I don't have a lot of money to buy a car for myself so I'm looking for something that is fun (as I refuse to drive something boring) yet fairly reliable. I'm good with maintence and do most of it myself. The reason i'm here is that I've found a 1996 Audi A6 that is in my price range and fits me fairly well. Is this a good choice of a car for someone who works all the time and doesn't have a lot of money for maintence? I've done some research on the car and I like what I see, but I usually like to hear my info from owners and enthiusiasts. Technically anything is better than my aging and ailing mkIII supra at this point so I am flexible.

 

I don't mean to hijack your thread, but I am looking at a '98 A6 Quattro Avant (what does "Avant" mean anyhow?) Wagon and have the exact same question. I am a fairly competent DIY mechanic, and have worked on cars / trucks of all shapes and sizes, but wanted to post somewhere where people are familiar with the nuances of Audi ownership / wrenching to ask if I am being reasonable in thinking that I will be able to tackle more common issues (CVs, alternator, etc...) on this car, as taking it to a dealership regularly sounds prohibitively expensive.

Also, are there any known (common) issues that I should be aware of with this year / model of Audi before purchasing it?

Any help would be greatly appreciated, as I REALLY like this car, but am pretty apprehensive about getting in over my head, in terms of maint / repair costs.

 

Well you are in luck, I own a 96 A6 Avant. The cars are very well made and reliable but with age comes problems and here is what went on mine. Now keep in mind it will depend on how the car was treated prior to your purchase of it. My 96 A6 Avant came from Conneticut, with no maintinence records so I went in blinded some what for other than the obvious items that could be seen. It has been a great car but because of age it needed some repair. Plus my avant had 164k when I bought it in june and know is going on 170k.

-Rear propshaft seal ( aka rear tranny seal) costed $300 and are know to go out evry 30k or so I think.
-Tranny service $200
-Timming belt maintinence with all required replaced items costed $720.
-Rear axcel seals both sides costed $300
-All cluster bulbs costed $75

It is now in the shop this weekend because of EGR prolems new one didn't fixit so the intake is being pulled for port cleaning. No price on this but its expected to be $400.

I could have saved so much money on self maintinence but I have no time to do such a job anymore and just have the money to pay for it all since I have a better job now.

If you see a carmel or burnning goop on the cats its more than likely the rear tranny seal, you will smell it.

The timming belt I would do asap upon buying if there is no maintinence records of it being done. I checked it and it was all new parts but I was still bothered, I drove it for four months like this untill one day the tensioner started to give out, and started to make a metaly noise. My mechanic said whoever did change it installed the tensioner on backwards, so he said im lucky I made it that long.

Cluster bulbs are obvious, mine were half dead and the ambiet temp and gear shifter selector were dead, if you cant see it clearly in the day time its blown. The ambiet temp and gear selector need to be solderd in.

You will want to check the area where the oil cooler and the oil pan I belive meet, look at the oilfilter houseing and if you see any oil dripping fron the caseing just behind the filter the oil cooler seal is in need of replacement. Mine was leaking badly when I bought my car and I got an extar $200 droped of the price. Its not hard to fix and the seal costed $8 I think at VW.

This is all I can think of right now hope this helps. I had two turbo supras an 89 parts and an 87 turbo targa. It was very problematic and I didn't even get to drive it. I knew they were not that reliable but so manny things were wrong. Hope yours isn't that bad.

http://forums.audiworld.com/a6100/

Go here also, its another Audi fourms with a C4 platform Thats all years 91-94 100 sedans and Avants and 95-97 A6 sedans and 95-98 A6 Avants.

Also I think Avant means wagon.

 

Cool, thank you very much for the info. I've been obsessing over this for the 20 hours since I looked at the car and I'm pretty sure that today is decision day, so any help is greatly appreciated.

 

Ok then glad to help.

I wish mine was a 97 or 98 for the one fact being you can program a flip key to it. I have the flip key but am sad to say its depressing to be unable to use it.

I also picked up my car from the shop today, the EGR and intake port cleaning was $360 with all gaskets, also all new vacuum hoses.

It will need to go back for a coolent hose that is worn in the back of the motor and also a long vacuum type hose in the front of the engine that runs from one side to th motor to the other. I had a regular rubber hose that was just stuck in there so I had my mechanic order me a new factory hose. This goes along with what I said before of not haveing maintinence records and the wrong parts being installed or in the wrong way.

 

Thanks for the Info. I did get a few good years out of the Supra, but its time to change. I did get the 96 A6 and so far I love it. It came with all the service records. (very detailed previous owner took it to the dealer for everything..including dome light bulb changes) so I think i found a well taken care of Audi. So I guess I'll be cruising the forums regularly now.

 

Glad to hear and welcome, I wish I would have waited alittle longer instead of jumping on the first A6 I bought but I am somewhat of an impulse buyer. I am glad I got this one though and im very happy.