Advice on buying an A6 Avant

Odyn

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Hi all,

new to the forum and to Audi so go easy on me!

So, having fallen in love with the A6 Avant, I'm looking to potentially buy one some time this year. I'm looking for a black edition (for the looks) and would like to know a few things regarding engine differences by year and what options to look for in the specs.

Ideally I'd like a 3.0 TDI but with my budget around £20k (I can spend more, but I'd also like a fairly low mileage car) that may not be possible. At the moment there are numerous 2013 2.0 models which are advertised with 175 bhp, whereas the newer 2014 models with 2.0L engines have 187 bhp and S Tronic gearboxes. Is this a significant improvement from the 2013 version? My current car is a pauper specced 2009 BMW 318d with 145 bhp so I think either would be an improvement but I am looking for something with more oomph than the Beamer.

I like the looks of the 2015 facelift version but at the moment the cheapest 15 plate models are more like £28k, would it be worth waiting for this to come down in price? I think sub £25k would be more palatable to me psychologically.

Any and all advice and experience is appreciated, cheers.
 
I paid just under £20k for my November 2011 model back in January this year

It's a 3.0TDI with Quattro and S Tronic. Mileage was highish at 73,000 but it had full service history and I figured the £5k saving over a newer, lower mileage model would pay for a lot of servicing and maintenance!!

I've covered over 5,000 miles without issue; the car is just so smooth :)
 
Welcome to the forum.

I was in a similar dilemma to you over an A6 Saloon. I wanted the black edition but also a beefy engine. My budget initially was about 20K but by the time I'd worked things out I managed to convince the missus we should spend 26K. That bought me a 2013 3.0L Bi Turbo in S-Line trim in really good condition with 30K on the clock. Black edition trim would have been another grand or so and I decided I wanted the engine more (0-60 in a little over 5s). If you look at what you get for the extra it is black trim (which is nice) a Bose sound system (I'm more than happy with the standard sound system) and privacy glass. I asked my local audi approved repair centre how much to replace the windows for privacy ones and I think it was 300 quid. I might do that at some point but I can live without the Bose and the black trim.

I did take out a more recent 2.0L black edition for a test drive and also had a non quattro SE edition 3.0L as a both nice drives but it didn't give me the smile that driving the 3.0L BiTdi gave me.
 
You also get bigger wheels with the black edition but at that age they will be rotors which are too common. I specced the BOSE as I didn't like the wheels or the tints and the black finish is ok but marks too easily.
Not much difference in engines-3.0 comes in a few options from 208 to 313 with the lowest one being FWD and the rest quattro. The 2.0 is only FWD unless you get an almost new one. The engines all got a boost for the facelift to slightly up the power. The only tiptronic is the biturbo apart from a few early 3.0 tdi I think. The 2.0 is mostly manual with some multitronic (8speed) until the facelift when 7 speed s tronic is on nearly all cars.
Not sure if you will notice much more power than the Beemer due to weight but the 190 engine is very nice. You would definitely notice if you went for the 245 3.0tdi though and there's not much difference in economy with the added advantage of quattro.
Whichever one you get, make sure the gearbox oil has been changed at the correct intervals if you end up with multi tronic or s tronic.
Take your time and get the spec you want as it is very difficult to upgrade the sound system, MMI or lights etc. there's plenty around.
 
Thanks for the replies guys.

Scottk, could you expand on the different gearboxes? I'm looking only at automatics at the moment, what's the difference between tiptronic and s tronic?

The ads I've looked at don't really expand on that much, e.g. is the gearbox in a 2013 2.0 TDI 175 auto the same as the 2014 2.0 TDI 187 auto? I see the car has a D/S setting on the gearstick. Are there two auto drive settings (sport and normal) plus manual mode with the paddles or just a single auto mode + manual with paddles?

Cheers
 
There are 3 auto boxes-multitronic, s tronic and tiptronic. For all intents and purposes, the tiptronic is only on the biturbo. It is 8 speed semi auto with a torque converter.
The multi tronic is an auto box and I think is 8 speed. Don't think this box is available anymore.
The s tronic is a 7 speed box semi auto so can be used in manual and auto modes.
 
I'm starting to understand more about specs and options that I'd like in A6s now :yes:

Quick question: The headlights like in this picture...

All-LED-Headlights.jpg


I see them quite a lot on images and videos but it seems only on EU cars. I haven't seen a single UK car on auto trader with them. What are they called? Why aren't they present in UK models? Cheers
 
They are the pre-facelift LED headlights and were an option.

