said:
Very expensive car to maintain , lots of common problems all expensive to fix.
Had one last year , it had 11k spent on it in 18 months before i bought it . Then i spent nearly £2k on it in 6 months .
Still wasnt right .
I have got a C6 S6 v10 , far better car , no drc or gearbox problems.
Can you tell me what that £11k and £2k was for please? Was it DRC components and gearbox?Had one last year , it had 11k spent on it in 18 months before i bought it . Then i spent nearly £2k on it in 6 months .
Still wasnt right .
I have got a C6 S6 v10 , far better car , no drc or gearbox problems.
This is exactly what everyone says but when you look into it, it's usually huge amounts of main dealer labour that inflates the total costs so much.
Ug_lee said:
They are a gamble like anything else in life. Some will provide sterling service, others will throw up some pretty horrific stories. See my garage for an idea of my costs over the last year. This is a year where it needed its cambelt and front brakes replacing. Also had some bodywork done.
If you go for coilovers avoid H&R it goes soggy and as soon as you put anything in the boot, it's on its arse.
If gearbox goes it's £3.5K to replace. No more than any other premium slushboxed car/4x4 of the time. Some of the costs for other items especially through dealerships are expensive. Internet postings from (possibly misguided) owners spending ridiculous amounts on their cars means they have a very bad reputation for reliability and cost in fixing if they do expire. Shop around and with a bit of lateral thinking costs can be reduced considerably.
Get VAGcom so as to diagnose the myriad of niggly things that inevitably crop up with these cars. If you need to take your car to a specialist for everything and are not handy with the spanners costs can rise very quickly.
When they are working well, they are very special indeed. Just go into ownership with your eyes wide open to potential pitfalls and a decent slushfund and you'll (probably) enjoy ownership.
Very helpful, thanks Lee.If you go for coilovers avoid H&R it goes soggy and as soon as you put anything in the boot, it's on its arse.
If gearbox goes it's £3.5K to replace. No more than any other premium slushboxed car/4x4 of the time. Some of the costs for other items especially through dealerships are expensive. Internet postings from (possibly misguided) owners spending ridiculous amounts on their cars means they have a very bad reputation for reliability and cost in fixing if they do expire. Shop around and with a bit of lateral thinking costs can be reduced considerably.
Get VAGcom so as to diagnose the myriad of niggly things that inevitably crop up with these cars. If you need to take your car to a specialist for everything and are not handy with the spanners costs can rise very quickly.
When they are working well, they are very special indeed. Just go into ownership with your eyes wide open to potential pitfalls and a decent slushfund and you'll (probably) enjoy ownership.
Edited by Ug_lee on Friday 1st November 18:54
I've been looking around on RS246 for lots of info and I have already learnt a large amount.
I'll always try and tackle most jobs if I can, so I'm not afraid of getting the tools out.
A lot of the cars seem to be fitted with the Bilsteins and I've heard good things about them.
So other than the gearbox and DRC, what else is likely to need doing? Perhaps start with the largest, most expensive items at the top of the list.
I've had mine for a few months now and absolutely love it.
Mpg is horrendous but I bought it knowing it would be bad...
Going from Carlisle to newcastle for the football tis afternoon (120 mile round trip) taking my old man over for the day, he asked if I wanted to take his car instead, Citroen ds3 that a averages 60 odd mpg, no way, I bought it to drive.
The acceleration will make you grin like a loon, it's understated, nobody really knows what it's capable of, sounds intoxicating when foot is down, high recommend.
Mine still has DRC but it had been replaced a couple of years ago.
I'm wary of it going tits up but you buy these with your eyes open.
No real difference compared to any other top of the range luxury car.
Mpg is horrendous but I bought it knowing it would be bad...
Going from Carlisle to newcastle for the football tis afternoon (120 mile round trip) taking my old man over for the day, he asked if I wanted to take his car instead, Citroen ds3 that a averages 60 odd mpg, no way, I bought it to drive.
The acceleration will make you grin like a loon, it's understated, nobody really knows what it's capable of, sounds intoxicating when foot is down, high recommend.
Mine still has DRC but it had been replaced a couple of years ago.
I'm wary of it going tits up but you buy these with your eyes open.
No real difference compared to any other top of the range luxury car.
