1997 A6 Quattro Wagon

[Lee Levitt]

"Saucy Kate" writes:

> I am on the verge of buying a very low mileage, 97 A6 Quattro
> Wagon from an independent dealer.
>
> Do any of you Audi experts have any experience with this
> particular car? I currently drive a 4 wheel drive vehicle,

Nice car. I bought my wife a '96 wagon 3 or 4 years ago, liked it so much
that I dumped a '99 Range Rover to buy myself a '95 S6 wagon.

Great cars, very reliable overall. We have had no problems with either car
(aside from the typical consumables)

> but have no experience with all wheel drive. I've read some
> horror stories about the 98 V70AWD Volvo wagon, which is my
> other possible purchase.

We've got a number of Volvos in the family, including late model FWD cars.
Volvo makes a nice car, but it's not nearly as nice as the Audi. The Audi is
a much better driver's car, more confortable on the road overall. Also, btw,
the Volvo is not really AWD, but FWD that shifts traction to the rear as the
fronts start to slip. Might be a subtle different for most drivers, but it's
not quattro.

> Is it  true that one must change all four tires on this type
> of car if one tire goes bad?
> I've never heard that before and was wondering if it's
> just particular to that vehicle, or is it that way with all
> the all-wheel drive cars?

Sorta. Kinda. No.

You can't run tires that are different sizes as they can stress the drive
train or throw off the traction control or ABS systems. However, the
difference in diameter between a new tire  and a worn tire will be less than
1/10", which is not relevant.


> Also, if any of you own this particular model, would you advise
> for or against buying it? How about up-keep? Are they finicky, in the shop
a
> lot, etc?

Find a good independent mechanic to deal with the regular maintenance and
the small things that will come up.

Enjoy. My wife loves her Audi quattro...we had to rent a car for her for two
weeks in January (small fender bender) and she really missed it. We tend to
take the unbelievable grip of quattro for granted, not to mention the
comfort and safety of these cars.

HTH,

Lee
'95.5 S6 avant
'96 A6 quattro avant