looking for a new work horse. a6 any good?

[Rrobson]

as the title suggests, im looking for a new car to call my work horse. after my old car had to be retired due to uneconomical mot repairs, im looking for something with a big towing capacity and general reliability.
specifically, im looking at the allroad, as im planning on towing large trailers / caravans (upto 2t) but wanted to know If they were any good?
I know quite a few people with older a4's and rarely have trouble with them, which is why ive looked at a6's.

a quick search in this section shows a number of things to watch out for on the diesels, haven't search much for the petrols (I do quite a few miles a year, so diesel is preferable) but I know the alroads have air suspension. im assuming this can be problematic?

many thanks for your help

 

[Avnt]

My neighbour had an Allroad over 220k on the clock had to change 1 airbag on it but he did rally it around away from game keepers. Was a good reliable car never let him down

 

[myth]

If you are looking at diesels, avoid engine codes that start with A: AFB, AKN, AKE. These have problems with cam shafts.

 

[quattrojames]

I've only had mine for a month and I think it's a great! A fwd 1.9 will see 40+ mpg with no effort all day long, it's cavernous inside, made of tough heard wearing material and should last a lifetime. If you're towing you'll appreciate the extra torque of the V6 diesels I'm sure. Do your homework first and they will stand you in good stead.

If you are looking at diesels, avoid engine codes that start with A: AFB, AKN, AKE. These have problems with cam shafts.

I don't agree with this really, for a start the AVF 1.9 is one of the most reliable engines going..... the V6 AKE was problematic in the early years, but these are by and large all resolved now.

 

[Inskip75]

I've got an A6 2.5Tdi AKE Quattro Avant - 176K and no camshaft problems so far - will probably have problems vey shortly after writing this

 

[techhj]

I have also got an AKN lump with 175k. No camshaft issues thus far. However, 502 oil and filter at each 10k. I tow a 1500kg caravan and would have liked to have chipped it up to about 180 bhp but my brain would have required a soldering job, so I chickened out. Absolutely great car, I don't want anything else.

 

[myth]

I have an 150bhp AFB and my cams gave up at 227 k km. I currently have 302 k.

Personally I like v6 more than straight-4 because of the better sound, less vibrations, more torque and the mpg is not much higher than 1.9. Especially for you because you plan to tow a lot.

 

[Rrobson]

Thanks for the reply fellas.

Sounding good then, no real issues to be aware of?

Just a quick question, where would I find the engine code? Is it part of the vin? Pretty new to audi so do bare with me...

 

[quattrojames]

Engine code will be stamped on the block, but it's more readily accessible on the data sticker. I'm new to A6 ownership so I'm not too sure where that will be on the car (spare wheel well?) but it will be in the service book for sure.

 

[adamss24]

I had all sorts of cars over the years and currently my main cars are a c5 a6 tdi quattro, a early c5 allroad tdi quattro, missus is driving a b5 v6 tdi quattro and so on ! Amongst other i also have a b6 s4, a b6 1.9Tdi, a t4 2.5 tdi and a few more projects in between. As you can tell, i do like v6 tdi and if they were that problematic I would have got rid of them sharpish !
Early cars will have issues with cams if they were kept on longlife servicing, however i have had cars with 200k on the clock without noticeable wear on the cams- they were kept on standard servicing. If you can, look for later BAU/BDG or BDH engines, they are cam rollers so no more cam wear but they can still go wrong... 1.9Tdi is a serious contender but needs money spending on to get it to equal performance to the v6.

 

[TYphoon GB]

Audi A6 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Codes by year and other stuff....