Ive had mine for almost 4 months now. I never bought the lowest mileage car I could find I went for one with the best history and ive completed 8000miles already with no failures. Anything ive fitted was purely an upgrade other than a full fluids service which,although I never expected it so soon, broached 500quid for fluids and plugs alone using tps discount. Its not had the easiest 8k but its been as reliable as any b5 or c5 base car so far and the grin factor is HUGE. There are the known weakspots highlighted by every doubting thomas thats had a bad experience but its a 10 year old car with 80k car running costs. If theyve not been looked after and just been killed it could be a moneypit if you have zero mechanical knowledge or dont have a very friendly mechanic.
Look for a clean car with good history, see how it feels from the seat, keep on top of maintenance and enjoy
Look for a clean car with good history, see how it feels from the seat, keep on top of maintenance and enjoy
I had one for a year and I spent about 5.5k in that year. Cambelt, Alternator, new Mafs, New Discs and pads all round. Some other bits as well that I cannot recall at the moment. Then had an electrical problem that stopped the car whilst I was in Yorkshire. The local (Yorkshire) Audi could not find or resolve the problem. 12 hours and 4 AA trucks to get the car home. Got 4 Rings to fix it in the end. Traced top an errant loose wire related to the LPG installation that the car had. This was on the car when I bought it.
The 12 hours on the AA truck killed my affection for the car.
Do I miss it? Yes. Would I have another? Probably not, but the C6 RS6 looks very tempting.
The 12 hours on the AA truck killed my affection for the car.
Do I miss it? Yes. Would I have another? Probably not, but the C6 RS6 looks very tempting.
longfellow said:
Can you tell me what that £11k and £2k was for please? Was it DRC components and gearbox?
This is exactly what everyone says but when you look into it, it's usually huge amounts of main dealer labour that inflates the total costs so much.
If memory serves the £11 k was This is exactly what everyone says but when you look into it, it's usually huge amounts of main dealer labour that inflates the total costs so much.
4 x discs + pads
4 x tyres
2 x wagner intercoolers
Cambelt + waterpump +8 plugs + service
gearbox service
h + r coilovers
oil cooler pipe
new dv's
Full exhaust ( miltek)
few other jobs.
Then when i bought it , it needed a drive shafts (£326 each)
some suspension parts ( cant remember )
some trim pieces
n95 valve
ended up going the speclist about 6 or so times different problems each time.
I wont disagree they are an epic car when working correctly , however if you need any parts they are all expensive.
Ug_lee has it spot on. Any modern car can cost a lot at a main dealer, RS6s arent particularly complicated, that big V8 doesnt take too much strain, and it is not particulalry more costly to maintain than any other 10yr old £60k car.
What it has over anything else in that price range is blistering performance, road presence, build quality and wolf in sheeps clothing to the uninformed.
I have had a long list of cars and the RS6 is the only one i have considered as a keeper. I love the RS6, so glad i took the supposed risk on it, 10k miles and only cost has been tyres a couple of weeks ago, same as any other car.....
What it has over anything else in that price range is blistering performance, road presence, build quality and wolf in sheeps clothing to the uninformed.
I have had a long list of cars and the RS6 is the only one i have considered as a keeper. I love the RS6, so glad i took the supposed risk on it, 10k miles and only cost has been tyres a couple of weeks ago, same as any other car.....
I owned an RS6 back in 2010 for about 15 months and put about 15k on it. Apart from standard servicing, fuel and tyres it didn't cost me anything else. It was on original gearbox and DRC, I bought with just over 50k on it and sold with around 65k.
I loved it but just fancied a change, the only car I have regretted selling and am currently in the market for another.
I loved it but just fancied a change, the only car I have regretted selling and am currently in the market for another.
Well it sounds like my thoughts are echoed which is good to hear.
On a kind of separate note, does the number of previous owners put anyone off when buying a car like this?
I've always tried to buy a car with as fewer owners as possible but wasn't sure what other peoples feelings are.
Thoughts?
Thanks for all the comments by the way.
On a kind of separate note, does the number of previous owners put anyone off when buying a car like this?
I've always tried to buy a car with as fewer owners as possible but wasn't sure what other peoples feelings are.
Thoughts?
Thanks for all the comments by the way.
Well I've had mine now for 5 weeks and counting and am on the way to 2k miles in it.
