Thanks, I appreciate it.

So far 279 Audi A6 owners have signed up to help. A good start, but more remain needed.

Vehicle reliability research

 

Thanks to the help of people here, TrueDelta has been able to provide reliability information on the Audi A6.

The latest results of the Vehicle Reliability Survey, based on owner experiences through the end of September 2008, have been released.

In terms of successful repair trips per 100 vehicles per year:

2000: 131, about average, but very small sample size; based on other results, the actual repair rate is probably worse than average

2001: 184, worse than average, small sample size

2002: 140, worse than average, small sample size

Other years: insufficient data

Descriptions of all reported repairs have been posted to the site, for those interested in that level of detail.

Additional participants would enable more precise results with the next update, in early February.

Car reliability research

 

The latest Car Reliability Survey results were recently posted. The reported number of repair trips per 100 cars per year for the Audi A6:

2005: 95, about average

2002: 132, about average

2001: 177, worse than average

2000: 194, worse than average

Insufficient data so far for other model years and the sample sizes for above results were small and even very small, so they are asterisked and only visible to members or the site itself.

A big thanks to everyone who has been helping. We'll have further updates in May, August, and November. With additional participants we could provide more precise results and include all model years.

We now have a separate results page for each model. The one for the Audi A6:

Audi A6 / S6 reliability comparisons

 

Hi Audi A6 (C6) owners..
I didn't want to start a new thread but I wanted to check in on how reliable you feel this car is and Audi as a whole in recent years? I am looking into purchasing a pre-owned '05 A6 (3.2), but have not owned an Audi before.. I've received the common remarks such as "watch your wallet diminish, own an Audi" and "electronic gremlins". I hate to hear these things, as I've always wanted an Audi. After considering the A4 for a long time, my new family requires more room and after test driving the A6, this is it!

I currently have a SAAB 9-3 and I am not a stranger to electronic gremlins. I'm fairly confident with my way around cars, but don't have all the tools to do my own work ... How likely am I going to be cursing owning a pre-owned Audi, possibly without warranty if I don't splurge for CPO?

I appreciate any thoughts?
Regards, A6-wannabe.

 

05 is the worst year for the C6

 

According to Consumer Reports 05 is the best year for the C6.

 

Interesting. The first year of any redesign is tough, at least until gremlins are ironed out.
By the time I'm ready to purchase I'll likely be looking at 06's since the price will continue to drop.
I suppose it depends on what we tend to see in the forums, anything in particular to watch out for in 05 or 06? I know the MMI seems to be a problem no matter what year.

Anyway, thanks for the replies thus far.

 

It seems unlikely that the 2005 is the best year for the C6, since it was the first year. With any survey you can have inaccurate results.

In the case of TrueDelta's survey, the main thing we need is more participants. With enough owners involved, we'll provide actual repair rates for all model years.

Car reliability research

 

It seems to me that everything gets down to reliability?

A thing that bothers me is that I’ve seen no definition for reliability?
What is the meaning of it?
How reliability is related to maintenance costs and/or to repair costs.
How an intensive ($$$) maintenance schedule reflects on reliability of a car?

Which car is more reliable:
- car A – spends $$$ amount every year on maintenance => never gets stranded on the road,

- car B- spends $ amount every year => fails ones in 6 years due to faulty knock sensor.

Or reliability is the cost to maintain and fix a car in % from the initial value of the car?

Example:

TB replacement:

- A6 – 2.3% (average)
- Subaru -1.3 % (average)

Is the Subaru as twice as more reliable than A6?

Do we agree that the maintenance costs should be proportionally the same on cars with different price tags?

(just mine thoughts on relativity...)

 

Interesting thoughts.

Currently, we just report one stat, the average number of repair trips in which a repair was completed per year.

We'd like to report additional statistics, but these require larger sample sizes, and we don't have them--at least not yet.

Put another way, the more people who participate, the more information we'll be able to provide.

Car reliability research