[s-cars] 1995 A6 Experience?

[Franco Barber]

On Mon, Nov 12, 2007 at 08:06:28PM -0700, calvinlc at earthlink.net wrote:
> I have a niece who is looking at a 1995 or 1996, I forget, A6 with 144k
> miles on it for $3500.  It is an automatic quattro.  Anybody have any
> experience with these cars?  Is it a torsen diff in the auto version back
> then?  Are there any reliability problems with the auto tranny?  Any gotchas
> that are different than the UrS cars?  Thanks!
> --Calvin

Greeting,

I've got two 95 A6q's  (I don't actually have an s-car, I just like
to hang out here,) one automatic, one manual.

The 95's have a torsen center diff and lockable center and rear diff.
The 96+ still have the torsen center but lose the lockable diff,
replaced by EDL.

Some automatics (mine included) have an odd problem where if the
car is hot (you've been driving on the freeway for 30 minutes)
and now you're driving along slow and calm (you got off the freeway)
when the transmission is shifting from 3rd to 4th, the tranny will shift
out of third and then decide that the engine RPMs are too low
to shift into 4th.  If you don't know what to expect, the engine
RPMs rise and then it clunks into 4th violently.  If you know what
to expect, you can feel this happening and you just hold your foot
off the gas until you feel 4th coming in, then you put your
foot back into it.

Mine started doing this a long time ago at about 35-40 thousand
miles when it was still under warranty, but the dealer could never
find anything wrong.  There is a TSB describing pretty
much this same problem with the FWD version of the transmission,
but not the AWD.  That TSB talked about a temperature sensor inside
the tranny that gives bad inputs to the transmission computer.

It's still doing it exactly the same now with about 130k on the clock.
This behavior scares the dealers:  they think the tranny is going to
die, and they suggest not changing the tranny fluid.  I don't think
it's going to die any time soon.

These engines are famous for having minor oil leaks all over the
place.  Plan on doing the seals, waterpump, idler/tensioner, and
thermostat every time you do the timing belt.

Of my two, one uses no oil, and the other one uses a
quart every couple thousand miles [even when there are no leaks.]
Both have had various oil leaks fixed, mainly seals around the crank
and cam.

The AC compressor can go bad.  I would think by this point,
if it was going to go bad, it would have already.  I had to replace
the compressor on one car after about 10 years, the other is still going
strong.   The various flaps that control air flow and air temp blend
always like to get stuck.  It's a perennial problem.  Seems to be worst
just as the seasons are changing.   Apart from the compressor, the HVAC
is the same as the 95 S6, so you're probably already familiar with it.

I get about 22mpg around town in the manual, 20mpg in the auto.
I used to get 25 on the freeway with the auto if I kept my foot out
of it. I don't know if its me or if the car is old, but I don't get
that anymore.
I've gotten as much as 30 on the highway in the manual, but I've
never been able to duplicate that feat.  27 or so is more normal,
and I've got to keep my foot out of it to manage that.

All in all, they're both slow cars by most people's standards.
I prefer the manual because it weighs a lot less and accelerates
faster.  The published specs say the manual is only 1 sec faster on
the 0-60, but it just feels faster.

All in all, I love my 95 A6q, and I haven't been able to convince
myself that any of the A6's since are as good.  The 98-04 models
just looked poorly made and downmarket.  The 05- models looked well
made but are really expensive, serious overkill, and they really
got fat, weighing in over 4000 lb (automatic-v6) compared to 3800
something for the 95.

So I'm hanging in there and I keep hanging on to my 95's.

I do brakes myself, but for nearly everything else I've taken
mine to the dealer, and I think I've averaged 1.7K$/year in maintenance
costs over the 12 years I've had the car.  That includes timing belts
every 60k, sometimes more often if the (*&^(^()(*& seals start leaking
before the next timing belt interval. It also includes a compressor,
and a leak in the heater core.

I bought the manual tranny one used in 2000, and that one has cost
me a little more per year because it wasn't cared for as well when
it was young (that's the one that burns oil.)

Franco

-- 
Franco Barber                   feb at febsun.cmhnet.org
95 A6Q w/Gamma CD mit RDS!      Columbus, Ohio  USA
95 A6Q 5spd w/HCB-30 bluetooth car kit!