I'm Thinking About Buying Another Car

[mcano]

After 9 years and 140,000 largely trouble-free miles I sadly parted with my /06 TL. Best car I have ever owned and in all those years/miles only three mechanical repairs which in total cost approx. $1,000. Everything else was maintenance. I sold the car to a friend and looks/drives almost like new after putting approx. $1,500 into it (TB/WP, new rad/thermostat/hoses preventatively, couple engine mounts and front brakes). I so wanted to love the new TLX but it was a big disappointment in the driving dynamics department and was simply too small inside.

So...........I now find myself in a new Audi A6 3.0T. It is a beautiful car and in a different class than the TLX. No issues so far (7 months/7,000 miles) but I am under no illusions. It is no Honda/Acura/Toyota/Lexus and I will not keep it very long after warranty is up for all of the reasons many others here have posted. One of my former colleagues had the S6 with the V10 which I drove a few times. Frankly I did not like it anywhere near as much as the new A6 and he had plenty of trouble with it both during and post-warranty. He gave up and got a Mercedes E550 (big ego needs German car with big engine -- LOL). Audi has only recently improved their quality. Just look at their history in Consumers Reports and the fiasco they had with their 2.0 litre turbo engine (oil consumption) and the carbon buildup issue in the direct injection 3.2 litre engines. Audi's reliability record is spotty at best, historically poor at worst. On the other hand, I can appreciate the desire to get into a European sport sedan (especially with the meh Japanese offerings of late) but embarking on that adventure on a limited budget without a reserve fund of a couple of thousand dollars (more for a beast like the S6) per year to cover the inevitable mechanical failures and attendant astronomical (when compared to Honda/Acura) repair costs will be an unhappy experience. The fun and good feelings will end the first time you are presented with a bill for a few thousand dollar repair of something that you would likely never experience in an Acura. If you must have an Audi, drive the C7 platform (A6 3.0T, MY 2012 and later) and compare it to the S6. If you like the A6 with the supercharged V6 perhaps you can find a good CPO car in your price range. It is sufficiently fast (at least for me) and if you can get one with a few years of warranty remaining (CPO = 6 years/100,000 miles) this will give peace of mind and provide protection against expensive repairs. I think the C7 platform/exterior/interior is one of the nicest 4 door sedan Audis out there. Just my 2 cents. Good luck with you search!

Best,
Jeff

Thanks Jeff,

I agree with you that Japanese cars are superior to European cars in the reliability category. However, I'm still leaning to buy the S6 that is being sold in the SF Bay area. My stepson is going to look at the car in the next few days. I asked him to carefully go over the maintenance documents starting with when the car was sold. If the service performed are standard types, and not break downs, I may go up there and see the car for myself.

I did find a couple of companies that offer extended maintenance services, for about $80/month. If I buy that S6, i'm going to look into extended maintenance plans, particularly the fine print.

We will see!

 

[docjohn]

make sure you read the fine print on any extended third party warranty program...there is a reason they price it at 80/mo...they make money ...

 

[mcano]

OK, you can start flaming me! I made an offer for the 2009 Audi S6, and the seller accepted my offer, so in a few days I will own the car. For those of you who advised me not to purchase an Audi, I don't want you to think that I totally blew you off. Based on the many warnings I received here on Prime, I will be purchasing an extended maintenance plan as insurance if something major goes wrong with the car. Yes, I will read the fine print, to make sure I understand what is and what is not covered by the plan. There are actually several plans, depending on how much coverage one is looking for, and the more the coverage, naturally the greater the cost. I'm opting for the bumper to bumper type plan.

I'll keep you guys posted on how the S6 holds up. Being that the mileage is relatively low for that model year, all maintenance documentation is available from day one, the car has not had any major problems to date, and the fact that the current owner is a "car guy", he has take very good car of the car, that I'm hoping to get many problem free years out of the car.

Best,

Mario

 

[BATMANs]

My friend and I both have Australian cars.

Over 100k miles and only thing I had to replace at 75k was radiator and A/C compressor.

chassis, fit and finish is like a german car wearing a LSx....

 

[mcano]

Here are some photos of my 2009 Audi S6. The car has an interesting exterior/interior color combo. Most of the S6's that I was looking at had a black exterior and a black interior. This car has a silver exterior with an interior color that Audi calls silver, although it looks white to me. I know that I will have to spend some time periodically in cleaning the leather seats. But, I don't mind because I really like this color combo! But my favorite feature of this car is the 435 HP Lamborghini based V10 engine, which sounds awesome,

I'll bring the car to the next meet, because my NSX will be in the shop for quite a while having the steering rack refurbished as well as the front bushings. The seats will also be installed with new leather and Al Contera. Lastly, the 5 point harnesses will be installed.

Thanks for looking!

 

[Miner]

A good looking car Mario.

 

[mcano]

A good looking car Mario.

Thanks Minor, I'm flying up to San Francisco this weekend to pick up the car and drive her back to SoCal. I bought the car kind of sight unseen, except that my son, who is European car guy, checked it out very carefully for me. The car is really clean, well maintained, and it comes with complete maintenance documentation from the day it was first sold.