I'm going to be looking at a 2001 S6 sedan tomorrow (I'm in Dubai). Have been very interested in the car since I came across it and did a bit of reasearch.

I have heard the tiptronic transmission in these things really starts acting up after a while. I keep forgetting to ask the guy whether it happens to be an auto though (caught up with moving and everything else). Car has about 80,000 miles on it. If it is an auto how common is it for the tranny to start going out at this age?

Are there any other common mis givings with these cars? I'm going to give it a good once over but would like to know if there is anything in particular that I should pay attention. I've always owned and worked on my own turbo Nissans, this will be the first german car I've looked at.

Thanks for any tips.