Costs wise
Wheel balance
New locking nuts
Road tax
Mpg is poor no question about that my OBC over reads it shows 20-22mpg on my usual commute but brim to brim it ranges 16.5-19.2mpg.
That said I have done a very long run this weekend at steady m way speeds ONC read 26.8mpg so think at best it will do low to mid 20's.
Also it is 98 Ron and above so a double whammy.
Does number of owners impact it? Well I'm the 4th owner and it is an 11-12year old car - I have every invoice from day one of ownership so have a solid history of what each owner did have done or spent on it.
I like it a lot its a menacing looking car practical (I have the avant) then the noise a nice low bellow at low revs rising to a nice roar then turns into a manic hard bark as it revs out giving all 450bhp.
Its quick no doubt about that really quick intoxicatingly quick.
VED is £280.
This is a scratch I've always wanted to scratch and I'm really enjoying it - I look forward to having a drive and whenever I spot a tunnel windows open slow right down then Wasaaaarp big grin inducing fun.
I have the Sat nav with TV. TV is not digital so useless and say nav doesn't display any info on heavy traffic. Sound system is very good but no aux in which is a pain as all my music is on the iPhone.
Heated front and rear seats is nice likewise fully electric front seats likewise the solar panel sunroof.
Discs pads cambelt and tyres are all big numbers to change probably £4k + for that list.
If the lambdas go its an engine out job ( so Audi told me) infact most engine jobs Audi told me its engine out so is 38hours labour on that alone. I'm not so sure that's the most efficient way to fix things on it and not the cheapest.
Gearbox oil and filter needs to be changed every 30-40k
Eyes wide open on a buy like this but with anything what else can you buy in this price range which delivers the same combination? Its iconic its a car which no doubt when you move on will have fond memories.
There are not that many left and as you'll no doubt see not that many ever for sale its a rare car and is a joy to own and drive.
Costs wise
Wheel balance
New locking nuts
Road tax
Mpg is poor no question about that my OBC over reads it shows 20-22mpg on my usual commute but brim to brim it ranges 16.5-19.2mpg.
That said I have done a very long run this weekend at steady m way speeds ONC read 26.8mpg so think at best it will do low to mid 20's.
Also it is 98 Ron and above so a double whammy.
Does number of owners impact it? Well I'm the 4th owner and it is an 11-12year old car - I have every invoice from day one of ownership so have a solid history of what each owner did have done or spent on it.
I like it a lot its a menacing looking car practical (I have the avant) then the noise a nice low bellow at low revs rising to a nice roar then turns into a manic hard bark as it revs out giving all 450bhp.
Its quick no doubt about that really quick intoxicatingly quick.
VED is £280.
This is a scratch I've always wanted to scratch and I'm really enjoying it - I look forward to having a drive and whenever I spot a tunnel windows open slow right down then Wasaaaarp big grin inducing fun.
I have the Sat nav with TV. TV is not digital so useless and say nav doesn't display any info on heavy traffic. Sound system is very good but no aux in which is a pain as all my music is on the iPhone.
Heated front and rear seats is nice likewise fully electric front seats likewise the solar panel sunroof.
Discs pads cambelt and tyres are all big numbers to change probably £4k + for that list.
If the lambdas go its an engine out job ( so Audi told me) infact most engine jobs Audi told me its engine out so is 38hours labour on that alone. I'm not so sure that's the most efficient way to fix things on it and not the cheapest.
Gearbox oil and filter needs to be changed every 30-40k
Eyes wide open on a buy like this but with anything what else can you buy in this price range which delivers the same combination? Its iconic its a car which no doubt when you move on will have fond memories.
There are not that many left and as you'll no doubt see not that many ever for sale its a rare car and is a joy to own and drive.
Echoing above but id reduce the mileage between box services. For peace of mind id do a full box service with filter every second fluids service which I would do at most every 8k.
Plugs, engine oil, gearbox oil, oil fuel box and air filters and brake fluid for a full fluids and filters sweep is 500quid in parts alone from tps with discount
Plugs, engine oil, gearbox oil, oil fuel box and air filters and brake fluid for a full fluids and filters sweep is 500quid in parts alone from tps with discount
Welshbeef said:
If the lambdas go its an engine out job ( so Audi told me) infact most engine jobs Audi told me its engine out so is 38hours labour on that alone.
