2006 Audi A6 Avant 4.2 V8 Quattro SE - been and gone
Discussion
Pistonheads has its fair share of Mercedes E500 W211 owners (in differing states of despair) and several BMW 545i/550i drivers, too (also with differing levels of mechanical maladies), but A6 4.2 V8 owners seem rather thinner on the ground.
So, as an A6 driver (or should I say ex-A6 driver, as I sold it this afternoon), I thought I’d finally post something on the car. I had it for six months and covered around 2,500 miles in that time, spent £1,200 on it in the form of precautionary Tiptronic and Quattro services plus new rear discs and pads and that’s it. No breakdowns, no unexpected bills and only minor issues, though I was always a little paranoid about something expensive going wrong…
THE GOOD:
It started every time and all the electronics - and there’s a lot of them - worked. It was in very good condition inside and out, with rare ‘Amaretto Brown’ tan leather and black carpets, dash and wheel, and a low mileage of 87k when I bought it.
It’s been a real feel-good car: relaxing to bumble around town with a low key rumble from under the bonnet, but far quicker than you expect when you rev the engine - which you can actually hear, despite the refinement being very good - really picking up at high revs. It was fantastically solid as well, making it feel like you could smash your way through anything, should the apocalypse happen and the need arise..
I also found it surprisingly sharp to drive, considering it was on the smallest possible 17-inch wheels and had air suspension. While the ride wasn’t the best on anything other than smooth roads, it actually had very good body control and was far more satisfying to drive on country roads than I expected. Additionally, it’s decently manoeuvrable for something so big (especially compared with my previous two - smaller - Volvos).
This car had received very frequent oil services (something like six oil changes in the last 16,000 miles), which is important on this engine to prevent the timing chain tensioners from failing and landing you with a £4,000 bill. It was remarkably well equipped for a 2006 car, too, weighing in at £52,330 in 2006, thanks to the options below:
- Oyster Grey, metallic
- Amaretto Brown/Blk-Blk
- Valcona leather
- Comms pack DVD upgrade
- Luxury pack offer
- Storage package
- Door mirrors-folding a.dim. & a.dim.int.mirror
- BOSE surround sound
- Adaptive air suspension
- Automatically actuated boot lid
- DVD based navigation system plus
- Alloy wheels 7.5Jx17 '9-spoke star' design
- Heated front and outer rear seats
- Adaptive lights
- Lighting package
- DAB digital radio module
- Communications pack 1
The Bose speakers were good, but not great, while the adaptive xenons were pretty impressive for a 2006 car. The media system was also reasonably usable for its age, though you can’t enter full postcodes and some of the navigation around the different functions is unnecessarily convoluted.
THE BAD:
It’s in the top tax band, so I paid £600 for it (which has increased to £630 for 2022), and fuel economy is pretty bad around town, (the trip computer seemed to have a mind of its own re: resetting the average mpg, but I regularly saw 15-18mpg displayed with suburban driving), though a calculated figure of 27-28mpg wasn’t too hard to achieve out of town.
Meanwhile, I found the ride quite knobbly over rough surfaces and a little jarring over bumps and potholes, though it’s very cushy on decent surfaces. Oddly, though, I found it extremely comfortable as a passenger today, when the new owner drove it. I didn’t find the SE seats very comfortable, however, and the four-spoke wheel is ugly and not nicest to use in my view. The steering is a bit variable in its weighting, too, though it’s nicely judged at anything over 40mph.
The main concern for me - and perhaps more down to my paranoia than the car itself - was the prospect of big bills for replacing the air suspension and other engine-related bits and bobs (even though a respected Audi specialist said there were no timing chain issues at all). Maybe it’s a quit-while-you’re-winning mentality - or I’ve simply read too many W211 E500 PH tales of woe - but I felt like I’d lucked out for six months, so something big was bound to go wrong imminently!
As for other issues, the DAB radio never seemed to connect to certain stations, even though you could update the station list, the rear ISOFIX points were hard to access and I couldn’t remove the rear headrests for the life of me.
WHAT NEXT?:
And that’s it. Am sure I’ll miss the car, but I’ve enjoyed having it and now it’s time for something else.
