Hi, I own an 04 A4 1.8T 147K miles I do love it, but it's time to get another car. Love 06 A6 and A8, but I am scare about maintenance cost on A8. Anybody knows if is a big difference? Will an A6 or A8 make a hole in my pocket compare to my A4?

Thanks.

 

Hi,

As you are looking for a bigger car, but are coming from an A4, I would say an A6 should do nicely for you.

In terms of maintenance, how about checking out a site such as ecstuning.com and check the prices for service parts for the two vehicles you are looking to get. Compare things like brake pads, rotor prices, and your normal servicing parts. There are a number of common issues that owners of the older Audi's know about for both the A6 and A8. Hopefully someone can chip in on what is most likely to go bad on which particular vehicle.

You can post on the A8 section as to common problems for the year and model you are interested in.

I would guess that A8 service parts cost more than for an A6. From what I've seen for even older A6s and A8s, is that the A8s are going for less than the A6s. Partially down to maintenance and running costs I guess.

I know I haven't given you an exact dollar amount, but if you can narrow it down a bit to a particular model that would help other provide some better replies.

All the best, whatever you get.

 

A high end A6 is less than a low end A8 so I would go for the A6 4.2 with some extra goodies .

Heck you can get an S6 for around the same $ as an A8 .

 

Thanks guys, I did test drive the 3.2 and the ride is nice, a little bit lazy but no that bad. I'll like to test drive the 4.2 I've heard it better. Because the money I have to go with about 60K miles (only $24,000 to spend), but I don't want a hole in my packet with maintenance and most important, I don't know common problems. Is the 3.2 or the 4.2 more reliable?

 

I spent just under 24k for a 2005 A6 4.2 with 35k miles and have absolutely no regrets . It was (and still is) like new and has loads more power than the 2.8 I was driving before .

 

I can tell you that the 4.2L V8 is almost bulletproof, if properly maintained of course. I own a 2006 A6 4.2. As far as I know the 3.2L is also a very good engine. The 3.2 gets better gas mileage, but not by much. 1mpg better in city and 1mpg, maybe 2mpg better on the highway. The 4.2 is much more fun though.

 

The FSI engines have a sludge problem. The 3.2 has been an FSI engine since inception in 2005. The 4.2 did not go FSI until 2007. So if you are looking at 2006 I would say that the 4.2 is more reliable. Either way an extended warranty is a must on these cars.