Hello all. I'm considering an Audi to be my next car. I saw the Audi was a contender and a winner in a couple of the Car of the Year magazine competitions. I'm looking for luxury and performance. It seems like the A6 might fill the bill.

I have looked at a couple of other makes. I have crossed off a couple of makes due to maintenance and operating costs. They were both high horsepower luxury cars. The Lexus IS-F is still in the mix even with it's tendency to eat tires for lunch.

I'm looking at the Audi because of the all wheel drive which would extend the driving season in western New York. We get a average of ten feet of snow yearly. The Audi performance is a few ticks off of the Lexus numbers but highway MPG's are better. Since I'll be driving near the speed limit, better MPG's would be the wiser choice.

I intend to do a lot of inter-state traveling with my wife. We had a plan to do that when I got out of the Navy but life got in to way.

Here comes the questions:

1. Which is better - 2011 or 2012?

2. What are the common problem areas that owners have encountered?

3. Is the A6 a good inter-state vehicle?

Thanks!

 

On the subject of driving, I have a 2004 so it wouldn't relate to a new one but it is the best driving car I've had, just quiet, smooth and pleasant to drive. I can't quite put my finger on it but I prefer it to my Jaguar XJ8 for trips. I have found that the quattro system is uncanny in snow and ice, best bad weather car I've had, better by far than my Jeep. It will go when nothing else out there can move. I remember all the years I went skiing in Stowe and coming home at night on black ice, the Audi would have made it a lot less scary.

 

I regularly put in 1200 mile weekend trips with my A6 and it is stellar. Comfortable, quiet, and plenty of power at the speed limit or above. I just came back from a 5000 mile trip from MI to CT to FL to TX and back. Reliability is not as good as the premium Jap brands, but it is getting better and if you do all the maintenance, it should last. I am pushing 196k on mine, mostly stock and oem (other than now having to replace the cats). Our winters in western MI match or exceed yours, and quattro is awesome in snow and the ABS handles ice as well as can be expected. I drove across the state to Detroit for 5 years in all kinds of whether, and the car handled great and was in control in snowstorms, and where other FWD/RWD were reduced to 20 mph, I blew by at 30-40 (ignoring the SUVs who passed me and eventually ended up in the ditch, a few times).

 

Thanks for the replies.

I've been poking around, found some info which leads to many more questions. I tried to find a car at a dealer in the Midnight Blue/nougat with the features I liked... Looks like it will be a 2012 and I'll be ordering if I go with the Audi.

I really like those LED headlights and the heat sensing heads up display on the windshield. That should be handy in deer country.