Hi All,

New to the board but not entirely new to Audi. Currently have a 2001 TT and looking at trading in for an A6.

I'm looking at two, both around the same price:

2002 4.2L quattro w/70k miles
2004 3.0L quattro w/109k miles.

Have carfax for both and nothing bad on them. The 2004 is a one-owner. The timing belt/water pump, etc. was just done last week. The 2002 is a 3 owner.

Any advice on which one won't give me anxiety to the point of night sweats about reliability? I'm leaning toward the 2002 because of the lower miles, V8 engine and more toys.

I know Audi's aren't the cheapest to fix and maintain since I own one already. Just looking for some wisdom of someone who has had experience with the 3.0 and 4.2 A6.

 

given the choice, and all other things being comparable, go with the 4.2

the 2.8 and the 4.2 are generally considered the most reliable of the powerplants available in the C5 A6s.

The 3.0 is a poor choice due to the fact that it is the most difficult to work on.

as long as gas prices aren't a concern....


-just my opinion

 

I can only agree with 02A6Beau - my personal choice would be the 4.2 as well. Guess that might be because I actually went for it and can tell you first hand that it has been a pleasure.

The Mileage however indicates you will have to think about a timing belt change soon. I did mine at 82k since I had to blow out the radiator (it was clogged with old coolant and/or dirt) and change the thermostat.
Make sure you are willing to throw 1500-2000 $ at it or do the work yourself and pay only 500-700$.

Next thing was my MAF acted up and threw a bunch of codes. Very easy fix and not very expensive.

After that I read about the coil pack issues and replaced all coil packs and spark plugs - Huge mileage and performance improvement. (Highly recommended).


These are just some things to consider once you have the car - more to follow but the car never let me down and is (2) tons of fun.

 

3.0 is engine - worse than avg, while 4.2 is torque converter - worse than avg.

If you take 4.2, keep up the transmission service interval of 60k mile.

 

Thanks for the info. It's probably going to be the 4.2 then. I'm going to have the shop that works on my TT check out the A6 and make sure one of the previous owners didn't put another chip in it or do something else cute like that. I'll get prices on transmission service while it's there.

 

I would go with the 4.2. It is a much stronger engine and it has fewer miles.

 

I'd be more worried about being the 4th owner and wondering why the other three (or first two) owner's dumped the car. I have read a large number of posts where the tranny gave it up due to the power, and these seemed to be $3k repairs. I agree the 3.0 mileage is higher but it also just had the timing belt done. It also does not have turbos (a good thing at high mileage). My daughter's 2003 A4 is the 3.0 and it has been fine, given she has driven it from 69k to 92k miles. If you have a shop that works on your TT, I am sure they can handle the 3.0 and it won't cause any more "effort" than a 4.2 engine. (The only negative I know is that the book calls for a couple more hours to do the timing belt than the 2.7T, but it has already been done for you.)

 

I know many people here hate the 3.0L engine, but my 2002 3.0L with >130k miles is running in good shape so far, engine and tranny.