Buying an A6 or A8 - things to look for?

[Mark R]

After working on many, and owning 2 A8s and an S4 2.7T, I can offer this
advice:
Maintainance is key.  Also, check the cars with a VAG-COM for electrical
faults.  Odds are, you'll find a few fault codes, but you need to check to
see where the problem areas lay.  My S4 almost NEVER has any codes on it's
various modules, but both our previous A8s (1999 and 2000) ALWAYS had codes
in various modules.  With A8s, electrical problems seem to be more common,
and 2.7T cars, it's more mechanical (hoses, etc.) issues.

Mark Rosenkrantz


On 6/28/06, Doug Yoder <audifan at zordok.net> wrote:
>
> Time to buy a new(er) car, so I need some advice from Audifans...
>
> I'm thinking of getting either a D2 platform A8, or C5 A6 2.7t 6-spd.  I'd
> like to find out what I'd be getting into in terms of potential problems
> that are specific to each car.
>
> For the A8, I've heard that the transmissions might be a common failure
> item.  Can anyone shed some light on that?  Is there anything else?  How
> do
> I tell if the transmission is on it's way out, and what can I do about it
> ($2k for a rebuilt one?).
>
> For the A6, there's the turbo problems.  Good things to look for would be
> new boost hoses (or modified intake with redesigned parts) and new turbos?
> Is there a typical mileage/age that the turbos fail?
>
> Then there's the standard stuff like timing belts (most of the cars I'm
> going to be looking at should have had this done 20k mi ago), brakes,
> suspension, power steering, etc.  Anything else I'm missing?
>
> Thanks in advance,
> -Doug
>
> --
> Doug Yoder
>
> "Don't tell me the sky's the limit - there's footprints on the moon."
> _______________________________________________
> quattro mailing list
> quattro at audifans.com
> http://www.audifans.com/mailman/listinfo/quattro
> ---
> Watch this space for ads :)
>