This year's winter barge - Audi A6
Discussion
The clocks have gone back, there is frost in the mornings and the central heating hours need extending every day……it can only mean one thing. Time for the annual comfy winter barge/shed purchase.
Apart from the fact that I have a terrible car buying habit I do like a winter barge. Requirements are simple: it needs to be comfy, ideally automatic, hopefully heated seats and if the headlights are good that is a bonus as well.
Last year it was a BMW 525d SE which I posted on this forum. It did a fine job. I didn’t use it as much as planned due to various Lockdowns but it did its job well and being on winter tyres a huge bonus. I sold it on in April which was harder than expected. Sell an old BMW for a bargain price and you just get loads of lunatics turn up adamant there was something wrong with it. There wasn’t. It wasn’t like new but drove well, was well equipped and there was nothing wrong with it at all. Eventually it found a buyer.
For this year I’ve had my eyes open but there is so little out there and what there is it’s expensive and mainly rubbish so I have really been struggling.
However, last week practicing a very bad habit of having a Manheim online auction running on a side screen whilst in a zoom meeting out the corner of my eye I spotted an Audi A6 struggling to bid up to £500 below CAP Clean. Anyone who has been to a car auction recently will know how rare that is for anything.
This is how it looked on the screen:
They will also know that there is an enormous amount of terrible cars being palmed off to poor unsuspecting people with non declared faults online but that’s another issue.
Anyway…..I clicked and went back to my zoom meeting comfortable it said “provisional”. Except when it didn’t and I clearly heard “on sale”. Then no one else bid. Then it sold. To me, for £500 under “book”.
Now if you are the cautious type you probably shouldn’t buy “blind” at an online auction and if you do buy something simple with good history. A quick check of the Audi’s details also taught me I really should read the car spec before pressing a button. History? None recent. Owners? 6. MOT? 7 days. Gearbox? Oh auto. Except of course it won’t be will it. It’ll be Multitronic. Or Multichronic as it is better known. I had that post purchase feeling where you start thinking about the shortest route between the collection address and a WBAC branch and what chances it might make it.
Anyway, the next week up I pitch to collect (which isn’t far away. I don’t buy much from auction but keep the account). There it sits. It fires up fine and off it moves and it moves in a surprisingly normal manner. Somewhat to my deep shock the gearbox seems fine – the last Multitronic Audi I drove was a 2008 and it wouldn’t go above 40mph because the gearbox slipped too much. It gets home just fine and I begin to feel a bit more positive about it.
So, the car. It’s a 2010 A6 2.0 TDI 170 SE. 106k miles. Only options seem to be rear parking sensors and heated seats. A look through the service books looks decent until I notice the registration date is wrong in the front cover. It also seems to be a 2006 model year book. Out of interest I call a couple of garages stamped in the book and they’ve never seen the car. I suspect along the way someone has faked up some history for it – probably not the last owner, the last service looks genuine. Anyway I call the auction house (Manheim) and after a bit of negotiation they offer a chunk of money off or to return the car. I think about it but as by some miracle it seems a decent one I take the money and keep it.
I run it through a MOT and it passed with no advisories after needing one spring. I also go mad and put some of the unexpected refund towards an oil change for the gearbox. It was fine before but seems smoother and more responsive after.
It will need a service but I’ll do that myself. It had a few marks on it, mainly a scuff on the front bumper and some flaking paint on the sill. Fortunately most of the bumper polishes off and it touches up with some paint to look OK, if not exactly perfect. The sill will get covered in mud so will leave that for the moment.
Front bumper polished up (this is before)
|https://thumbsnap.com/Js9SPzYG[/url][url]
Lower sill has paint flaking. Not sure why. Maybe some past paint. Just get some mud to cover it up.
|https://thumbsnap.com/3dFerJyt[/url]
It also had one fault which meant I thought I might need to scrap it. The fault was a suspect off side front parking light. This may not sound much but replacing an off side parking bulb in a C6 A6 is harder than space travel. Who in gods name designed it I will never know. You need to move the power steering reservoir, bend various brackets out the way and then the bulb holder is recessed so far inside the headlight you need a series of various pliers and things to reach it. A classic bit of rubbish car design.
Now at this point I have to confess I am not a big Audi fan. I’m particularly not a big A6 fan. This comes from some very disappointing times with the C6 model which I felt wasn’t anywhere near as good a car as it should be (I’m not a huge fan of the C7 either). A lot of this comes down to some time I spent with a similar one a couple of years back which was the “S Line Special Edition” which as far as I can tell was sponsored by some sort of international chiropractor association. I hated it with an absolute passion as it had a terrible ride to no handling benefit whatsoever. No mainstream large saloon should be setup like that. Even on a motorway it constantly jiggled and annoyed and felt poorly planted. A dreadful, dreadful car.
