2000 Audi A6

[cmarsh90]

Anybody know much about these?

Looking at one with 72K miles on it, good shape, for sale for $17K. I'd like to know what the common problems on these cars are and what to look for. Also if any of the engines are prone to trouble, this one has the 4.2L V8.

 

[steveny]

Anybody know much about these?

Looking at one with 72K miles on it, good shape, for sale for $17K. I'd like to know what the common problems on these cars are and what to look for. Also if any of the engines are prone to trouble, this one has the 4.2L V8.

I had the exact same car, great car. There are two types of Audi's, those that vibrate and those that don't.

 

[txtony]

Research help on this site:

www.audiworld.com

 

[mikec]

I have a 97 A6 Avant. Great driving car... but, in the past two years i've put over $5K in it to fix item that I wouldn't expect to fix on a Japanese car.

1. Dash light bulbs and some of them are NOT replaceable. Currently my outside temp indicator is dark. Bulb cannot be replaced. Dealer says: "buy new instrument cluster".

2. Rebuild steering $2700

3. I had the sunroof disconnected because it sometimes opens itself and sticks open.

4. Headlight warning buzzer stopped working. Non repairable. It's located deep within the instrument cluster. I'm not spending $1200.

5. Battery located under back seat caught file when someone heavy sat on it.

6. Toronado Red with clear coat paint failed last year.. all at once.

7. Had to have EGR valve passages de-carboned. Required intake to come off. $700

8. Heater failed. Replaced central flap motor. $700.

But, it is a nice car to drive and it goes like hell through the snow. I'v talked to many Audi owners on and off the Audiworld forum. Many say the same thing.

"Audi is a GREAT car to own WHILE it is in warranty. Dump it before the warranty expires".


I wish the Japanese made a comprably sized AWD wagon, but they don't.

 

[steveny]

5. Battery located under back seat caught file when someone heavy sat on it.

WHOA...you just solved a 20 year mystery for me. I had a s5000 burn up completely from the back seat area. Now I know why.

 

[Osiris_x11]

5000S Turbo (5-cylinder)

WHOA...you just solved a 20 year mystery for me. I had a s5000 burn up completely from the back seat area. Now I know why.

So did I/we... :biggrin: (though we declined to be on 60 Minutes... :tongue: )

 

[orbusrex]

We had a 2001 with the V-6 (2.8 i thnk).

It was great until it hit close to 80k miles. Then everything started going wrong. We had it in the shop all the time. Electrical gremlins, engine knock. Our salesman (a trusted friend) left Audi right around this time and took a look at what was going wrong... he told us to dump it because it was getting close to it's last legs... he pretty much said that they don't do so hot with high mileage (near 100k).

It was a nice car to drive, but I'd shy away from one when you are starting at 70+k miles.

"Audi is a GREAT car to own WHILE it is in warranty. Dump it before the warranty expires".

Perfect advice!!!!

BTW, my father in law bought a 2004 A6 3.2 brand new and it has been GREAT... check consumer reports on a year by year basis... HTH...

 

[mikec]

WHOA...you just solved a 20 year mystery for me. I had a s5000 burn up completely from the back seat area. Now I know why.

I posted my experience on AudiWorld. Shortly after, I was contacted by a law firm for a man in California who died when his Audi burned up. I don't know all the facts, but was told that he was physically disabled, but could drive. When the battery shorted, all power was lost (as happned to mine), and the electric door locks would not operate to unlock the doors. He was unable to reach behind his head and pull the lock up.

An Audi lawyer also contacted me and even came out to speak with me and take pictures of my car. I never heard how the case turned out.

In my car, the battery is right below the passenger rear seat bottom. While the positive terminal is covered by a heavy plastic lid, in my case, a metal spring wire from the seat was pressing on the positive cable just clear of the protective plastic shield. Over time it wore through the cable insulation and contact was made. Someone heavy sat in the back.. car suddenly lost power. everything went dead.. engine stopped and started to fill with smoke. Got everyone out. took out the rear seat bottom and I found the damage. In my case the spring wire got red hot and started the foam rubber burning, but it did not burst into flame. Ive fixed it by insulating the spring wire with heavy plastic. I consider it a severe design defect to have a spring wire above a hot cable where it has the possibility of wearing through and causing a short. I know that they moved the battery to the engine compartment in newer audi's.

