lataf

Hello everyone. After many years away from Audi, I'm thinking about picking up a used A6. I previously had a 2000 A4 and while very fun to drive, it had many expensive problems. Does anyone know how the dependability of a 2006 A6 3.2 quattro ranks? This car has around 100k miles and is priced at around 13k so I'm thinking I might have to put an additional 3k-5k or so into maintenance over the next 3 years? Also, I'm not sure if the timing belt has been changed and I'm waiting for confirmation now.

My other option is picking up a recent VW passat at around 20k but would prefer not to spend that much money. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

J. Patterson

The 3.2 engine has a timing chain rather than a belt. No service is scheduled. There have been a few reports of tensioner failure though and that is $$$$$$$. Our 2006 is at 82000 miles and has been almost hondalike in reliability. (knocks on wood)

capnmcorn

I have a 2006 A6 3.2 sedan. 120,000 and I've never needed to spend anything on repairs. Super reliable.

I had a check engine light that required cleaning the throttle body. Did it myself and it was fairly easy. I can't imagine a dealer would have charged much.

50,000 miles ago I once had my speakers make a constant squealing sound even with the car off or the volume muted. Simply disconnecting the battery for a few minutes fixed it. Contrary to what I've often read, the battery did not need "re-coded" afterward and the car did not forget any settings except the brightness of the background lighting.

After hitting a monster pothole I quickly ruined a tire. Completely my fault and regular potholes haven't fazed it. An $80 alignment at the dealer fixed it. Non-dealer would probably charge less, but I wanted the dealer to do it.

It is bad on tires. I've tried several types and the best I've gotten was 23,000 from Cooper RS3-A. They handle nice and are decent in snow. I've read of similar mileage from others on here. Wear is nice and even, so I think it's just the car and my driving habits, rather than alignment. I don't drive it too hard but I'm not especially nice to it either.

Many say that despite Audi's claim that the transmission fluid is lifetime, it should be changed regularly. I'll probably have it done, but it behaves fine even after 120,000 miles of procrastinating. I think the shifts might not be as smooth as they were 60,000 miles ago, but it's working fine really.

Other than the tires, it's been a surprisingly cheap car to keep going.

royclark

Many say that despite Audi's claim that the transmission fluid is lifetime, it should be changed regularly. I'll probably have it done, but it behaves fine even after 120,000 miles of procrastinating. I think the shifts might not be as smooth as they were 60,000 miles ago, but it's working fine really.





Transmission fluid should be changed at 35K, 70K and so on.
I had mine changed at 33K.
My 2009 A6 has now done 34,500K

lataf

Thanks for the info everyone.

Buckeyedoc006

I had some costly repairs on my '06 last year. I'm over 120k miles, so the suspension work was to be expected. I had to have my throttle body replaced (cleaning it did not resolve the issue).
However, the one thing that really irritated me was the issue with a security transponder in the steering column. It went bad and therefore wouldn't recognize my key. I had to have it towed and have the ENTIRE steering column replaced. If you include towing costs, I spent around $2k for that repair. The dealer disconnected a relay on the new one and therefore was able to assure me it wouldn't happen again. I think Audi should do something about this. It seems to be way too common of a problem on the '05 and '06's from what I've seen.
That being said, it's running great now and I really like my car.

Whinny

About 125,000 miles on mine and I love it. However I have had a similar experience with speakers - it happens every once in a while. I did have to have the engine rebuilt - the tensioner broke. Tires wear rapidly. Am now struggling with a rear brake light/rurn signal that periodically goes bad. I replaced the light unit itself and 3 weeks later, it will again stop working and then restart. 125,000 miles.

A6Nello

You can see from a few of my recent posts that I will completely steer you against it with all the repairs I've had to do on mine in a short time... but you can do better than that one. Either shoot for lower miles or lower price. Mine has 79k on it, dealer trade in is only 10k. For 13k I'd sell you mine WITH the extended warranty. hehe. You will no doubt have costly repairs, despite what you're hearing so make sure to have a warranty along with it or offer the guy 10 and take the extra money and go to easycare warranties and see what they will give you. Good luck!