Funnily enough, I know where the buyer lives - as he’s only a mile away - and I used to walk past his house and admire his facelift W211 E-Class Estate, (which has since been written off by an old gent in a supermarket car park…).
As for next cars, I very much like the A6 (C6), and really want a 3.0 TFSI if I can actually find one anywhere, potentially even a 3.2 V6, though I’m aware these have timing chain issues, too. Or I might go for a cheaper Subaru Legacy 3.0R Spec B, a V70 3.0 T6 - though I’ve read some dire assessments of these on PH - or perhaps even an Insignia VXR, thanks to ZX10 NIN mentioning them so many times as an alternative to what I really want - a sport-diffed S4 (B8) Avant.
So, as an A6 driver (or should I say ex-A6 driver, as I sold it this afternoon), I thought I’d finally post something on the car. I had it for six months and covered around 2,500 miles in that time, spent £1,200 on it in the form of precautionary Tiptronic and Quattro services plus new rear discs and pads and that’s it. No breakdowns, no unexpected bills and only minor issues, though I was always a little paranoid about something expensive going wrong…
THE GOOD:
It started every time and all the electronics - and there’s a lot of them - worked. It was in very good condition inside and out, with rare ‘Amaretto Brown’ tan leather and black carpets, dash and wheel, and a low mileage of 87k when I bought it.
It’s been a real feel-good car: relaxing to bumble around town with a low key rumble from under the bonnet, but far quicker than you expect when you rev the engine - which you can actually hear, despite the refinement being very good - really picking up at high revs. It was fantastically solid as well, making it feel like you could smash your way through anything, should the apocalypse happen and the need arise..
I also found it surprisingly sharp to drive, considering it was on the smallest possible 17-inch wheels and had air suspension. While the ride wasn’t the best on anything other than smooth roads, it actually had very good body control and was far more satisfying to drive on country roads than I expected. Additionally, it’s decently manoeuvrable for something so big (especially compared with my previous two - smaller - Volvos).
This car had received very frequent oil services (something like six oil changes in the last 16,000 miles), which is important on this engine to prevent the timing chain tensioners from failing and landing you with a £4,000 bill. It was remarkably well equipped for a 2006 car, too, weighing in at £52,330 in 2006, thanks to the options below:
- Oyster Grey, metallic
- Amaretto Brown/Blk-Blk
- Valcona leather
- Comms pack DVD upgrade
- Luxury pack offer
- Storage package
- Door mirrors-folding a.dim. & a.dim.int.mirror
- BOSE surround sound
- Adaptive air suspension
- Automatically actuated boot lid
- DVD based navigation system plus
- Alloy wheels 7.5Jx17 '9-spoke star' design
- Heated front and outer rear seats
- Adaptive lights
- Lighting package
- DAB digital radio module
- Communications pack 1
The Bose speakers were good, but not great, while the adaptive xenons were pretty impressive for a 2006 car. The media system was also reasonably usable for its age, though you can’t enter full postcodes and some of the navigation around the different functions is unnecessarily convoluted.
THE BAD:
It’s in the top tax band, so I paid £600 for it (which has increased to £630 for 2022), and fuel economy is pretty bad around town, (the trip computer seemed to have a mind of its own re: resetting the average mpg, but I regularly saw 15-18mpg displayed with suburban driving), though a calculated figure of 27-28mpg wasn’t too hard to achieve out of town.
Meanwhile, I found the ride quite knobbly over rough surfaces and a little jarring over bumps and potholes, though it’s very cushy on decent surfaces. Oddly, though, I found it extremely comfortable as a passenger today, when the new owner drove it. I didn’t find the SE seats very comfortable, however, and the four-spoke wheel is ugly and not nicest to use in my view. The steering is a bit variable in its weighting, too, though it’s nicely judged at anything over 40mph.
The main concern for me - and perhaps more down to my paranoia than the car itself - was the prospect of big bills for replacing the air suspension and other engine-related bits and bobs (even though a respected Audi specialist said there were no timing chain issues at all). Maybe it’s a quit-while-you’re-winning mentality - or I’ve simply read too many W211 E500 PH tales of woe - but I felt like I’d lucked out for six months, so something big was bound to go wrong imminently!
