Buying a leggy Audi A6 3.0 TDi - false economy?

[thebraketester]

3.0 TFSI. ~290bhp

[annodomini2]

TTmonkey said:

blueg33 said:

TTmonkey said:

blueg33 said:

On mine it was the Bluetooth unit that stuffed the mmi up, twice. Both fixed under warranty though. After the second fix it was fine.

What did the failure look like on yours? Mine all works apart from no sound comes out!!!!

No sound, cd wouldn’t play, phone didn’t work

My cd and phone work, apart from no sound from either. Satnav works too.

You get any errors displayed?

Sounds like a coding issue?

[dogbucket]

annodomini2 said:

TTmonkey said:

blueg33 said:

TTmonkey said:

blueg33 said:

On mine it was the Bluetooth unit that stuffed the mmi up, twice. Both fixed under warranty though. After the second fix it was fine.

What did the failure look like on yours? Mine all works apart from no sound comes out!!!!

No sound, cd wouldn’t play, phone didn’t work

My cd and phone work, apart from no sound from either. Satnav works too.

You get any errors displayed?

Sounds like a coding issue?

As above the Audi component protection manifests itself as no audio.

The DAB barely worked on mine so a got a s/h unit off eBay for £80 and got it coded to the car for another £70.

[youngsyr]

dogbucket said:

annodomini2 said:

TTmonkey said:

blueg33 said:

TTmonkey said:

blueg33 said:

On mine it was the Bluetooth unit that stuffed the mmi up, twice. Both fixed under warranty though. After the second fix it was fine.

What did the failure look like on yours? Mine all works apart from no sound comes out!!!!

No sound, cd wouldn’t play, phone didn’t work

My cd and phone work, apart from no sound from either. Satnav works too.

You get any errors displayed?

Sounds like a coding issue?

As above the Audi component protection manifests itself as no audio.

The DAB barely worked on mine so a got a s/h unit off eBay for £80 and got it coded to the car for another £70.

To avoid any confusion - the DAB unit on C6 Audi's at least doesn't need coding, it just needs activating in the car's onboard software. You essentially tell the car that a DAB unit is now fitted. If the car already had a DAB unit that you've replaced with a different one, you shouldn't need to touch the software except to clear any fault codes.

From memory it's ony the CD changer that has security coding and this can make it expensive to change the unit as I believe the security coding can only be done by Audi themselves.

[TTmonkey]

dogbucket said:

annodomini2 said:

TTmonkey said:

blueg33 said:

TTmonkey said:

blueg33 said:

On mine it was the Bluetooth unit that stuffed the mmi up, twice. Both fixed under warranty though. After the second fix it was fine.

What did the failure look like on yours? Mine all works apart from no sound comes out!!!!

No sound, cd wouldn’t play, phone didn’t work

My cd and phone work, apart from no sound from either. Satnav works too.

You get any errors displayed?

Sounds like a coding issue?

As above the Audi component protection manifests itself as no audio.

The DAB barely worked on mine so a got a s/h unit off eBay for £80 and got it coded to the car for another £70.

The car has been to audi and to independent specialists. They confirmed that 'component protection' was kicking in due to some other fault in the system, that they haven't been able to pin down.....

[AudiSport]

youngsyr said:

Hi all, I expect to be driving around 10,000 miles next year in our family car, mainly around town, so the current 5.2L S6 doesn't really make much financial sense.

With that in mind, I was looking to replace with a 3.0 TDi and saw you can pick up older (10 years), leggy examples (150k+ miles) for very little money (£4k-£5k).

My concern is, that I've never run either a diesel or very high mileage Audi before, so am I saving a few quid up front only to be met by massive bills down the line?

Can anyone give me a rough idea of what kind of additional maintenance (in addition to the routine) such a car might need and perhaps an idea of costs?

Thanks for any help offered.

If you can find one, I loved my 3.2 FSI A6.
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

[swampdonkeygj]

youngsyr said:

To avoid any confusion - the DAB unit on C6 Audi's at least doesn't need coding, it just needs activating in the car's onboard software. You essentially tell the car that a DAB unit is now fitted. If the car already had a DAB unit that you've replaced with a different one, you shouldn't need to touch the software except to clear any fault codes.

From memory it's ony the CD changer that has security coding and this can make it expensive to change the unit as I believe the security coding can only be done by Audi themselves.

I retrofitted DAB to my car, using a s/h radio module, and component protection did need removing. It manifested itself with sound being on for 1 second, then off for 1 second in a cycle.

It needs coding and component protection removing in my experience. My car is a 2011 A6 C6.

[youngsyr]

Well, all I can say is that all of the guides I've seen say that no security coding is required to retro fit Dab to a C6 Audi and it certainly didn't for mine either.

You will need VCDS to activate the Dab unit in the MMI though.

[youngsyr]

Dr G said:

Urban use won't break a diesel but it isn't the best for them and will shorten the life of certain components; most notably DPF and EGR. The urban economy of cars like this is nothing to write home about.

I'm not familiar with that option code but if you send me the reg/chassis I'll punch it in and see what I can see.

Thanks for the offer - think I've got it sorted:

7GN in options sticker in service book/behind spare tyre in rear boot well means no DPF fitted.

Similarly engine code (Found in same places):

ASB = No DPF fitted
CDNY = DPF fitted.

Finally, if the exhaust tips are turned slightly downward, there is no DPF fitted.

The cut off point seems to be late 2008 early 2009, with DPF fitted to later cars. Earlier cars have a second cat in place of the DPF.

