The search for the next OTS mobile is a gnats todger away from completion.

In current pole position is the Audi A6 Avant 2.0 tdi Quattro S-Line.

I’ve got a stonking offer on a brand new one (PCP) to replace the BMW.

So lets have your tails of woe, should be getting a leccy motor, and any other pertinent or impertinent views on the motor.

Go!

Well, it’s a nice car.

be aware, a certain % of people may think you are a (whatever, it really doesn’t matter) because it has an audi badge on the front.

wouldn’t bother me, it’s a nice car.

Bro in law had the latest a6 two years ago. Nice car but the stereo/Sat nav is bobbins. Proper low tech unless you upgraded it but it was something like a 1500 quid extra.

Mmmm – didn’t look at the sat nav / stereo. But it can’t be any worse than the Bimmer, even with the Harmon Kardon upgrade.

All cars can go wrong. If you like the A6 and the price is right go for it.

Is a two litre lump a little underpowered in an A6?

No experience of an A6 other than it’s bigger than an A4, but have driven a few VAG two litre diesel lumps.

I have one, same as that but SE rather than S Line. I bought it new last March and it now has 20k miles on it.  I was advised against the S Line as it has a harsh ride compared to SE version. Lovely car and I cannot fault it in any way. I replaced the tyres in December at 16k miles and put CrossClimates on it, which are better, especially in the snow and ice where it performed very well.

The infotainment and Satnav are last generation and not as intuitive as the version on wife’s 8 month old Q2.

Brother in laws is plenty nippy, pulls really well especially in the wet being 4wd, he does comment sometimes that he wished he’d had the bigger engine though. Real world fuel economy not that good though which is another reason he wishes he’ gone for the bigger engine.

No joke with the sat nav tho, it really is proper low rent for a 40k motor no touch screen or the like but that may be different now. It’ not quite two years old actually got it in August 2016 but I’ve no idea if the model has changed.

I do believe he also has to use Audi only servicing as part of his lease deal which meant first service was just over 500 quid. Not looking forward to tyres either as it sits on 20’s.

Other than all that it’s a lovely car 😉

Thanks for the comments. The test drive was plenty quick enough for my grandad driving 🙂

it looks as though it might have Apple Play – or whatever it’s called to view and control the phone  on the screen, so I might be able to use waze 🤞

Mate had a non quattro version.  He had been in BMWs for years but fancied a change and went for the A6 avant.  Great for bikes. Lovely looking car. Had something like 18 visits to the dealer for warranty issues in two years.  It started around a couple weeks after delivery. I can’t remember them all:

Various door rattles – wrong clips used in manufacture.

Various dash rattles – dash removed and refitted a couple of times.

Warnings lights on/off depending on terrain driven on.

Electronic Handbrake failure

Passenger window opened automatically when car locked depending on outside temperature changes.

Drive shaft failure.

Front headlight failure.  Self levelling paddle moving spontaneously up an down.

The last spell saw it in the garage for 4 weeks plus with Audi and an independent trying to find the source of the problem of the moment.

Thankfully it was a company car through a lease.  The lease company took it back. He’s going back to BMW.

Think of the children . Buy a milk float.

Think of your balls, buy a large capacity RWD V8.

You’ll be dripping in clunge.

They’re a nice looking motor – I idly pondered one recently. However…. Everyone, and I mean *everyone* I know with a VAG vehicle has had issues with it. They all seem to like them, but they’ve all been back to dealers multiple times, and for a range of stuff – creaks and rattles, DSG gearbox failures, various electrical faults – headlight bulbs regularly blowing, dash warning lights randomly on/off, electric window failure, trim falling off, mpg nothing like quoted (1.4 petrol), haldex clutch failure (spectacularly!) Etc… Etc….  The weird thing is most of the owners I know defend them like crazy, so despite all the faults they either like them a lot or are desperately trying to justify their decision!

Watch out for some expensive parts – some models on very low profile 20″ tyres for example, which are £££ to replace.

Personally I wouldn’t buy a new one privately, would only have one if it’s a company vehicle with the cost liability on someone else.

Is a two litre lump a little underpowered in an A6?

Nope, unless you have expectations of supercar performance, they feel plenty quick enough.  Lots of bigger, heavier cars (XC90, X5, Range Rover Sport) come with 2L diesels these days, and offer adequate/reasonable performance (again, depending on your expectations).  I’d guess 90% of A6’s are sold as 2L diesels.

They’re a nice looking motor – I idly pondered one recently. However…. Everyone, and I mean *everyone* I know with a VAG vehicle has had issues with it. They all seem to like them, but they’ve all been back to dealers multiple times, and for a range of stuff – creaks and rattles, DSG gearbox failures, various electrical faults – headlight bulbs regularly blowing, dash warning lights randomly on/off, electric window failure, trim falling off, mpg nothing like quoted (1.4 petrol), haldex clutch failure (spectacularly!) Etc… Etc….  The weird thing is most of the owners I know defend them like crazy, so despite all the faults they either like them a lot or are desperately trying to justify their decision!

For balance, my last 4 cars (all from new, kept for 2 years) have been VAG, and I’ve not had a single fault of any kind on any of them.  I don’t have any particular brand loyalty, and I’m certainly not a VAG fanboy, but happy to keep choosing them as I’ve been happy with the build quality and reliability.  Beyond the ones I own, I get to drive a lot of cars, and I’ve not noticed VAG cars having more issues than other brands – if anything the quality is much better than most.

I’ve had 2 A6’s and a Passat from 0  to a combined total of ~200k miles and 14 years. I had a window regulator go once and… that’s it apart from normal servicing. The A6’s were cheaper overall to service than my wife’s Focus. They were on flexible servicing which worked out every 20k or 18 months whilst the Focus was annual.