Good luck

 

[mikec]

We had a 2001 with the V-6 (2.8 i thnk).

It was great until it hit close to 80k miles. Then everything started going wrong.
... HTH...

I got mine with 71K miles on it. At 90K all this stuff started going wrong at once. 90-100K seems to be the number when Audi's need a major rebuilding.

I've driven clapped out subaru's with over 150K miles that were reliable and drove like brand new. My friend bought a 97 Accord that was a salesman's card. He bought it with 222,000 miles on it. We just took a trip in it. The paint and interior look like they belong to a car with aboutr 40K on it. It drives and rides fine. Doesn't burn any oil.

After this Audi, my SO forbids me to get another German car. btw. I had a Porsche 928, which I maintained to the letter. I think they should get the title as the 'most expensive car to maintain'.

 

[steveny]

I posted my experience on AudiWorld. Shortly after, I was contacted by a law firm for a man in California who died when his Audi burned up. I don't know all the facts, but was told that he was physically disabled, but could drive. When the battery shorted, all power was lost (as happned to mine), and the electric door locks would not operate to unlock the doors. He was unable to reach behind his head and pull the lock up.

An Audi lawyer also contacted me and even came out to speak with me and take pictures of my car. I never heard how the case turned out.

In my car, the battery is right below the passenger rear seat bottom. While the positive terminal is covered by a heavy plastic lid, in my case, a metal spring wire from the seat was pressing on the positive cable just clear of the protective plastic shield. Over time it wore through the cable insulation and contact was made. Someone heavy sat in the back.. car suddenly lost power. everything went dead.. engine stopped and started to fill with smoke. Got everyone out. took out the rear seat bottom and I found the damage. In my case the spring wire got red hot and started the foam rubber burning, but it did not burst into flame. Ive fixed it by insulating the spring wire with heavy plastic. I consider it a severe design defect to have a spring wire above a hot cable where it has the possibility of wearing through and causing a short. I know that they moved the battery to the engine compartment in newer audi's.

Good luck

I started my car up to let it warm up. I was in the house for about 5 minutes. When I came back outside all the windows on the car were down, the sunroof was open and the car was completely engulfed in flames. The fire originated from the back seat area. No one ever did figure out how it happened.

 

[mikec]

It's a wonder Audi hasn't been sued out of existance. Unlike the "unintentional accelleration", this defect is true.

 

[steveny]

My new Audi just came in, I pick it up Monday afternoon. A4 cabriolet. I hope I am making a good choice here. Now you have me worried.

 

[mikec]

Don't worry. They are nice cars. But, if you plan to keep it longer than 4 years, I'd buy the extended warranty no matter what it costs.

 

[dawggpie]

My new Audi just came in, I pick it up Monday afternoon. A4 cabriolet. I hope I am making a good choice here. Now you have me worried.

I had read that Audi has invested a huge sum on money into improving their cars' reliability starting in 2004. I guess they realize that their reliability reputation is driving away potential buyers. Since the investment started, supposedly their reliability has improved, but I really don't think we'll know for sure until more years have passes. I wouldn't worry about the reliability of a brand new Audi. It's the high mileage ones that are costly. My A4 has needed a bunch of costly repairs. It's at about 105k miles now. I'm considering picking up a 04 or 05 S4. Most likely a CPO with the nice long warrenty. Audis in general are very nice cars to drive and they're great in the snow.

 

[len3.8]

I had the "allroad" It was a POS from the start, as far a problems were concerned... It was in the shop more than it was in my garage.. Audi and the Dealer got so tired of spending $$$$'s on it, that they bought it back...

We had an A4 that was new and it was nice to own, like others have said, they drive awesome, have great interiors, and cost a ton when out of warranty....

Hey Mike C,,, My allroad was worse than the P- 928...

