High milage A6

[galois]

Thanks to someone writing off our car I am now in the market for a new estate. Finances are limited and it should be able to tow a horsebox. A few quick searches on autotrader have suggested an A6 offers better value than old Mercs or BMWs. My question is: how well do Audis take miles/years. We are looking at 10-11 years old with north of 120k. Will these be tired old dogs or only just run in? For comparison our old 3 series was just nicely run in at 165k!

[P700DEE]

They take mileage well, especialy the diesels. Avoid the 1.9Tdi and the 1.8T for towing

[GreatGranny]

P700DEE said:

They take mileage well, especialy the diesels. Avoid the 1.9Tdi and the 1.8T for towing

Why avoid the TDi?

I have a Alhambra TDi 130 and tow a 1500kg caravan and its excellent, very torquey and holds 6th on the flat at 60ish no problem and very relaxing with the cruise. Does go through the juice though as there is a combined weight of nearly 3 1/2 tonnes fully laden.

Is there a known issue with the engine?

[galois]

Thanks for the comments. I have to say reading the other thread on service costs is slightly worrying. £1,000 for a service Is that standard for the A6 or just because it was a 4.2?

[grand-one]

My A6 is the 2.8 petrol quattro and is now on 198500! Have done 100k of those in last 2 years and its had nothing other than servicing and new brakes / tyres. Great value and feels like it would do another 200k no problem. Electric everything including the seats, dual climate control, and every option from new as it was a dealer specced car. Nothing has needed replacing or fixing and the car wont depreciate any more now! Thoroughly recommend.

[Dr Mattt]

My workhorse is a tdi A6. Its only done 40k miles, but it still feels very fresh. Its not an exciting car, but I point it and it goes - which is what I need it for. I'd reccomend it

And with regards to serving, get yourself out of the Dealer network and into a good specialist Inde. Ours had its second AVS service done for under £200. can't be bad.

[P700DEE]

Why avoid the TDi?
and the 1.8T
I have had two 1.8T A6s and over 180K miles. I used to dread getting a 1.9TdI triptronic loan car as it was useless in auto and underpower IMHO Both the 1.8T and the diesel need to be worked to make them go.
Get a bigger engine like the 2.5Tdi

Edited by P700DEE on Saturday 11th August 10:06

[JeffC]

galois said:

Thanks to someone writing off our car I am now in the market for a new estate. Finances are limited and it should be able to tow a horsebox. A few quick searches on autotrader have suggested an A6 offers better value than old Mercs or BMWs. My question is: how well do Audis take miles/years. We are looking at 10-11 years old with north of 120k. Will these be tired old dogs or only just run in? For comparison our old 3 series was just nicely run in at 165k!

if you are looking at a 1998- newer shape A6, I would go for the diesel, tdi 110bhp engine is one of audis best engines imho, Ive had these with 300k and they still run well, mpg they will do 60 when nursed and will still achieve 35mpg towing, avoid the 2.5 v6 diesel Its a hungry motor to fuel better in 2wd but what it gains in bhp its lacks in torque.

If you are going for the previous shape A6 , and can find a decent one get a 2.5tdi 5 cylinder, (same engine fitted to the volvo tdi) another cracking engine plenty of power (140bhp) and loads of torque,bit noisy but un for ever , at that age I would avoid autos as any future probs will cost you dearly.

Ps 120k on a 11 year old car is low mileage, Im selling 2year old cars with that on and more !

[SoutheeC]

The early 5cyl 2.5tdi is an animal, my old mans has done 300k miles and still running strong despite possibly needing new injectors... they are the original ones though. In fact, the exhaust, clutch and all engine ancillaries are also original and show no signs of needing replacement. I thought the 185k on my m2 Golf Gti was impressive. These cars are not designed with the same sort of obsolescence as the equivalent (hate to say it) European (Germany excluded) and American (stating the obvious I know!!) cars.

I would be happy to buy one of these with 200k miles on it…. probably wouldn’t say the same about a Vectra…

[K321]

i had 2,8 a6 at 183,000 miles. The auto gearbox i had to replace, which incidentally cost a bomb, the engine though just kept on going, when the car was also written off last month, the airbags did not pop out either, apart from that the car was solid and took the miles well.

[Waugh-terfall]

Go R5 TDi (2.5) the 1.9TDi just sounds a little rough. The 1.8T is OK, but my Dad's old one apparently felt a little underpowered when all 4 of us were in it. Is you're planning on towing I think the R5 TDi would definately be your best bet. Things to watch out for is a ticking/knocking noise in the engine bay, which means it just needs a little more oil and at 105,000mi our ABS pump went which was £1,500, then the MAF went which was another couple of hundred squid. Some of the alloy wheels can suffer from corrosion as well.
We had ours for 6years with a few problems but nothing major until the ABS pump. We sold it at 112,00mi with only the Workshop Key because just before it was due to go some dick broke into our house and stole the keys.

[K321]

although the 2.8 quattro engine just keeps on going and going and the quattro drivetrain is excellent, one bad thing about these cars is the mpg, 22mpg was the norm for me, going to 15mpg if i drove it fast
electric everything though, interior never had any electric gremlins,