It was a shame really because the extra options were nice but it just needed the suspension sorted. So why did I buy another? I have been asking myself that.
That said after a few days I am warming to this SE with its small wheels and softer suspension. The ride still isn’t great to be honest and the body control very average but it doesn’t annoy like an S Line. The Multitronic box actually suits it and it wafts around in a quite satisfying way. On a dark winter night it is inviting and even the stereo is quite decent. Not standard fit Volvo standard but not BMW either.
The seats are not as nice as the S Line sports ones (why, Audi, did you think no lumbar adjustment or front seat height was acceptable?) but OK.
Everything works and it has stood up to miles and years well. As they all now get old the C6 is proving quite a tough old car.
With a new MOT, new gearbox oil, a service about to be done I reckon with a fair wind it will do good winter service. I just hope it’s easier to sell in spring than the BMW. Ironically, I bet it would be easy to sell if it was an S Line as people don’t want the SE – but they are buying the wrong car.
And, finally, the price? £2900 before the undisclosed but generous refund. I still think that is a lot for what it is and the risk factor buying it but hey ho this is the new “cheap” car reality of 2021. And this is how it looks today.
Apart from the fact that I have a terrible car buying habit I do like a winter barge. Requirements are simple: it needs to be comfy, ideally automatic, hopefully heated seats and if the headlights are good that is a bonus as well.
Last year it was a BMW 525d SE which I posted on this forum. It did a fine job. I didn’t use it as much as planned due to various Lockdowns but it did its job well and being on winter tyres a huge bonus. I sold it on in April which was harder than expected. Sell an old BMW for a bargain price and you just get loads of lunatics turn up adamant there was something wrong with it. There wasn’t. It wasn’t like new but drove well, was well equipped and there was nothing wrong with it at all. Eventually it found a buyer.
For this year I’ve had my eyes open but there is so little out there and what there is it’s expensive and mainly rubbish so I have really been struggling.
However, last week practicing a very bad habit of having a Manheim online auction running on a side screen whilst in a zoom meeting out the corner of my eye I spotted an Audi A6 struggling to bid up to £500 below CAP Clean. Anyone who has been to a car auction recently will know how rare that is for anything.
This is how it looked on the screen:
They will also know that there is an enormous amount of terrible cars being palmed off to poor unsuspecting people with non declared faults online but that’s another issue.
Anyway…..I clicked and went back to my zoom meeting comfortable it said “provisional”. Except when it didn’t and I clearly heard “on sale”. Then no one else bid. Then it sold. To me, for £500 under “book”.
Now if you are the cautious type you probably shouldn’t buy “blind” at an online auction and if you do buy something simple with good history. A quick check of the Audi’s details also taught me I really should read the car spec before pressing a button. History? None recent. Owners? 6. MOT? 7 days. Gearbox? Oh auto. Except of course it won’t be will it. It’ll be Multitronic. Or Multichronic as it is better known. I had that post purchase feeling where you start thinking about the shortest route between the collection address and a WBAC branch and what chances it might make it.
Anyway, the next week up I pitch to collect (which isn’t far away. I don’t buy much from auction but keep the account). There it sits. It fires up fine and off it moves and it moves in a surprisingly normal manner. Somewhat to my deep shock the gearbox seems fine – the last Multitronic Audi I drove was a 2008 and it wouldn’t go above 40mph because the gearbox slipped too much. It gets home just fine and I begin to feel a bit more positive about it.
So, the car. It’s a 2010 A6 2.0 TDI 170 SE. 106k miles. Only options seem to be rear parking sensors and heated seats. A look through the service books looks decent until I notice the registration date is wrong in the front cover. It also seems to be a 2006 model year book. Out of interest I call a couple of garages stamped in the book and they’ve never seen the car. I suspect along the way someone has faked up some history for it – probably not the last owner, the last service looks genuine. Anyway I call the auction house (Manheim) and after a bit of negotiation they offer a chunk of money off or to return the car. I think about it but as by some miracle it seems a decent one I take the money and keep it.
I run it through a MOT and it passed with no advisories after needing one spring. I also go mad and put some of the unexpected refund towards an oil change for the gearbox. It was fine before but seems smoother and more responsive after.
It will need a service but I’ll do that myself. It had a few marks on it, mainly a scuff on the front bumper and some flaking paint on the sill. Fortunately most of the bumper polishes off and it touches up with some paint to look OK, if not exactly perfect. The sill will get covered in mud so will leave that for the moment.
Front bumper polished up (this is before)
|https://thumbsnap.com/Js9SPzYG[/url][url]Lower sill has paint flaking. Not sure why. Maybe some past paint. Just get some mud to cover it up.
|https://thumbsnap.com/3dFerJyt[/url]It also had one fault which meant I thought I might need to scrap it. The fault was a suspect off side front parking light. This may not sound much but replacing an off side parking bulb in a C6 A6 is harder than space travel. Who in gods name designed it I will never know. You need to move the power steering reservoir, bend various brackets out the way and then the bulb holder is recessed so far inside the headlight you need a series of various pliers and things to reach it. A classic bit of rubbish car design.
