Ok, I now have to admit that my a6 is a POS, transmission out today at 54k miles
 

We bought this car new back in 03. Its a 2002 A6 2.7t. It has only 54k miles on it. This is not the first big issue we have had. https://www.audiforums.com/forum/audi-a6-9/02-a6-2-7t-losing-coolant-slowly-95770/. In that link you can see where the car was slowling loosing coolant and they had one heck of a time finding the problem. It might be fixed now, not sure. That repair they gave me new turbos, replaced head gaskets, and a new oil cooler.
Today the transmission was slipping when I would start up from a dead stop. Finally the car wouldnt move in drive at all, and I was forced to coast into a gas station and call for a tow. It was smoking under the hood and when I got out I could see a train of what appeared to be transmissin fluid. It smelled terrible. The car did go in reverse though, cause the tow truck driver did that to get it up on the flatbed. All of the indicators on the dash for park, drive, reverse etc were lit up at the same time. It failed so fast. Made some terrible sounds too when it went out. Afraid to see what this will cost.
Anyone have opinions on what went out? When it was first showing problems it felt like I was getting wheel hop when starting up from a dead stop. I had a Z28 in the past that used to do that and it felt like that. Guess I will know more on Monday when they get to it. Anyone eles have similar experience with this car?

Damn dude, I hope your still under warranty! Sorry your having so much trouble!

The dealer gives all new car buyers a lifetime warranty of the engine and drivetrain. So it should be covered. You jsut have to be sure to have all of the work on your car, mainenance etc, done at this dealer only. I have done that. Last time they even gave me a loaner which I ended up having to drive over 1 month. The dealership is awesome and I hope they come through for me again. I no longer trust Audi's quality or reliability though. This will be my first and only Audi. Bless the dealership though, they have been very kind to me.

Wow, my car has about the same mileage. Shame that you are writing Audi off, but I can understand. I guess european cars and their ability to crap out is not for everyone. The problem is that you will have a very difficult time settling for a Japanese or American made car now that you have been exposed to european dynamics. You could always roll the dice with a Mercedes or BMW, but the results will likely be similar.

Yea, I know exactly where you are coming from. Back in '06, i bought a brand new '07 Dodge Charger Hemi. I loved the car, but I ran into sooooo many little problems with it. It seemed like each problem took a few days before I could get the car back from the dealer.

I finally got rid of it, but I still love the cari

It's freaking ZF.
Porsche 928s have ZF steering racks...they need replacement usually around 80K. Thats ridiculous. There are a lot of ZF trans that seem to exhibit issues.

It is a 5 speed auto with the shifters on the steering wheel. So that transmission is made by ZF? Afraid I know nothing about that. I was told by someone that perhaps when they took out my engine for the other repairs, and I think it might have been done twice, that maybe a seal by the torque converter went bad or something? Its been about 1 year or so since the last engine work was done. I never saw any fluid in my garage or anywhere else until last Friday when something with the tranny went out. Had smoke billowing out of the hood and left a train of transmission fluid down the road all the way to the gas station.

Bad luck with that car....I would guess it had something to do with previous repairs though.....it had to have lost fluid in the trans to burn up like that and with you saying there was trans fluid everywhere i am imagining that is what happend.
I had a 99 and 00 A6 and both were the most reliable cars I have ever owned with proper maintance. You must have gotton a 'lemon'. I have had japanese cars and they dont ride, handle, or look as good and i had more problems with them than I did in my Audi's.

Only thing about the leak theory is that its been almost 1 year since the work on my engine was done. If it was leaking you would think it would have happened a long time ago. That is the part I do not understand. Still no word yet from the dealership as to what went wrong. I am content though since they provided me with a nice loaner.
Like you and others on here have said, its going to be near impossible for me to go back to Japanese cars or american. I am going to stay german since I really do have a strong appreciation for how this car drives. I love that. Next car for me I plan on being a BMW 335ix.