Hi,

I am new to this forum. I live in Miami and am looking to buy either a used Audi A4 or A6 for my fiance. Car should have less than 100,000 miles and be MY 2003 or newer. Budget is maximum of 12K. I have been checking autotrader.com and ebay motors and I keep seeing listings for A6 (less than 100K miles MY 2003) for same price or less than a comparable A4. Why is that? Did the A6 depreciate significantly faster than the A4 model?

Also, is this a problematic model (the A6)? I am avoiding used Jaguars because of their bad reliability. Should I be afraid of an used Audi (A4 or A6)? How reliable are they?

Thanks from a newbie to the site.

Richard

 

Yes, the A6 has depreciated significantly faster than the A4. The A6 isn't a sporty car, there is lots of competition and they have a less than stellar reputation. Which, for us that can do our own maintenance and want a luxury car instead of a sports car, makes the A6 a pretty good deal!

Bob

 

What do you mean the A6 has less than "stellar reputation"? I am really not so much interested in the sportiness of the car as to its being a good, reliable (very important) luxury and safe car.

I like its design and want to buy it to my fiance, but she is not very car savvy and will not be able to tell me where a problem is. Also I don't have too much time to work on the car other than normal oil changes, tire rotation.

So is a 2003 A6, a car that will give me "headaches" or a good German-car that will last many many trouble-free miles?

 

It all depends on what you consider reliable. An Audi is a typical European car. It is NO Toyota. The engine you choose will make the biggest difference in reliability. The 2.8/4.2 are generally considered the most reliable with only cam seals/valve cover gasket and timing belts needing to be changed, (4.2 torque converters). the 3.0 is a little more difficult to work on and demands a price premium over the 2.8. The 2.7 is arguably the most fun to own, but the most expensive to repair. General failures are secondary aux pump, possible turbo issues and all 2.8/4.2 issues as well.

That basically covers the most common issues with these cars that are not typical of non VAG cars. Everything else including the TB you will need to do with basically any car.

Determine what your yearly budget is for repairs and make you mind up from there. I have owned my 2.8l a6 for about 2 years, it has 149k miles on it and I have spent about $1000.00 a year on maintenance doing my own repairs.

Jeff

 

Thx. I was looking at the A6 with the 2.7L Turbo V6. I know that any used car will require more maintenance than a new car and European cars more care than a Toyota or Honda.

What I don't want is a nightmare lemon scenario as I once had with my old Lincoln Continental.....alway the problems with teh CV joints, the automatic suspension, oxygen sensor...etc....

I see in the Audi A6 a stylish, well built car, comfortable and safe. But if it will cost me so much in maintenance that I would be better off leasing a new A4 than I would rather do that.

BTW- Being a newbie on Audis, when you mention the 2.8L engine you refer to a totally different engine from the 2.7L Bi-turbo, right?

Thx

 

Correct! The 2.8 V6 is a different engine than the 2.7T V6 which has twin turbos. I owned a 2001 Audi 4.2 V8 and now have a 2007 S4. I think the main two reasons that you are finding the A6 to be cheaper is: 1) It's got a lower reliability rating from Consumer Reports than the A4 and 2) It's a little less sporty of a ride.

The reliability ratings tend to hold more weight in the German cars because they have much higher repair cost than an American car/Japanese car.

I've had over 12 different cars in the last 15 years (I know I'm crazy) and in my opinion you will be happier by leasing a new A4. That way you have the warranty and you don't have to deal with the fairly high deprecation that most German cars have (mainly due to high repair cost & some due to reliability). Of course it's totally your decision of course and good luck.

 

Thank you all for the responses. I was looking between the 2.7L turbo and the 3.0 V6. Given the traffic in South Florida, even the normally aspirate 3.0L engine would be great for me. My main worries being reliability and maintenance costs, I am assuming that the 3.0L would be a better buy than a biturbo engine, no? (please correct me if I am wrong).

Regarding the A4 (I know this is an A6 thread), I have seen some 2001 examples in my area (1.8T less than 80K miles) for less than $8,000.00 I love the way the car looks and the craftsmanship of the interior. Again my concern is if the used A4 will be a garage queen so that my repairs costs would have made leasing a brand new A4 a better proposition.

So in your experience, how is the reliability of used A4s and A6s? I don't mean the expected repairs of a used car, rather the overall opinion if used Audis tend to require a lot of expensive repairs or not.

Thank you all

 

i own a 99 audi a6 2.8Q and i love the car. its probably the best car ive owned and my first european experience. and screw bmw not that i dont love bmw as well but, i think this is the ultimate driving machine.its a great car and i havent put much into it to keep it in tip top condition. ive just done regular matinence and its treated me well. i put in the 04 tail lights and newer headlights with the huge projectors. and it looks like 03, i love it and everyone thinks its a 04, its a beautiful car and i got it from the right person, they took very good care of it.

 

A4's have a better reliability rating than the A6's. Some A6 years rate better than others as with most cars out there so check out a Consumer reports magazine or pay $26.00 for an online subscription to consumer reports to read about reliability ratings on any car.

One key to that rating is there are far more A4's on the market than A6's so the fact that they got better reliability ratings speaks higher to the A4 since there are many more of them to have had potential problems.

I had numerous issues with my 2001 A6 4.2 but I think the 2.8's were more reliable than my 4.2 was.
2001 A6 4.2 issues were:
- Radio was replaced 4 times
- Electronic steering column functionality failed and they took 3 weeks to fix it
- Check engine light came on over 50 times in a 3 year period (Some people will tell you the check engine light is no big deal but my feeling is there is a reason it's coming on and also a reason they couldn't isolate why mine was coming on).
-My front rotors would warp every 10K miles and this is not an exageration. They never deteremined why either other than they stated it was a known issue with the 4.2's. Well that didn't make me feel any better as they never couldpermanently fixed it.

One thing to try is to go to an Audi dealership and just walk in back by the mechanics (yes I've done this when my car was being seviced) and ask them their opinion of which audi's have less tendency to be in the shop. Many of the mechanics will be honest with you as they are not motivated by a potential sale with the answer they provide.

 

Also keep your eye open for some agressive deals on 2008 A4's as the newly redesigned 2009 A4's will be coming out soon so they'll want to move the existing inventory.