[annodomini2]

youngsyr said:

Dr G said:

Urban use won't break a diesel but it isn't the best for them and will shorten the life of certain components; most notably DPF and EGR. The urban economy of cars like this is nothing to write home about.

I'm not familiar with that option code but if you send me the reg/chassis I'll punch it in and see what I can see.

Thanks for the offer - think I've got it sorted:

7GN in options sticker in service book/behind spare tyre in rear boot well means no DPF fitted.

Similarly engine code (Found in same places):

ASB = No DPF fitted
CDNY = DPF fitted.

Finally, if the exhaust tips are turned slightly downward, there is no DPF fitted.

The cut off point seems to be late 2008 early 2009, with DPF fitted to later cars. Earlier cars have a second cat in place of the DPF.

Well that's bks, I have a 2006 with DPF and Downward tail pipes, might be true of the facelift cars.

[youngsyr]

annodomini2 said:

youngsyr said:

Dr G said:

Urban use won't break a diesel but it isn't the best for them and will shorten the life of certain components; most notably DPF and EGR. The urban economy of cars like this is nothing to write home about.

I'm not familiar with that option code but if you send me the reg/chassis I'll punch it in and see what I can see.

Thanks for the offer - think I've got it sorted:

7GN in options sticker in service book/behind spare tyre in rear boot well means no DPF fitted.

Similarly engine code (Found in same places):

ASB = No DPF fitted
CDNY = DPF fitted.

Finally, if the exhaust tips are turned slightly downward, there is no DPF fitted.

The cut off point seems to be late 2008 early 2009, with DPF fitted to later cars. Earlier cars have a second cat in place of the DPF.

Well that's bks, I have a 2006 with DPF and Downward tail pipes, might be true of the facelift cars.

What engine code do you have? Should be either ASB or CDNY?

Also, is your car a grey import/originally sold overseas?

[annodomini2]

UK Car, BMK and they can have a DPF.

[youngsyr]

annodomini2 said:

UK Car, BMK and they can have a DPF.

Interesting, I guess you have to go on the engine or option code then.

BMK and CDYA engines have DPF
ASB have no DPF and two cats.

Code 7NG in the log book also indicates no DPF.

Seems like any age C6 can have a DPF, but there was a period between 2006 and 2009 when some didn't have one fitted.

[annodomini2]

youngsyr said:

annodomini2 said:

UK Car, BMK and they can have a DPF.

Interesting, I guess you have to go on the engine or option code then.

BMK and CDYA engines have DPF
ASB have no DPF and two cats.

Code 7NG in the log book also indicates no DPF.

Seems like any age C6 can have a DPF, but there was a period between 2006 and 2009 when some didn't have one fitted.

I think on pre-facelift cars it was optional (basically ordered for company cars as the company got a tax break), In 2009 Euro 5 emission standard was introduced, which may have made it compulsary.

[blueg33]

annodomini2 said:

I think on pre-facelift cars it was optional (basically ordered for company cars as the company got a tax break), In 2009 Euro 5 emission standard was introduced, which may have made it compulsary.

Mine was a 2007 Le Mans. Ordered in October 2006 and delivered in March 2007. It did not have a DPF

[youngsyr]

annodomini2 said:

youngsyr said:

annodomini2 said:

UK Car, BMK and they can have a DPF.

Interesting, I guess you have to go on the engine or option code then.

BMK and CDYA engines have DPF
ASB have no DPF and two cats.

Code 7NG in the log book also indicates no DPF.

Seems like any age C6 can have a DPF, but there was a period between 2006 and 2009 when some didn't have one fitted.

I think on pre-facelift cars it was optional (basically ordered for company cars as the company got a tax break), In 2009 Euro 5 emission standard was introduced, which may have made it compulsary.

That would make a lot of sense.

[Andy JB]

Similarly engine code (Found in same places):

ASB = No DPF fitted
CDNY = DPF fitted.

Finally, if the exhaust tips are turned slightly downward, there is no DPF fitted.

The cut off point seems to be late 2008 early 2009, with DPF fitted to later cars. Earlier cars have a second cat in place of the DPF.

[/quote]

No sorry this is wrong - mine is 08 manufacture registered in 09 & has ASB code and downward exhaust tips & has a DPF !!

[youngsyr]

Andy JB said:

Similarly engine code (Found in same places):

ASB = No DPF fitted
CDNY = DPF fitted.

Finally, if the exhaust tips are turned slightly downward, there is no DPF fitted.

The cut off point seems to be late 2008 early 2009, with DPF fitted to later cars. Earlier cars have a second cat in place of the DPF.

No sorry this is wrong - mine is 08 manufacture registered in 09 & has ASB code and downward exhaust tips & has a DPF !!

Well, it seems like the internet is wrong then! Lots of threads saying those engine codes dictate whether a DPF is fitted, but who knows.

I guess the option code is the definitive guide then.

[Rosscow]

Mine is a mid 2006 ASB.

Code 7GN means it has been prepared for a DPF, but doesn't mean it has one! Mine does not. I also have downturned tail pipes!

[youngsyr]

Well, to get back to the topic, I picked up a late 2008 A6 3.0 TDi Avant Lemans (essentially S-Line with some nice extras) with 160k on the clock last week for not much money at all.

It has BOSE, powered tail gate, heated, illuminated front seats with electric lumbar support, black S-Line embossed leather, SatNav, AMI, CD multi changer, phone prep and fitted blinds in the rear.

Quite enjoy driving it around at the moment, so will keep the thread updated with progress/issues.