The 'book' process involves removing the engine for lambdas, yes. They can be done in situ for less money but you'll need to buy the technician a swear jar 
You want something like this for an analogue 3.5mm in
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Car-Radio-Stereo-iPod-iP...
Most stuff has already been said. There is a rightly a lot of gloom and doom about C5s and they simply cost a lot of pennies to run. I've had a 2004 Avant for 2 1/2 years and it has cost me approx £3k per year. It is on Bilsteins and I do a gearbox oil service regularly.
The thing is, for the outlay I cant think of any other car which would gives me the all round experience the RS gives. Journalists dont like the steering or handling much but as a fast day to day, bad weather, comfortable, spacious and safe car, I love it. The noise alone is worth half the asking price.
The C6 is great but the 20k cost to step up to a similar mileage car doesn't compute for me.
IMHO if you do your homework before purchase, look at the previous work done and crucially keep a war chest, it is possible to enjoy the C5 for what it is without too many sleepless nights.
Thats done it. The gearbox will explode on the way home tonight......
The thing is, for the outlay I cant think of any other car which would gives me the all round experience the RS gives. Journalists dont like the steering or handling much but as a fast day to day, bad weather, comfortable, spacious and safe car, I love it. The noise alone is worth half the asking price.
The C6 is great but the 20k cost to step up to a similar mileage car doesn't compute for me.
IMHO if you do your homework before purchase, look at the previous work done and crucially keep a war chest, it is possible to enjoy the C5 for what it is without too many sleepless nights.
Thats done it. The gearbox will explode on the way home tonight......
I've had my C5 RS 6 Avant for about 6 years now.
Apart from 'normal' servicing costs, there's been nothing to scary for me. Bought it on 30k, now on 70k miles.
The 'normal' servicing costs are clearly higher than a 2litre diesel Mondeo though.
I'm a little late to add anything in addition to what has already been said.
It's a big heavy car, with a big engine. It cost lots when it was new, so servicing and consumables are on-par with such a high performance, high cost vehicle.
Cam-Belt change service would be something to look out for - costs are quite steep as there is so much labour involved in getting access and putting it all back together again.
OEM Brakes cost lots and along with the big tyres, they don't last long if you have a heavy foot.
They are now 10yrs old, so stuff will start to fail as it would on any 10yr old car - rubber perishes, metal fatigues and gets rusty, plastics get brittle.
Keep on top of maintenance and you 'should' be fine!
Gearboxes are more prone to failure if you drive like a loon all the time and/or have tweaked the engine to produce more power without doing anything to the box.
I'm running standard-tune and the original box and it's all fine. I do get an oil and filter change in the box every 2 years as a precaution though (Audi say they are sealed for life!).
Some owners lay claim to big bhp, with numbers in the 700's being banded around. Clearly, gearbox and other important bits of the running gear would need to be upgraded if you want them to last longer than 5mins though. As with anything, it can be done if that's what you are into and have the cash.
I love mine, but am thinking of a change next year for something newer. A V10 RS 6 perhaps....
Apart from 'normal' servicing costs, there's been nothing to scary for me. Bought it on 30k, now on 70k miles.
The 'normal' servicing costs are clearly higher than a 2litre diesel Mondeo though.
I'm a little late to add anything in addition to what has already been said.
It's a big heavy car, with a big engine. It cost lots when it was new, so servicing and consumables are on-par with such a high performance, high cost vehicle.
Cam-Belt change service would be something to look out for - costs are quite steep as there is so much labour involved in getting access and putting it all back together again.
OEM Brakes cost lots and along with the big tyres, they don't last long if you have a heavy foot.
They are now 10yrs old, so stuff will start to fail as it would on any 10yr old car - rubber perishes, metal fatigues and gets rusty, plastics get brittle.
Keep on top of maintenance and you 'should' be fine!
Gearboxes are more prone to failure if you drive like a loon all the time and/or have tweaked the engine to produce more power without doing anything to the box.
I'm running standard-tune and the original box and it's all fine. I do get an oil and filter change in the box every 2 years as a precaution though (Audi say they are sealed for life!).
Some owners lay claim to big bhp, with numbers in the 700's being banded around. Clearly, gearbox and other important bits of the running gear would need to be upgraded if you want them to last longer than 5mins though. As with anything, it can be done if that's what you are into and have the cash.
I love mine, but am thinking of a change next year for something newer. A V10 RS 6 perhaps....
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