Hi All,

I am a new member and would like to ask your opinion on a possible purchase. I am looking at a 2003 A6 2.7T, at 115K for $7900. I have been looking around for a few months, and have tried to get as much information from the different sites and forums, but would like to get your real world opinion, considering the maintenance costs, as well as your own experiences on things that has gone wrong when you hit the 115K mile mark in your vehicle.

I am sort of on the fence on this one, I would like to buy it now! but my practical side (which has saved me from many a bad decision in the past) is saying no. Is it overpriced? I would appreciate your expert opinions. Thanks!

 

The price all depends on what maintenance has been done, and what still needs to be done.

What do you know about the car? Is it a dealer or private party? Have you had a mechanic check it out? Are you able to change things yourself, and can you budget ~100.00 a month on top of your car payment for repairs?

Welcome to the Forums.

 

Thanks Jeffla!

It is a private seller, and a lady. Her father did most of the maintenance according to her so she does not know much about the history. I noticed your from Minneapolis, do you know any good non-dealership mechanics in the Twin Cities area? That seems to be the safest thing to do to lessen my risk of getting lemon

That's a good way of budgeting it, putting aside $100 a month for repairs. I could do that, but is the 7900 price not a ripoff you think, if the car was maintained normally?

 

I'm so out of touch with what our cars are worth, someone else should answer that part.

There are 2 places I recommend for service:

1. Imola Motorsports http://www.imolamotorsports.com/_root/

2. German Auto Works //germanautoworks.com/site/

#1 is run by a local guy and his wife, Kevin Tan, who is a frequent poster on MNAUDI.com. He is a good guy with good prices. Imola recently changed my timing belt (all that crap), serp tensioner and a bunch of other stuff. Can't go wrong with either shop.

#2. is kind of expensive but they do great work.

I would ask the lady, to ask her dad what has been done. It is more important than you know. @115k it is possible they never changed the timing belt, unlikely, but possible. Don't want to learn it wasn't @ 120k. But don't want to change it if you don't have to.

 

Thanks Jeffla. I'll give Kevin a call on Monday and set up an appointment to get the car checked out. Appreciate it sir! So you think and Audi A6 at 115K is not its twilight years yet?

 

I would make sure you have a mechanic check it out THOROUGHLY if all the repairs were done by her father. Maybe he was good, maybe he wasnt. That is a huge point of contention for me. Also, is it a standard or auto? For an auto that is a high price IMO. The manuals are a little rarer so thats why I might think about looking some more if its auto. Also, that extra 100$ is a big one. It might not cost 100$ every single month, but at the least every few months less routine maintenance costs a few hundred.

The a6 2.7 is a great car as long as you dont spending the extra bucks to keep them in top shape.

 

I bought my 00 with 114k on it and it has been a great car. But ANY car with 115k miles on it will need a bunch of stuff replaced. Things like struts, control arms, engine mounts, coil packs, plugs....blah blah blah. I do not regret buying my car at all, my only regret is getting Bilstein HD shocks, they are way too harsh.

You'll like Imola, it's like walking into Audi/BMW heaven. Maybe I'll see you there Monday, I have to have them look at a sqeeking pulley.

 

With $100 put aside for repairs - one could wait till retirement to gather the $$$ to fix failing turbos and TC.

 

Way too much, IMO, unless all of the below has been done:
1. Timing Belt (it had better!!!!)
2. O2 sensors
3. Shocks / struts
4. Tie rod ends
5. Maybe even control arms - but depends on conditions driven in - a couple of mine went bad before 100k because I've been living on a brick street for the last 20k miles - and it was in Chicago and Boston before that.
6. Turbos are KNOWN to be in good working order
7. Probably engine mounts

But, the car is barely broken in, otherwise.