Now at this point I have to confess I am not a big Audi fan. I’m particularly not a big A6 fan. This comes from some very disappointing times with the C6 model which I felt wasn’t anywhere near as good a car as it should be (I’m not a huge fan of the C7 either). A lot of this comes down to some time I spent with a similar one a couple of years back which was the “S Line Special Edition” which as far as I can tell was sponsored by some sort of international chiropractor association. I hated it with an absolute passion as it had a terrible ride to no handling benefit whatsoever. No mainstream large saloon should be setup like that. Even on a motorway it constantly jiggled and annoyed and felt poorly planted. A dreadful, dreadful car.
It was a shame really because the extra options were nice but it just needed the suspension sorted. So why did I buy another? I have been asking myself that.
That said after a few days I am warming to this SE with its small wheels and softer suspension. The ride still isn’t great to be honest and the body control very average but it doesn’t annoy like an S Line. The Multitronic box actually suits it and it wafts around in a quite satisfying way. On a dark winter night it is inviting and even the stereo is quite decent. Not standard fit Volvo standard but not BMW either.
The seats are not as nice as the S Line sports ones (why, Audi, did you think no lumbar adjustment or front seat height was acceptable?) but OK.
Everything works and it has stood up to miles and years well. As they all now get old the C6 is proving quite a tough old car.
With a new MOT, new gearbox oil, a service about to be done I reckon with a fair wind it will do good winter service. I just hope it’s easier to sell in spring than the BMW. Ironically, I bet it would be easy to sell if it was an S Line as people don’t want the SE – but they are buying the wrong car.
And, finally, the price? £2900 before the undisclosed but generous refund. I still think that is a lot for what it is and the risk factor buying it but hey ho this is the new “cheap” car reality of 2021. And this is how it looks today.
Macron said:
What would that retail at? Obvs the service history doesn't help that, but miles aren't daft, so surely it's worth a lot more than you paid regardless?
Good question. I'd guess about £4.5k depending on circumstances. Although I suppose the next owner won't be buying it "blind" and will have a chance to check for borkage. Someone has clearly done something to this car as it doesn't have the "feel" of an unserviced, unloved example, I did get some stuff of Audi's computer which showed a couple of early services and I think at least the last one in the book at about 86k is genuine. If I service it, provide proof of gearbox service and an advisory free MOT I'm not sure the history make a huge difference. It will need a cambelt at some point.
Bearing in mind the oldest of these are now 17 years old it is surprising how many 05, 06 plate or whatever of these Audis are about.
Edited by confused_buyer on Saturday 6th November 08:57
That looks like a decent salt-road barge, congratulations. Did it come with decent tyres or is that going to be another expense, putting a winter set on?
The paint at the bottom of the sill flaking looking like an aluminium reaction, might be worth a few prods to check nothing major has decided to transform into talcum powder.
The paint at the bottom of the sill flaking looking like an aluminium reaction, might be worth a few prods to check nothing major has decided to transform into talcum powder.
Presumably you know this but I believe 2009 onwards had the stronger and more reliable boxes. I had a 2010 Le Mans edition and had the oil done (not cheap, even at trade price it was over £200!) for peace of mind. I believe it's every 44k or something. Ironically, I also bought mine from BCA sight unseen, in the same colour.
The earlier boxes failed quite a lot, but I am relatively positive they made changes in 2009?
The earlier boxes failed quite a lot, but I am relatively positive they made changes in 2009?
Yes, it's CVT. I know some people don't like them but, reliability concerns aside, if you like a wafting driving style they're quite good (even with a smaller engine). They do seem a lot more reliable after about 2008 with few horror stories reported. They are meant to have a fluid change every 40k but, of course, a lot don't bother which probably causes the issues.
On the auction front if they sell it as described with history and it turns out not to it is misdescribed.
On the auction front if they sell it as described with history and it turns out not to it is misdescribed.
For anyone interested in how this turned out here is the “end of term” report for this car which went off to its new owners (a nice couple and it should do a good job for them) last week.
Overall, I did around 5000 miles in the car which isn’t a huge amount but it never let me down, never gave the slightest indication that it would and generally provided loyal service.
Apart from the initial MOT, service and gearbox service the only extra maintenance I had to do was a front wheel bearing in January (which actually proved quite expensive) and an aircon recharge. The aircon was working but not maybe as cold as it could be, after the recharge it was ferocious.
I sold it for more than I paid for it, but then it was in better condition, and came out about neutral I reckon give or take a few quid excluding fuel.