Facelift S-Line models have (a different style) LED's as standard, with matrix LED's as a further option.
 
Cheers lads, by facelift do you mean the 2015 facelift?

I guess they were a very unpopular or expensive option also as I still haven't found any car with them on!
 
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Expensive and the consensus is that they aren't much better than the bi xenons. The matrix LEDs are supposed to be brilliant though.
 
I have the FL with the LED headlights with main beam assist - not the matrix ones. I find the dipped beam to be excellent with great coverage. The main beam although is quite disappointing. Still find the main beam assist a little strange.
 
Have the LED lights on the PF - they are great, and really good at night, but are they worth it over the std? Probably not if you are buying new - as I think they are about £1k (that's what they were on mine when new),

Look pretty cool though, and make it look a bit different I suppose.... Happy mine had them when I bought it, but wouldn't have died in a ditch if not.

The auto dip works fine on mine when used, no dazzles that I could see....
 
Thanks for the tips so far chaps.

I've narrowed my choices down to two camps pretty much. There are 2013 low mileage BEs around the 20k mark but having read up on the multitronic gearbox it doesn't sound like something I'd like to buy tbh. So my choices now (hopefully having dropped in price a little later in the year) a facelift 2015 187PS S tronic car or a (likely) 2013 Tiptronic 3.0L Quattro with 242PS.

At the moment you can get the 3.0L for cheaper than the FL cars but as the FL cars are so new they mostly have very low mileage. I like the facelift look better than the 2013 look but apart from this are there any upgrades worth talking about? What do you think about resale value? Newer plate and FL-look worth more than the 3.0L and quattro? I would be looking to map any car I got so the 187PS could probably be brought close to the 3.0L stock speed anyway, but I'm sure the 3.0L could be made into a real beast.

Thoughts appreciated.
 
To be honest, as much as I love the idea of maps I'm a bit risk adverse, so would go for the stock car with the bhp I need / wanted - there ain't that much difference in the FL as far as I can see visually anyway..... Apart from the lights. Or ...... Find another couple of £££ down the back of the sofa!
 
FL differences:
LED headlamps and dynamic rear indicators (s line)
Insulated/noise reducing glass
4 zone climate control
Map display in DIS (tech pack)
grill/bumper/exhaust redesign

I think that's it!
 
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To be honest, as much as I love the idea of maps I'm a bit risk adverse, so would go for the stock car with the bhp I need / wanted - there ain't that much difference in the FL as far as I can see visually anyway..... Apart from the lights. Or ...... Find another couple of £££ down the back of the sofa!

I agree, only problem is I started looking at 2013 2.0 models at under 20k and looking at FL 3.0 models we're talking over 30k! Currently best prices I've seen on a 2013 3.0L 242PS Quattro with 30k on the clock is £26500 and for a 2015 187PS with around 15k on the clock is £28000. Both are Black Edition.

Oh well... the search continues! In the end I will have to compromise, I do like the look of the FL over the non-FL, I think the front and back look significantly more aggressive and like the headlights too. I just have to decide whether it's worth the loss of power. I think taking test drives is the best way forward.
 
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Don't get hung up on finding low mileage cars. I almost fell into that trap

I bought my 2012 model with 73,000 miles for just under 20k. I worked out that 5k pays for a lot of fuel and oil changes!
Plus mine is better specced than some that are currently on sale some 5 months after I have bought it :)
 
Don't get hung up on finding low mileage cars. I almost fell into that trap

I bought my 2012 model with 73,000 miles for just under 20k. I worked out that 5k pays for a lot of fuel and oil changes!
Plus mine is better specced than some that are currently on sale some 5 months after I have bought it :)

Yep I agree, it's just that on cars of this age I haven't seen any examples with more than 30-40k. I'd be happy buying higher mileage but then there are also considerations with cars that have driven such high mileages in only a couple of years.
 
Equally though you will have a few quid in your back pocket due to not buying the low mileage car :)

I was originally looking at 3 year old cars but couldn't find any in my price range so expanded the search to 4 and mine popped up.

I keep thinking I just got very lucky as it was the best specced, cheapest and closest A6 I found!

The 3.0 is chain driven so no cam belt to worry about on them :)
 
I'm starting to understand more about specs and options that I'd like in A6s now :yes:

Quick question: The headlights like in this picture...

