Trian

I am trying to get a gauge on problems anybody might have with their 2011 A6. I have 11 months left on my lease and I was thinking of buying it at the end but I seem to be having continual problems and I want to see if I am having a run of bad luck or whether this can be considered normal. I have a 2011 A6 3.0T Prestige, with about 32,000 miles.

2 days ago my car overheated during normal city driving and when I called them they said to have it towed in. The dealer says it is the thermostat. 2 months prior I got a TPM (tire pressure monitor) code and at the same time the transmission would shift itself back and forth between 5th and 6th gear. They had to change out a USB module (?). 4-5 months prior I had the a/c fail.....fan on the passenger side (?) was the culprit. Also, in the last week, there is a near-continual squeak coming from underneath the car - sounds like very old shocks on a 60's Chev that squeaks over every bump - still waiting word on that. Also, it took them about 4 visits/tries before they finally fixed the window washer line so that the passenger side got some fluid. And.....after 4/5 tries they are still unable to fix a rattle coming from the center console.

As I said, I have been thinking of buying it at lease end but now I am starting to wonder. I know new cars will always have some issues that need to be taken care of, but this is my first new car and I need some guidance on whether this is sort of normal

Trian

Just a little update. The tech says the newly installed thermostat is redesigned as they have had a number of thermostat failures.

Da Hapa

I believe there was a recall for that.

We have and love a 2010 A6 Avant 3.0T (Prestige with 18" sports pacakge). Wonderful driving car and an excellent package. But to be honest, it's been anything but trouble free.

Audi makes some great driving cars but there's a reason why extended warrantees are so expensive on them.

My suggestion, if you're going to keep it, is to CPO the car or look into a high quality extended warranty (like Fidelity).

Robokam

I also have a 2010 A6 Premium Plus and had the thermostat fail as well. I was in Las Vegas when it happened on Memorial Day weekend. I ended up having to extend my stay until the dealer opened on Tuesday, had it towed there, and found out they had the thermostat but no o-rings so they had to order that. Ended staying until Wednesday and finally got to go home. So far no other issues.

NR04

I agree with getting the CPO'd before purchasing if you decide to keep the car. The dealer might offer you a deal since they can turn around and sell it to you.

I have 2009 3.0T and my warranty just ran out. As Da Hapa mentioned, it is far from trouble free. There hasn't been any big failures but there are some nagging issues that dealers just can't seem to fix.

Now my engine makes that dreaded grind/rattle noise when starting from cold. Had a chance to take it into a dealership before the warranty ran out, but they checked it off as a "normal behavior". From what I understand this symptom could last for years or could be a start of timing chain tensioner failure. If latter, it will cost me over $7K.

I'm waiting for my local dealer to quote me their extended warranty. Costco also sells warranty through third party vendor. They quoted me $2,500 for 2 yr/24K mi warranty with a $500 deductible. There is no reimbursement, they will just work with the dealership directly. I plan on purchasing either one in next few days because I have decided to keep the car for next two years.

audi40

There was a recall for the thermostat...not sure if it applied to the 2011 model year, but I would think so. I've got almost 47k miles on my 2010 A6 and have had no real complaints/service issues with the car. Other than standard maintenance (covered by Audicare), here's what I've had done in 38 months of ownership:

*Thermostat recall (done prior to having any problem)
*Radiator mountings "service campaign"
*replaced tires @ 38k miles, with alignment
*front & rear brake pads replaced around 35k miles
*2 oil consumption tests (under warranty) after I began to get low oil warning lights every 3k miles or so - after both came back "within spec", I've since learned to "live" with a quart of Mobil 1 always in my trunk
*had center rear seatbelt mechanism replaced under warranty after 2-3 visits for an "airbag warning light"

My dealerhsip's service dept. has been great to deal with and since I generally am able to get Audi loaner cars (having had A3, A4, A6, Q5 and Q7's at various times), I have no real complaints. Having said that, and closing in on the expiration of my warranty in 3k more miles, I am looking forward to the arrival of my new A6 TDI in a few more weeks

Trian

I love driving everyday but I guess I am going to wait 6 months and then do the numbers and decide whether I walk away at the end of the lease, get a new Audi, buy it or buy it & sell.

Da Hapa

I'm not sure if this is helpful since you're already out of warranty but in my research (we're also debating whether to keep our Audi (long since paid off) and buy an extended warranty or sell it for something else), I found this online retailer that sells Fidelity Platinum warrantees for Audi at far cheaper prices than what I have been able to find elsewhere. It might be worth an email just to check prices.

http://fd-warranty.com/index.html