Sorry in advance for the new guy asking questions right away post but my wife and I are looking at getting our first Audi and I wanted to school myself on what to watch out for. We are looking at 99-2005 A6 wagons with an auto trans. The mileage will most likely be at or above 100,000.Are there any years to avoid?? Or super common problems? We were looking at Volvos!! 2001-2002 are the years to stay away from on those because of the transmissions. The Audi looks A LOT better and should be much more fun to drive.....Thanks in advance for any input!

 

Years to avoid : 1999 - 2005.
List of common problems: extensive.

Comprende?

 

Some seem to have no trouble, and some have over 200,000 miles. Is it that bad? Can you be more specific?

 

Audi is for you if you can put aside $1,500 yearly for maintenance.
All cars need maintenace with that mileage but Audi is prone to that and more expensive. You can save money if you can wrench.
It is easy 300 - 500 here and there for Audi specialized indy shops. A6 timing belt SERVICE is 105k miles, better find the one already done (with receipt can show you) that will save you about $1000 - $1200.

Rule No.1 - get pre-purchase inspection ($80) by Audi/VW specialized shop before buying.
Rule No.2 - don't go to Audi dealers, very expensive.
Rule No.3 - if no record of transmission service. This has to be done at 60-80k mile recommended by the maker ZF. You can feel the diff after the service, about $300 or so. Again this is 3 hr job and need to be performed under Vag-Com temp monitoring and best by Audi indy shop.

 

Thanks for answering, I do all my own repairs so I know that would help. We like the looks of the car and need something with the third seat. That makes our options pretty slim as we do not want a SUV and I will be dead before I drive a mini van. In all honesty we would probably only keep the car a couple of years until we could buy something new, I just do not want to replace an engine or trans.

 

The pre-purchase inspection is the purpose of avoiding big ticket items, like engine & transmission. Others will be minor if you can wrench. There's a lot DIY step by step posts between here and Audiworld.

Audi A6 Avant is joy to drive if every maintenace is up to par.

 

I'm in a similar situation (see my post). We're currently considering an A6 quattro avant and an A6 allroad (the latter would be great in the snow) but probably will add considerably to the suspension rebuild cost. A bit of digging in the forums suggests the 2.8L engine + ZF (auto) transmission is more reliable than either the 2.7L bi-turbo + auto or the 4.2L + auto. There are 6spd swap kits available (ex posts) if the auto dies. There's also a great link with some tech writeups over at audiworld.

If you do buy a VW Group car, a VAG-COM/VCDS cable would be the 1st tool I'd purchase. It is indispensible for my '01 VW. Otherwise, metalnerd tools for the strange bits and things.

 

Thanks for the good info guys, my wife wants one real bad now and I am looking forward to driving one myself. Now I just have to find the right one.....

 

2002 Avant ... $6700 ... Darien IL
2002 AUDI A6 AVANT QUATTRO

 

Thanks, I will have to check that one out.