All-LED-Headlights.jpg


I see them quite a lot on images and videos but it seems only on EU cars. I haven't seen a single UK car on auto trader with them. What are they called? Why aren't they present in UK models? Cheers

Same headlights as mine - the LED headlight kit.... they are a lot better than Xenon's, but not sure I'd pay the £2k+ extra over Bi-Xenons.... they adapt the beam pattern based on the speed, road type, etc (e.g. longer flat beam on dual carriageway, rather than the more normal sloping beam) and there are "pilot lights" (that add extra lights as you steer around the corners) and auto-dipping highbeams - both of which are phenomenal if you do a lot of night driving on sweeping country lanes. The matrix LED's are different as instead of dipping the whole beam for other traffic, the matrix ones just dip the section of the beam where they can see another car's headlights. The LED main beam kit was installed in a lot of the demo cars as a sales pitch - mine is an ex-demo that was never used when Audi stopped selling the petrol A6's in the UK - it had only done 250 miles :)
 
Thanks for clarification on the lights!

I'm coming back down to earth a bit and thinking spending 25k+ on a car is maybe not the wisest decision (I'm 25 years old savings rich but income poor).

Looking at the cheaper '13 plate Multitronic Avants, I've read some horror stories about these gearboxes, would I be foolish to buy one for around 20k? Shopping around looks like you can get one with only around 30k miles so surely there shouldn't be any problems for quite some time? I'd probably only keep the car for a couple of years at ~10k miles a year.

There's a place 13 miles from me with a '13 plate black edition so I'm going to head over on Sunday and see if I like the looks and can take it for a test drive, see how I like the Multitronic box.

Thanks again.
 
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Thanks for clarification on the lights!

I'm coming back down to earth a bit and thinking spending 25k+ on a car is maybe not the wisest decision (I'm 25 years old savings rich but income poor).

Looking at the cheaper '13 plate Multitronic Avants, I've read some horror stories about these gearboxes, would I be foolish to buy one for around 20k? Shopping around looks like you can get one with only around 30k miles so surely there shouldn't be any problems for quite some time? I'd probably only keep the car for a couple of years at ~10k miles a year.

There's a place 13 miles from me with a '13 plate black edition so I'm going to head over on Sunday and see if I like the looks and can take it for a test drive, see how I like the Multitronic box.

Thanks again.

Multitronic's are nice to drive, but I wouldn't want the stress of owning one... I know they're not really strong enough for the 3.0TDI, but if you're desperate, then it might be an okay gamble on a 2.0TDI... even if it's the 206PS 3.0TDI, see if you can get a quattro, that will have the DSG which is a lot more robust.
 
Still very confused about what to buy, looking at around £26-28000 currently for a 2015 BE model. I was amazed to see a Lister's Audi (through carwow) offering a PCP deal on a brand new BE at 41k list price with over a £9000 discount! Headline price was £31,xxx. Crazy!
 
Hi all, back again.

I've been around a few places now and am feeling I'm ready to drop my cash on the right car in the next month. Ideally waiting for a black/daytona 2015 FL car to pop up on Autotrader for £28000 (seen them before but current crop is poor) and looking at some 2014 models in the meantime.

Today I went to view and drive a nice 2014 BE:

zcFnaM2.jpg


Nice low miles at 27000 and heated seats but I think the asking price is a little steep at a snip under £26k. It's had two owners (FASH) but not an Audi AUC. My question is... would buying from a non-Audi dealer (this was a VW dealer) put me at a disadvantage with Audi in the future? I've seen stories of people having issues out of warranty but Audi have fixed them out of good will because the car has been serviced there on schedule... would buying an AUC help this sort of relationship?

With that in mind I've got my eye on this as well: http://www.audi.co.uk/used-cars/use..._vi&ctr=116175&vhl=605914317&srcmdc=se_na_re_

An approved used Audi that is essentially the same as the car above (no heated seats and 13k more mileage) for £3000 less. I'm assuming any AUC will have a FASH as well.

Thoughts on my post appreciated guys :)

Edit: wow, they quoted me £599 for GAP insurance... Just done an online quote and found one (return to invoice, unlimited) for £159. I knew I'd get it cheaper but that is quite shocking.
 
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Revelation over the weekend is that I've now seen the savings available on a new car on carwow... getting in contact with Stoke Audi who are offering a brand new BE Avant (auto) at just over £31k when bought on PCP, a saving of almost 25%!
 