I’m driving a Vulva now for a change <sigh>

it looks as though it might have Apple Play – or whatever it’s called to view and control the phone on the screen, so I might be able to use waze

This might have changed recently but as far as I’m aware you can only use Waze on the screen through Android Auto, CarPlay is locked to Apple Maps (a quick google this morning suggests there are workarounds but nothing supported on the screen). I think Spotify is one of the only non-Apple apps that they support through CarPlay’s OS.

I’d love to be wrong though, being able to use Waze on the car play screen would be great as it’s far superior to Apple Maps!

Stonking deal, because its a run out model now.

I looked at one as i’m looking at a new car to use my car allowance on.

I can’t get past the relatively dated interior. It looks awful compared to the G31 5 series. I’d argue it’s even pretty bad compared to the previous F11 5 series.

I’ve look at the Skoda Superb as well, I think that’s a better car than the current A6.

I’m currently on my second C7 A6 Avant, the first was a 2013 S Line Multitronic and my current one is a 2017 Black Edition S-Tronic, both 2.0 diesels. I didn’t have any issues at all with the first one and I’ve only had the new ones six months so nothing to report. I think they’re a great family car and it’s the best looking large estate you can buy IMO (although the latest Volvo V90 looks nice).

Claimed MPG is not achievable though but I think that’s a given for most manufacturers, I get about 40-42mpg with a mix of in town and longer commute. It’s also a big beast of a car and overhangs every parking space which can be a bit of a pain at times.

Also watch out for how you spec the car as if the list price is over 40k you’ll be looking at 472 quid road tax 🙁

My last two A6 Avants, a 2.5 and then a 2.7TDi went to 175k and 203k respectively before I sold them. Servicing was reasonable, especially given that the intervals were 20k miles. The 2.7 did suffer a common rail fracture at 201k, which was entertaining (amazing how much diesel can get through a tiny hole at 1500psi), and one of the heated seats stopped heating, but apart from that they were trouble free. They were also really comfortable and pretty nice places to be when you were spending 5 or 6 hours a day driving. The 2.7 was an S-Line, I never felt that it was too harsh, but the handling and grip were excellent.
I am also now driving a V60, poorer build quality, the 2.0l engine manages to be slower but just as thirsty as the Audi’s 2.7 v6, handling is very sloppy by comparison. But the seats are comfy.

Thanks for the comments. I’m due to pick it up early next week – VERY excited as I’ve never had a brand new car before.

apple maps vs waze makes me a bit sad though – might have to get a dedicated android phone for the car 🤔

There were some brilliant deals on the Tech Pack that upgrades the satnav and dash display and drags the connectivity into the modern era.

Still not as good as the Volvo S/V90 has as standard

Tech pack was a tempting offer when I got mine March 17, but it pushed the list price over the 40k, with VED implications. When I ordered mine back in Jan 17 there were amazing discounts, I got about 10k off it on a 4yr PCP, making it a lot less a month than the equivalent Superb Estate that I was initially wanting.

i imagine deals are even better now !

I had 2013 (new at the time) A6 2.0 tdi multitronic.

Fuel consumption was crap.  If you drove it gently some of the time it would go above 40mpg!

Only slightly better than the Q7 3.0 tdi that I had changed from.

As above, I’ve just got my SE Avant on a 4 yr lease. 20k miles a year for £340/month with a £1k deposit. Much cheaper than any equivalent.

The 2l is great. Plenty of poke, and averaging about 50mpg so far.

I went for the tech pack upgrade – better satnav(put a Tesco SIM card in, and the online traffic predictor is as good as the TomTom smartphone one) – It uses either google maps or Audi own.

It doesn’t have Apple Play or Android Auto, but it does link to my phone and play/interact with my Spotify, whilst the phone wirelessly charges in the Phonbox.

I also stayed away from the Sportline as I didn’t want hard suspension and low profiles. It rides really well. No sport seats, but the SE does have heated leather, great Xenon headlights and electric tailgate.

I haven’t done the “how to drive like a dick” course yet, but I think I’m getting the hang of it 😎

I went through a similar process recently. I *think* that I’ll go for the Passat R line estate 2.0L FSI. 220BHP petrol, loaded with goodies even the panoramic sunroof is standard. Carwow offered me a brand new one for £28.5K with a few extras. I’d get shat all A6 for that. Head nearly got turned by a lease on a 630 GT M sport though! They are lovely but owning is for me I think.

Wrecker – you’d be surprised on the Audi PCP deals. My A6 was £26.5k on carwow. Audi also offer very low finance rates & high residuals. I looked at VW, Audi, Skoda, merc and lots of 4×4. The A6 deal was the best I could find.

The basic SE (get the tech pack for £950) is a 195hp 2.0tdi, with plenty of poke in dynamic mode. I wanted the Quattro but it pushed it over the 40k (value not actual price ) VED threshold, adding £500/ yr to the VED 😳

Thought I’d update this.

I’ve had my A6 Avant 2.0tdi Quattro for 2 weeks and 1500 miles now.

It’s very comfortable mile muncher, slightly barge like but with a bit of go.

It’s different from the 320d Touring xDrive it replaced – some bits better, some bits worse, but on the whole it’s not a bad motor.

We have just been looking at the none Quattro version because as you say there’s some great deals about.

Decided against in the end as we’d be getting it because of the deal rather than because we wanted one. They’re just a bit meh and although they’re lovely to sit in it’s all a bit clinical and cold. Also thought that we’d prefer the latest wiz bang version of any car rather than a run out model as the tech is one generation behind. Vain? Maybe but even with the good discounts atm it’s still a lot to spend on something that’s not our first choice.