Hello everyone, I'm new to this forum and have never owned an Audi, but I'm thinking about buying a 2002 A6 AWD 3.0 from a friend of mine. He is the second owner, and I know the first owner as well. The car has 120,000 miles on it and drives well. No dents or rust either. Its a very nice car and the price is 9500.00. I'm concerned about the high milage costing me big bucks in major repairs down the road. I'm looking to find out if there are any common problems associated with high milage A6 3.0's. Specifically with the drivetrain. Any advice would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance and Happy holidays. Paul.

 

Make sure to check that the owner did the timing belt and tensioners and thermostat at ~90-95K. I just had my '02 3.0 in for the timing belt change at 92K. Its really an amazing car. Have had little to no problems with it.

 

^ Agree. Check the maintenance history. $9500 isn't a bad price. It's a little low actually, which could mean that your friend knows that the timing belt has not been replaced. If you have to get the timing belt replaced, my guess is you'll be close to breaking even between what it's worth and the asking price. The 3.0 is a pretty good motor. It's more basic than the 2.7T and easier and in a lot of ways, cheaper to maintain. Go for it!

 

I recently paid $10,500 for mine with 90,000 and I was happy with that. I'll have to do the timing belt but alot had been done. Control arms, tranny rebuild, cat converter.
Any of these repairs that have already been done sweeten the deal.

 

ONly a few $K more for my 4.2L with 116K...

 

Thanks to everyone for the advice. My friend is going to have the timing belt / water pump service done this week before I get it. He may absorb the cost, he's not sure yet. Depends how much it will cost him. He did say before that the car was due for spark plug replacement and he was quoted 500.00. What the hell is involved in replacing plugs on a 3.0 to make it a 500.00 job? Anyone know? I'm very mechanical and was hoping to do it myself. I noticed that Catdog mentioned servicing his control arms. Are they a problem part needing frequent service? Happy New Year!

 

Do a search and you'll see the control arms are not an uncommon issue on these cars in general. The PO paid about $1000each side to replace control arms. They should not have to be done again for a long time.
I started looking at A6's because on Pelican Parts (a Porsche forum), the A6 seemed tocome up more often than any other family type car. Like a Porsche the Audi is incredibly well put togeather, like a Porsche they are also expensive to repair if you're not doing the work yourself. So when buying one, it is imperative to have it well checked out and the more work that has been done the better. I would buy a car with higher miles that has been taken care of and has the usual issues corrected than a lower mile car any day as long as its pretty.
I kinda wanted the 3.0 because this is a family sedan so I didn't care about the increased performance and gas consumption. The 3.0 has plenty of pick up for our needs, it's no dog. There's nothing wrong with the 3.0, it depends on what you want.
$500 is stupid for a plug change, you can do it yourself.
We are very pleased with our car. If you're looking at German sedans, there is no car close to this for the money.

 

I just hadnew spark plugs installed, an oil change, plus gas filterdone at my local indie for $236. I supplied the Mobil1 oil and he provided the other parts. So $500 is ridiculous.

Get as much info on maintenance work done as possible. TheA6s are reliable if the work is done as required and they are not abused. I am close to 110k on my 2.7T and expect to keep it for a long time. But be prepared to drop $1-2k once per year for something that needs work - as stated earlier, they are not cheap to repair. But $2k/year is a lot cheaper than car payments and not a bad annual price for a sweet luxury car. It may be worth a few bucks to have the car properly inspected by someone who knows Audis. That way no surprises come between you and your friend. If he does the timing belt job right, it should cost around $1000-1200 from an good indie and maybe $1500-1800 at a dealer.