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No replies to my thread, I feel unloved :(

So I've all but certainly decided on a new car through carwow, though I must say communication with Jane at Stoke Audi could be better.

I'm not too interested in options now as the 2016 model comes with things I wanted as standard: remote boot opening, folding mirrors and heated seats. The only two I'm wondering on are the lighting package which is cheap at £275, is it worth it? Is the standard interior lighting underwhelming?

I've ummed and ahed about the tech pack for some time and am thinking I won't get it because though it is a nice luxury it adds around £30/month on top of a price which already has pushed the limits of my budget. I don't use sat-nav much and wouldn't need any of the additional features of the tech pack, it would just be a nice thing to have. Anyone think I'm a fool to not spec it and should find the money?

Cheers
 
If you don't need it don't get it save your money especially if your happy with the options you get as standard


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Agree with the above, my car is packed with pretty much everything, (it was an Audi dealers GMs car) and I was just thinking about all the stuff that's on it I never use...... HUD, matrix lights, soft close doors, rear heated seats, window blinds, rear climate. Etc etc

It's really focused my mind on options I need vs what I want for the next change - good sound system, heated front seats if leather, and a std sat nav - that's it!

Compared with my first company car - Renault 21 GTS 1.7 - I feel lucky if I get a rev counter these days!
 
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No. Mine's an MY17 car and they're all a lovely bright white.
Is the Lighting Pack just lights in more parts of the car?

That's good to know.

I guess so, the full description is as follows:

Lighting package. Includes lighting for exterior: - Courtesy lighting on the underside of the door handles and LED door handle lighting for easy entry and exit in the dark - Automatic activation when the doors are unlocked - Active internal door reflectors

Interior: - Entrance lighting - Two reading lights at front and rear - Front footwell - Inside door handles - Make-up lights - Storage compartment in the centre console - Ambient lighting of the centre console - Ambient reflected light for inside door trims

I'm also interested in people's thoughts on the colour DIS included in the tech pack. I've heard people say it's very good and more modern but why is that? What does it show that the regular monochrome DIS doesn't?

Thanks for all replies.
 
Agree with the above, my car is packed with pretty much everything, (it was an Audi dealers GMs car) and I was just thinking about all the stuff that's on it I never use...... HUD, matrix lights, soft close doors, rear heated seats, window blinds, rear climate. Etc etc

It's really focused my mind on options I need vs what I want for the next change - good sound system, heated front seats if leather, and a std sat nav - that's it!

Compared with my first company car - Renault 21 GTS 1.7 - I feel lucky if I get a rev counter these days!

Completely agree! It's more just about knowing exactly WHAT each option entails because although the brochure can tell you I don't really know if it's any good or not. Thanks for the tips :)
 
Thanks for that, good pic and looks fine to me. Slightly annoying that you have to pay for LEDs on the door handles, which my poverty spec 2009 BMW 3 series has, but oh well :)
 
So I've got the lighting pack and colour DIS on my current A6 and have added them to my new A6 as I wouldn't do without them.

So here's why ...

Lighting pack is great for the puddle lighting and the exterior handle lights are useful but the biggest reason is the auto activation when it's night and the doors are unlocked. As well as a great safety feature it's excellent for finding your car in a carpark at night as one click and it lights up like a Christmas tree. For £275 I think it's worth it.

As for the 7" colour DIS it's great. So much more information and visual. When I jump in the Mrs's Golf the standard DIS just seems old and dated. You can scroll through entries (tracks, stations, contacts) easily. Having had it I wouldn't want to go back to not having it. Plenty of YouTube vids showing you how it looks and works.
 
Thanks for that, I've specced the tech pack on my latest build as from the sounds of it it will make the car much better. If I can change to the lighting pack after ordering I'll think about that as well, cheers :)
 
Anyone here got the panoramic sunroof? Would you spec it again?
 
Will be able to tell you in about 4 weeks, as it's on my order..
 
Got the pan roof on my A6. Bought it 2nd hand so didn't spec it

Biggest advantage is it lets a lot of light in; I have sat in other avants without it and they are noticeably darker. The downside is it lets a lot of light it and when its sunny the interior gets rather warm; even with the blind in place

I have hardly used it but it is a nice feature but when you have aircon why have a sunroof?? It is a pricey option
 
Anyone here got the panoramic sunroof? Would you spec it again?

Those with the pan roof seem to either love it or wouldn't bother again. The later especially when they find out every two years their is a £150 lubrication service


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