HirsuteHeathenC6

Hello everyone, I am new here (first post) and have owned my very first Audi (2006 A6 3.2 Quattro) for over a year now. I am now experiencing some problems with it. She has around 133,500 miles on her (I bought it with 91,000). I am big into DIY and would like to know how far I could get with a $40 VAG-COM off of Amazon. Some of the problems I have been having are mostly electrical and I suspect are due to electrical shorts or things not plugged in correctly...who knows. At any rate here is what I have noticed: ESP fault, Tire Pressure Sensor fault (after I put spare tire on), Electronic Parking Brake fault, Reverse sensors don't seem to work anymore (just a long high frequency beep when put into R), the parking assist doesn't seem to work anymore either with the side mirrors, and finally today on my way to work I noticed my taillights blinking on their own, no cruise control and my transmission didn't want to shift out of gear. This all seems to come and go and noticeably worsen during cold rainy days. Any thoughts or technical advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

SchwarzS6

Don't bother with the $40 cable, wont be able to access many of the systems. Get the Ross-tech cable. Yes it is expensive but it is worth the $$$.

Worldwidebeagle

Wow, cornucopia of problems. You need the real Ross tech package to fully access all systems, not just codes. The $15 eBay blue cables and old open source vag.com are decent starts for a C5, but not a C6. If you cannot afford a new cable, beer is a great way to entice a neighbor with a Ross tech to come over.

HirsuteHeathenC6

Yeah I've seen the cable itself go for around $300! The VAG-COM I was looking at was a whole diagnostic kit (cable with an lcd type display). Maybe I'm not understanding what the Ross-Tech cable itself can do. I am pretty green when it comes to any of this. I have looked for rentals, but found nothing local. UPDATE: As of today the only issues I have are the Tire pressure and Emergency brake faults, the backup sensors not working.

dzywicki

I was new to Audi a year ago. I had a lot of experience with other cars (Mercedes, Jeep, Alfa) before jumping into Audi. I do almost all of my own maintenance so I invested in a Ross-Tech VAGCOM after reading up on it. If you plan on doing your own maintenance, it will pay for itself with the first major job (rear brakes, trans fluid change, any electrical issue). You can a wide variety of information that is just not easily accessible on other vehicles.
The $349 is well worth it for all the information you can get from the system. You can look around the ross-tech website and download the VCDS (software) manual to see what you can do (http://www.ross-tech.com/vcds/tour/main_screen.html)

SchwarzS6

The inexpensive OBDII reader that you are probably looking at will only read the standard faults codes and probably allow you to reset them. With the Ross-Tech VAGCOM you will be able to read information from practically all car subsystems including;Instruments, Entertainment system, ABS, fuel pressure, all of the temp sensors, transmission gear ratio, torque converter lockup status etc. etc. It is an invaluable tool.

zayconman

I have the same questions but I am leaning towards getting the original Ross-tech as I plan to keep the car for a long time (05 A6 3.2 48k miles). I'm sure it will pay for itself. I had my airbag light come on the other day and really don't want to have the dealer tell me it is the connections under the seat. So tell me; If I buy their cable, is the software a free DL? how does it work. Honestly, the Ross-tech website is pretty lame.

SchwarzS6

The software and future updates as well as technical support are free

zayconman

Well then even better!!

HirsuteHeathenC6

Yeah my buddy just acquired a 2013 S5 and a Ross-Tech cable. Pretty stoked now thanks for the advice guys.