As for other issues, the DAB radio never seemed to connect to certain stations, even though you could update the station list, the rear ISOFIX points were hard to access and I couldn’t remove the rear headrests for the life of me.
WHAT NEXT?:
And that’s it. Am sure I’ll miss the car, but I’ve enjoyed having it and now it’s time for something else.
Funnily enough, I know where the buyer lives - as he’s only a mile away - and I used to walk past his house and admire his facelift W211 E-Class Estate, (which has since been written off by an old gent in a supermarket car park…).
As for next cars, I very much like the A6 (C6), and really want a 3.0 TFSI if I can actually find one anywhere, potentially even a 3.2 V6, though I’m aware these have timing chain issues, too. Or I might go for a cheaper Subaru Legacy 3.0R Spec B, a V70 3.0 T6 - though I’ve read some dire assessments of these on PH - or perhaps even an Insignia VXR, thanks to ZX10 NIN mentioning them so many times as an alternative to what I really want - a sport-diffed S4 (B8) Avant.
RoVoFob said:
I also found it surprisingly sharp to drive, considering it was on the smallest possible 17-inch wheels and had air suspension. While the ride wasn’t the best on anything other than smooth roads, it actually had very good body control and was far more satisfying to drive on country roads than I expected. Additionally, it’s decently manoeuvrable for something so big (especially compared with my previous two - smaller - Volvos).
...meanwhile, I found the ride quite knobbly over rough surfaces and a little jarring over bumps and potholes, though it’s very cushy on decent surfaces. Oddly, though, I found it extremely comfortable as a passenger today, when the new owner drove it. I didn’t find the SE seats very comfortable, however.
Enjoyed reading you post and glad you dodged the bullet on any big bills....meanwhile, I found the ride quite knobbly over rough surfaces and a little jarring over bumps and potholes, though it’s very cushy on decent surfaces. Oddly, though, I found it extremely comfortable as a passenger today, when the new owner drove it. I didn’t find the SE seats very comfortable, however.
I have the same model but with the 3.0tdi engine which I must say it goes pretty well and I get back around 25 mpg.
One thing that has disappointed me with mine is the ride quality. After reading lots of research and reviews before I purchased, no-one mentioned that's it's not great over uneven surfaces. I too have the smallest 17" wheels with new Premium tyres and it's knobbly, like yours. Get it on a smooth surface and it's lovely but there aren't many of those surfaces around any more. I was thinking of changing mine to one with Air Suspension but after reading your post I probably won't bother.
Totally agree about the seats too - they seem hard, although mine have got 120,000 behind them. No matter how much I adjust them I've got a numb bum after one hour. I had an e-class estate before this and although the ride was touch better, the leather seats were fairly uncomfortable.
So what next for you? Have a good drive in the e-class if you go down that route, on some bumpy roads!
Macron said:
The 3.0d you're saying gives 25mpg??? Is it broken?!
Nice car OP, great looking leather, did you get the money you spent on it back given the market?
The tfsi is appealing, most seem to have been crashed, it seems no one can put the bonnet and grille back together properly.
I ran a 730Ld for a few years which is a similarly chunky car and that’s long term average was only 26mpgNice car OP, great looking leather, did you get the money you spent on it back given the market?
The tfsi is appealing, most seem to have been crashed, it seems no one can put the bonnet and grille back together properly.
That’s lovely that OP, love the interior. Waft-a-licious
993kimbo said:
I have the same model but with the 3.0tdi engine which I must say it goes pretty well and I get back around 25 mpg.
One thing that has disappointed me with mine is the ride quality. After reading lots of research and reviews before I purchased, no-one mentioned that's it's not great over uneven surfaces. I too have the smallest 17" wheels with new Premium tyres and it's knobbly, like yours. Get it on a smooth surface and it's lovely but there aren't many of those surfaces around any more. I was thinking of changing mine to one with Air Suspension but after reading your post I probably won't bother.
Totally agree about the seats too - they seem hard, although mine have got 120,000 behind them. No matter how much I adjust them I've got a numb bum after one hour. I had an e-class estate before this and although the ride was touch better, the leather seats were fairly uncomfortable.
So what next for you? Have a good drive in the e-class if you go down that route, on some bumpy roads!