SteveNY the A4 cabs are one of the nicest looking Cabriolets wvwe made... What color did you get?

This is interesting thread to me, because I am looking at getting the same car... Also looking at MB CLK55 as an equal consideration...

 

[steveny]

I had the "allroad" It was a POS from the start, as far a problems were concerned... It was in the shop more than it was in my garage.. Audi and the Dealer got so tired of spending $$$$'s on it, that they bought it back...

We had an A4 that was new and it was nice to own, like others have said, they drive awesome, have great interiors, and cost a ton when out of warranty....

Hey Mike C,,, My allroad was worse than the P- 928...

SteveNY the A4 cabs are one of the nicest looking Cabriolets wvwe made... What color did you get?

This is interesting thread to me, because I am looking at getting the same car... Also looking at MB CLK55 as an equal consideration...

Black with tan leather sport package v6 3.0. I wanted the S4 but the wife is looking for better gas milage. The wife has a new assignment at work and has to drive 125 miles to work, ug. The Touareg gets 15 MPG. The Audi should get about 25 MPG, and most importantly the top comes off.

 

[steveny]

Audis can have some little quirks.
One bug I have seen in about 50% of A4's is if you disconnect the battery it may not run when re-connected.
It will start and run for 1 second and then die. Remedy is tow to the dealer to get the brain re flashed. Apparently the ECM loses it's basic start program.
This is not with all A4's just the lucky ones.
Another glitch on some of the A6's with the HID lights. The ones that self adjust can lose their program if the battery is disconnected requiring to go to the dealer and get it reprogrammed. Not on all, not every time just some, sometimes.
Most work I do creates static charges and is required to disconnect the battery so as not to damage any electronics in the car or electronics in the immediate area being worked on. With Audi's I have to give notice to the customer and insurance company that cycle time and cost is dependent on the stability of these systems and whether or not they will need to be reprogrammed by proprietary means. Only car I've seen that has such a unstable computers.
German cars are full of little exceptions that require you to return to the dealer, get on line and wait until the dealer gets to it, for a 5 minute fix that costs a minimum of 1 hour labor. In Japanese cars you fix the problem and the trouble lights go out or can be easily cleared by diagnostic tools available in the aftermarket. With German cars you fix the problem and the light stays on until they get their piece with a big smile and greedy hands.
Go on a trip and accidentally leave a interior light on and the next morning you may have to tow the car to the nearest dealer, and hope there is one. A little goof that should just be a $35.00 jump with a battery box can cost more than a nights stay in a hotel, dinner and breakfast! Plus the wait. Achtung!

I had this problem when I picked up my A-6 4.2. The battery went dead and killed the radio. The dealer put the wrong code in the radio and ended up ruining the thing. They had to order aa new radio for me and deliver the car about a week later.

 

[NSXLuvr]

HOLY COW.

Now you guys have me worried about my new DD- 2006 passat 3.6.

Hopefully VW/Audi's have improved their quality issues. Otherwise I will get rid of it before it gets past 75k.

btw, a good friend of mine had a 1999 A4 sportwagon with the 2.8L V6. It had 84K miles on it and started to fall apart. The engine was leaking, tranny was leaking, motor mounts went bad. He traded it in on a A3.:frown:

 

[dawggpie]

HOLY COW.

Now you guys have me worried about my new DD- 2006 passat 3.6.

Hopefully VW/Audi's have improved their quality issues. Otherwise I will get rid of it before it gets past 75k.

btw, a good friend of mine had a 1999 A4 sportwagon with the 2.8L V6. It had 84K miles on it and started to fall apart. The engine was leaking, tranny was leaking, motor mounts went bad. He traded it in on a A3.:frown:

ya, my 98 a4 1.8t has about 108k on it now. Between about 70k miles and now I think it's had just about every gasket on the engine/transmission replaced heh. They have a nasty habit of critically failing and dumping all the oil out at once rather than just leaking a little. If i didn't know better I'd say they engineered these pieces to self destruct. Despite this, I still think, new/low mileage audi/vw = good. Over 70k miles = run away.