So I am at a fork in the road concerning my 2003 A6 2.7 Tiptronic and I seek the wisdom and advice of my fellow Audi owners..

I found it in 2011 at a Bellevue, WA stealership with 90k miles, loaded, black on black, bone stock. 3rd Party pre-purchase inspection checked out pristine. It took a while to get over the fact that it's a Tiptronic - as the nearest available Black/Black 6 speed was 2000 miles away in Chicago.. But for about $11 grand off the lot after tax the tip car's proven to be a worthy toy that costs less per month than most cell phone contracts.

Problem is, it's now a middle-aged machine. 114k miles now and within my 24k mile period of ownership i've paid to replace a Coolant Temp Sensor - $400, the Power Steering Pump - $950, and am preparing to replace a faulty Secondary Air Pump to the tune of $800 BUT this isn't what concerns me. I went in prepared for these sort of repairs.

However if I were to restore this thing back to its youth, and up to par with some of the newer gen Audi's and Bimmers - think h&r coilovers, sway bars, engine mounts, chipped, DP's - plus all of the supportive mods & maintenance... the thousands of dollars really add up.

In fact my projected mods & maintenance figure adds up to what could be a healthy down payment on a newer, more reliable car. For example a B7 S4, E36 M3, **** even a 2005 Legacy GT Limited... For $25k or less, so many other tunable semi-practical grocery getters that I can drive hard, with ample passing power and the sort of chassis that I can trust on twisty summer mountain roads.

Then again, I LOVE the 2.7T - I cant wait till the tip gives out so I have a reason to swap in a 6MT. I'd like to chip the K03's. Stance it with 19's. Sort out the chassis... Ah. This is why I bought the A6 in the first place. I know it can be a solid platform for another 60k+ miles, but stock performance is no longer an option for me.

The C5 2.7T has so much potential. But at a price. What do you think? Is it worth the cost or would you ditch it for a newer car? What do you currently own or recommend over a modified C5? And why? I'm having a hard time evaluating the performance - economics ratio here.

 

I have the same year and same engine. I'm at about 130,000 and have to do stuff here and there to it as it breaks / wears down. With a 10 year old car and 130k on the clock, it's to be expected. With the 2.7T (And all Audis) doing the work on your own is the name of the game if you aren't crazy rich. $400 for a coolant temp sensor is absurd. You don't want to know how easy that job is and how many tools were required to change it (Zero).

If you don't do all of the work yourself and you're worried about cost, it's probably time to abandon ship. If you can do the work / have been doing the work on your own, then keep it. I just put my 2.7T all back together and have been driving it for about a week and I forgot how much power it produces with just a 6 under the hood. They ARE great cars, they just take a special kind of TLC to keep them going just right.

 

So true. I've been looking into doing the SAIP myself. I don't own a single tool though, complete N00bie. The DIY option will be a worthwhile education.

As for the $400 Coolant Temp Sensor...part of a larger investigation into the cause of the misfires i experience between 2nd & 3rd gear at WOT. A local shop that I trust had the car for 3 days and couldn't figure it out. Only charged me for a fraction of their labor because they had nothing to show for it. If the "pro's" are struggling, this scares me as a would-be DIY'er. Can't exactly have ol'Girl torn apart in the garage during the work week while I tinker around. Hence my dependency on shops, which I originally accepted in the beginning as cost of ownership. Then again, I could always rent a car during my repair projects and still save on labor.

You got me thinking...

 

You may as well keep it at this point, buy some tools and try and do what you can yourself. I did a track day with mine a couple weeks back and had a blast and ran it a lot harder than some guys with much nicer newer cars but that is part of the fun knowing that if I did stuff it into a wall or blow the engine I could afford to write off the car. I tried to sell this car for over a year when the car was only 4-5 years old and when it had 80k miles and had just had the timing belt, water pumps, seals, and brakes done on it and kept getting offers for 10k and less. I am glad I kept it now.

 

The secondary air pump is actually a good first time do it yourself job. You need a 10mm socket and a 5mm (?) allen wrench. For a first time DIY-er this is probably a two to three hour job. With experience doing them, I can probably knock out a SAIP swap in about 10 minutes. Very simple.

I encourage you to get some basic tools, get the Bosch pump online for between $300-$400 and give it a shot. You would have to go out of your way to do damage to your car to prevent it from driving while doing this job. Even if you don't finish it / get it right, your car will still function fine once it warms up the cats.

 

$11k vs ~ $25k buys a lot of upgrades. The chip made the biggest difference in mine for about a grand, but led to replacing the clutch and FW in a few months. But it has been rock solid since then and even with minor turbo leaking at 216k, I think it has a ways to go. Mechanically she be fine, but is starting to show a little rust in the lower door panels. I toy with the idea of a S4, but with a book value of $3k (maybe) and an S4 costing $25-30k, I have a lot of room for repairs and improvements. Even new turbos and a slight engine rebuild are still a lot less than the new car. Can my ego stand driving around in a 10 year old A6 - probably, since I also have a pair of Chrysler Crossfires to entertain me in the summer. And nothing beats the A6 in the winter snow.

 

I think the same thing. I have a '03 2.7t as well and I have a BMW M6 to drive around when the weather is nice. the 2.7t is such a great cruising car though and I just can't see myself getting rid of it anytime soon.

Although, some of the work I have to do to it really makes me want to sell it.

 

I'm realizing a couple grand in engine tuning alone will put the 2.7t well within the HP and power-weight range of a lot later model sport sedans in the same class.

IMO the C5 A6 still looks good parked valet next to 2012 and 2013 model BMW's & Audi's. Can my ego handle driving a 10 year old Audi A6 vs. a B7 or B8 S4? Being 25 years old myself, with an average salary & nothing to prove, I'm sure I can think of some other toys to throw my hard earned money away on. My Girlfriend votes 26 foot boat, I vote Ducati 848. Though I doubt I'll win this one... LOL.

Thanks for the perspective Guys. I have a feeling the 'ol A6 will give me 60 or 70k more miles of service. Just need to look into doing some of the maintenance myself.