25mpg from a big diesel isn’t great, but I suppose maybe it’s not that bad if that’s all urban driving. Is yours an S Line or on sports suspension? That might explain why it’s so firm/bumpy and only on 17s. One thing that has disappointed me with mine is the ride quality. After reading lots of research and reviews before I purchased, no-one mentioned that's it's not great over uneven surfaces. I too have the smallest 17" wheels with new Premium tyres and it's knobbly, like yours. Get it on a smooth surface and it's lovely but there aren't many of those surfaces around any more. I was thinking of changing mine to one with Air Suspension but after reading your post I probably won't bother.
Totally agree about the seats too - they seem hard, although mine have got 120,000 behind them. No matter how much I adjust them I've got a numb bum after one hour. I had an e-class estate before this and although the ride was touch better, the leather seats were fairly uncomfortable.
So what next for you? Have a good drive in the e-class if you go down that route, on some bumpy roads!
Maybe my air suspension was at the end of its life. It wasn’t bad, it just wasn’t great, but I couldn’t find any evidence of it being changed over the car’s 16 years and 90,000 miles…Interesting to hear that the Merc wasn’t notably more comfortable. The guy who bought the A6 seemed to find it perfectly comfortable after his facelift W211 E320 CDI on smallish wheels, so maybe I’m just particularly picky!
Well, I think I’m an Audi convert, so ideally a 3.0 TFSI or 3.2 V6 A6 is what I want. Or a 3.2 V6 A4 or S4 B8, if I can find a decent one for less than £9k or so. Alternatively, I may go for a Mondeo 2.5T or Octavia 1.8 TSI 4x4 if a tidy, good value one comes up. Insignia VXR is another wildcard.
Macron said:
The 3.0d you're saying gives 25mpg??? Is it broken?!
Nice car OP, great looking leather, did you get the money you spent on it back given the market?
The tfsi is appealing, most seem to have been crashed, it seems no one can put the bonnet and grille back together properly.
Yes, I did. It was massively underpriced when I bought it, so I lucked out there and basically ran the car for free for six months, which is great for a V8!Nice car OP, great looking leather, did you get the money you spent on it back given the market?
The tfsi is appealing, most seem to have been crashed, it seems no one can put the bonnet and grille back together properly.
Are 3.0 TFSis very crashable? Wouldn’t have thought they’d attract particular wild drivers…
D4MJT said:
I ran a 730Ld for a few years which is a similarly chunky car and that’s long term average was only 26mpg
That’s lovely that OP, love the interior. Waft-a-licious
Absolutely. My favourite thing was bumbling through 30 limits with someone right on the rear bumper, then shifting into sport mode and flattening the throttle when getting to a bit of national speed limit. Suddenly they looked very small in the rear view mirror.That’s lovely that OP, love the interior. Waft-a-licious
Never thought a revvy wafter could be a thing, but I loved the way it picked up over 5,000rpm. Strong engine…
RoVoFob said:
25mpg from a big diesel isn’t great, but I suppose maybe it’s not that bad if that’s all urban driving. Is yours an S Line or on sports suspension? That might explain why it’s so firm/bumpy and only on 17s.
Mine was an SE, the comfiest version. Any wheel size above 17's are going to give a firm ride, unless you’ve got air or adaptive suspension. I would have thought 17’s on a car this size would be ok, maybe the shocks or springs need changing. Maybe it just doesn't cope well on bad surfaces.Edited by 993kimbo on Saturday 9th April 08:17
Having smoked a more cooking 2.0 TDI all winter (there is a thread about it on here somewhere) I can only agree about the poor ride and seats.
Shame really as for a car which came out in 2004 they stack up well otherwise but what is the point of a large barge which isn't very comfortable.
The ride isn't so much hard as rubbish. It crashes, it jiggles, it has an annoying slight vertical motion on smooth roads, it's noisy and manages the doubtful achievement of having too hard springs but also being underdamped and wallowy on occasions. I can live with a hard riding car but this is just rubbish. It's not because it's old either. I remember driving them when new and they were rubbish then.
The standard seats are poor and lack basic adjustments such as seat tilt, a terrible omission on a car of this class. There is also no lumber adjustment and it feels like someone has stuffed an incredibly hard cushion down the back of the seat.