It was decently economical as well, if not super economical. On a long motorway run it would do high 40s but not quite tip into 50s unless you were very, very gentle.
I know some do not like the Multitronic gearbox but they seem reliable at this year if you change the oil and it suited the car very well. It made it a very pleasant thing to waft about with, particularly in town, as not even the latest 8 or 9 speed boxes can match it for smoothness.
The only downside the car, which in some respects is a big fail on a car like this, is I never found it very comfortable. Audi sold loads of these and no doubt thousands of other drivers were happy but for me a large “executive” saloon with leather, nav and heated seats which doesn’t deliver soothing comfort is ultimately a bit of a let-down.
The first reason for this was the seats which didn’t suit me at all. They miss what I consider to be basic adjustments like independent tilt so you can’t adjust the height of back and front of the base independently. The default position is very flat. There is also no lumber adjustment which wouldn’t matter if they hadn’t designed the seat to feel like someone has stuffed a large, very hard cushion down the back of it digging into your spine.
The second issue is the ride which being generous is poor. I don’t mean it is just hard (which it is) but it is poor in other way as well – it crashes, bounces, pitches and never feels under control. There was nothing wrong with this example, they are all the same. It somehow feels both overly sprung and under damped. The trade off was excellent high-speed stability and relatively flat cornering (assuming the corner had no bumps) but I never found a single road in the UK this setup really worked on.
The truth is as a car to jump into at the end of the day a Focus has better seats and a better ride. I don’t want to label it as stunningly uncomfortable – I did some long journeys in it and got out feeling OK – but it never soothed and never felt in any way cossetting.
Overall, it’s been a decent car. The last of the C6s were well sorted and well built and I’d expect this to have plenty of life left and as long as you can get on with the seats and ride make fine old budget barges.
I replaced it with a 5-Series of slightly questionable provenance which I’ll do a thread on if anyone is interested.
Here the Audi is the week before its departure:
Overall, I did around 5000 miles in the car which isn’t a huge amount but it never let me down, never gave the slightest indication that it would and generally provided loyal service.
Apart from the initial MOT, service and gearbox service the only extra maintenance I had to do was a front wheel bearing in January (which actually proved quite expensive) and an aircon recharge. The aircon was working but not maybe as cold as it could be, after the recharge it was ferocious.
I sold it for more than I paid for it, but then it was in better condition, and came out about neutral I reckon give or take a few quid excluding fuel.
It was decently economical as well, if not super economical. On a long motorway run it would do high 40s but not quite tip into 50s unless you were very, very gentle.
I know some do not like the Multitronic gearbox but they seem reliable at this year if you change the oil and it suited the car very well. It made it a very pleasant thing to waft about with, particularly in town, as not even the latest 8 or 9 speed boxes can match it for smoothness.
The only downside the car, which in some respects is a big fail on a car like this, is I never found it very comfortable. Audi sold loads of these and no doubt thousands of other drivers were happy but for me a large “executive” saloon with leather, nav and heated seats which doesn’t deliver soothing comfort is ultimately a bit of a let-down.
The first reason for this was the seats which didn’t suit me at all. They miss what I consider to be basic adjustments like independent tilt so you can’t adjust the height of back and front of the base independently. The default position is very flat. There is also no lumber adjustment which wouldn’t matter if they hadn’t designed the seat to feel like someone has stuffed a large, very hard cushion down the back of it digging into your spine.
The second issue is the ride which being generous is poor. I don’t mean it is just hard (which it is) but it is poor in other way as well – it crashes, bounces, pitches and never feels under control. There was nothing wrong with this example, they are all the same. It somehow feels both overly sprung and under damped. The trade off was excellent high-speed stability and relatively flat cornering (assuming the corner had no bumps) but I never found a single road in the UK this setup really worked on.
The truth is as a car to jump into at the end of the day a Focus has better seats and a better ride. I don’t want to label it as stunningly uncomfortable – I did some long journeys in it and got out feeling OK – but it never soothed and never felt in any way cossetting.
Overall, it’s been a decent car. The last of the C6s were well sorted and well built and I’d expect this to have plenty of life left and as long as you can get on with the seats and ride make fine old budget barges.
I replaced it with a 5-Series of slightly questionable provenance which I’ll do a thread on if anyone is interested.
Here the Audi is the week before its departure:
id an A6....C6
2.7 TDI fwd SE manual.. and it was rather dependable... 160k miles in it i put over 100k on it.
routine servicing.... and it went well.
have to say they were good cars out of the s-line suspension. sports cars they were not. glad you updated and that it served you well.
2.7 TDI fwd SE manual.. and it was rather dependable... 160k miles in it i put over 100k on it.
routine servicing.... and it went well.
have to say they were good cars out of the s-line suspension. sports cars they were not. glad you updated and that it served you well.
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