A6 versus allroad

[Bob Tetrault]

Lee,

Thanks for your extensive comments, they parallel many others that I've
heard. My favorite mechanic in north Lake Tahoe, a factory authorized one
BTW, said to not get one unless it has a warranty for the duration of my
ownership... Much as I'd like the turbo, I'm used to the daily driver
reliability of my 4000Q and want to keep as much of that as I can. I expect
I'll get a VAG-COM...

The same place has a 2002 Avant with 15K miles. Silver, not the black with
blacked windows of the allroad, but hey, it too is 5K cheaper than the
allroad. I expect I'll get Bilsteins and bars for it, along with XM radio
and an iPOD interface. Anyone upgraded the radio? Bose still burning up?

I've seen references for de-tuning/desensing the power steering. Anyone
BTDT?

-----Original Message-----
From: Lee Levitt [mailto:lee at wheelman.com]
Sent: Thursday, September 30, 2004 7:31 PM
To: quattro at audifans.com
Cc: r.tetrault at comcast.net
Subject: RE: A6 versus allroad

I just went through this. Really wanted an allroad...till I drove it.

Nice motor, *very* nice motor. But the suspension didn't impress me at all,
and in fact scared me a bit. I've had other cars with adjustable air
suspensions, and I know from experience that they *can* be problematic. Now
I haven't seen much on the allroad forums about suspension problems...

Turbos, well, that's another story. If one turbo goes, the motor comes out
and both get replaced. Ka-ching.

I might want an allroad if it were going to *stay* in warranty. But they
don't.

The 2002 or later years are better years for both the allroad and the A6.
They made substantial changes to the body (different bumper, one you won't
lose on a curb, thicker glass, better door seals, etc).

So I drove a bunch of allroads. Didn't really like any of them. Then I drove
a 2002 A6 3.0 quattro wagon and really liked it. It helped that it was $6K
less expensive than any of the allroads.

So I bought it. 48K on the clock, $23.5K out the door.

I've finished upgrading the suspension and I have to say I'm pretty happy
with it. It's not the same car as my old S6 avant with an
eibach/bilstein/HSRB setup, but it's a damn good handling car.

I did H-Sport sway bars, Bilsteins and 17" OZ SL wheels and Toyo tires. It
handles beautifully.

And the 3.0 liter motor is a really nice motor...it doesn't have the get up
and go of the 2.7t, but it does have 220 horsepower, and it's no slouch!

HTH,

Lee
'02 A6 quattro avant
'96 A6 quattro avant