Shame really as for a car which came out in 2004 they stack up well otherwise but what is the point of a large barge which isn't very comfortable.
The ride isn't so much hard as rubbish. It crashes, it jiggles, it has an annoying slight vertical motion on smooth roads, it's noisy and manages the doubtful achievement of having too hard springs but also being underdamped and wallowy on occasions. I can live with a hard riding car but this is just rubbish. It's not because it's old either. I remember driving them when new and they were rubbish then.
The standard seats are poor and lack basic adjustments such as seat tilt, a terrible omission on a car of this class. There is also no lumber adjustment and it feels like someone has stuffed an incredibly hard cushion down the back of the seat.
993kimbo said:
Mine was an SE, the comfiest version. Any wheel size above 17's are going to give a firm ride, unless you’ve got air or adaptive suspension. I would have thought 17’s on a car this size would be ok, maybe the shocks or springs need changing. Maybe it just doesn't cope well on bad surfaces.
The odd thing is that it felt very comfy from the passenger seat. And the damping seemed very controlled. I don’t know whether air suspension gets firm when it’s on the way out, but the knackered conventional shocks on my BMW had barely any resistance in them before I replaced them…Edited by 993kimbo on Saturday 9th April 08:17
confused_buyer said:
Having smoked a more cooking 2.0 TDI all winter (there is a thread about it on here somewhere) I can only agree about the poor ride and seats.
Shame really as for a car which came out in 2004 they stack up well otherwise but what is the point of a large barge which isn't very comfortable.
The ride isn't so much hard as rubbish. It crashes, it jiggles, it has an annoying slight vertical motion on smooth roads, it's noisy and manages the doubtful achievement of having too hard springs but also being underdamped and wallowy on occasions. I can live with a hard riding car but this is just rubbish. It's not because it's old either. I remember driving them when new and they were rubbish then.
The standard seats are poor and lack basic adjustments such as seat tilt, a terrible omission on a car of this class. There is also no lumber adjustment and it feels like someone has stuffed an incredibly hard cushion down the back of the seat.
Yep. The amount of tech was amazing for a 2006 car, but the basic suspension wasn’t quite there. Sounds like the air setup was notably better than the normal springs from what you’re saying, but still not perfect.Shame really as for a car which came out in 2004 they stack up well otherwise but what is the point of a large barge which isn't very comfortable.
The ride isn't so much hard as rubbish. It crashes, it jiggles, it has an annoying slight vertical motion on smooth roads, it's noisy and manages the doubtful achievement of having too hard springs but also being underdamped and wallowy on occasions. I can live with a hard riding car but this is just rubbish. It's not because it's old either. I remember driving them when new and they were rubbish then.
The standard seats are poor and lack basic adjustments such as seat tilt, a terrible omission on a car of this class. There is also no lumber adjustment and it feels like someone has stuffed an incredibly hard cushion down the back of the seat.
The electric seats in mine covered tilt adjustment and lumbar support, which is something…
RoVoFob said:
As an A6 driver (or should I say ex-A6 driver, as I sold it this afternoon), I thought I’d finally post something on the car.
As for next cars, I very much like the A6 (C6), and really want a 3.0 TFSI if I can actually find one anywhere, potentially even a 3.2 V6, though I’m aware these have timing chain issues, too. Or I might go for a cheaper Subaru Legacy 3.0R Spec B, a V70 3.0 T6…
Less than nine months on and I now have another A6 4.2 V8 - after five months with a Passat R36 - though this time it’s a 4.2 FSI and a saloon, so we’ll see how that goes re: fitting a large pushchair base in the boot. Thankfully now our son is getting bigger, at least I don’t have to fit a gargantuan bassinet in the car.As for next cars, I very much like the A6 (C6), and really want a 3.0 TFSI if I can actually find one anywhere, potentially even a 3.2 V6, though I’m aware these have timing chain issues, too. Or I might go for a cheaper Subaru Legacy 3.0R Spec B, a V70 3.0 T6…
Will no doubt get a Readers’ Rides post up once I actually drive the car anywhere. Bought this saloon after securing a new job post-redundancy. Had I done that sooner, I would have bought this; extra Allroad comfort, lovely colour and sports seats would have suited me down to the ground:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/363879369309?hash=item5...
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