Hi all. Potential new owner

[Obiwancanblowme]

Hi everyone. Just on the fence now as to whether to leap delve into Audi ownership and grab this 1998 A6 2.8 30v Quattro. I had a 1998 A4 for 6 days until a van driver ploughed into the back of me. I'm very cautious of repair bills etc and being a british leyland fan boy, this is out of my comfort zone. The car seems genuine and it's MOT history is no worse than any other 20 year old car having needed plenty of tyres and the odd CV joint here and there. 

I've been told that they can be bullet proof and i shouldn't have too many issues in my ownership but wanted to ask the people in the know if  it was a wise move. Belts are due which Audi have quoted me £650 to do which of course includes the parts needed to do the job. A local garage quoted me £1000!!!!!

Anyway, hopefully i'll get some good insight into what ownership of these can be like. Many thanks, si

(forgive the pictures of my metros, these are my prides and joy)

[Steve Q]

Welcome to the forum Simon, you'll find the members on here are a friendly and helpful bunch :) 

Great to see another a6 c5 owner on here :) 

You are right in saying the a6 c5 is bullet proof as long as it has been maintained. My diesel a6 has moved 328k on the  orginal engine and gearbox which have never been rebuilt. And it's been owned only by my dad and then me. So 1 family owned from new :) 

£650 for cambelt and water pump is about standard for Audi and I certainly wouldn't be paying £1000! It might be worth you ringing around the other local Audi dealers to see which one does the best price. More often than not they have offers on for having the cambelt and water pump done. 

Make sure the aircon works because if it doesn't the it could be a £1000 bill as a worse case scenario. And it's worth checking all other electronic items work too. This is also key with the computer between the dials. The pixels can start to fail and the repair is either replacement instrument cluster or replacement computer screen. 

I have to say it looks in very good condition and you couldn't tell it was a 20 year old car! I think that interior combo is not that common either. It looks nice with the sport seats and 3 spoke wheel. Those items were extra on mine but they may have been standard on yours due to the engine choice when new. 

Just like BL cars there are a couple of rust spots on these and it's the edge of the front wheel arches. This is due to VAG putting foam inserts between the wing and wheel arch liner which obviously absorbs moisture and then rota the front wings from the inside out. This affected most vag cars of the era such as: a4, a6, golf, Bora, Passat etc. The only other rust I've found is in the inside of the front doors at the bottom but this appears to be more surface rust on mine. Any other Rust or bubbling paint could be a sign of accident damage repair as these cars repel rust well as they are galvanized. 

I believe the gearbox on your a6 is CVT and it's worth checking that the gear changes are smooth as any issues could be expensive to fix. 

Don't worry about sharing pics of your metros, it's great to seem our members other interests! :) I have ac1993 Ford escort as well as the a6. I've had the Ford since I was 16! 

Cheers

Steve

[Magnet]

Hello Simon,

I certainly don't want to put you off buying this car, but simply to stand back a little and give it a coat of thinking about. The 'odd tyre issue' might be a bit of an understatement when this car has had a number of MOT failures for tyre cords exposed! Now Michelin Kojaks is one thing, running tyres until the cords are exposed really does smack of a glorious lack of maintenance! If the owner has been prepared to run tyres beyond the legal limit then personally, I would be questioning the level of care and maintenance this car has enjoyed. 

I'm sure you will make the decision that best suits your requirements Simon.

Good luck with this,

Kind regards,

Gareth.

p.s. No apologies about Metros - I have a 18k from new one here.

 

[Obiwancanblowme]

Steve, thanks for the welcome and heads up. It seems to be just general car stuff then really. I'll ask the seller about the air-con situation as a matter of enquiry. The guy is actually having a 214SEi off me in exchange and is driving all the way from Newcastle to Cardiff in the A6. This obviously fills me with some level of confidence because i doubt he'd risk driving a shed all that way. 

Insurance is fairly cheap aswell so i'm happy with that. 

Hopefully all goes well and we have some decent years motoring from the Audi. 

[Obiwancanblowme]

3 minutes ago, Magnet said:

Hello Simon,

I certainly don't want to put you off buying this car, but simply to stand back a little and give it a coat of thinking about. The 'odd tyre issue' might be a bit of an understatement when this car has had a number of MOT failures for tyre cords exposed! Now Michelin Kojaks is one thing, running tyres until the cords are exposed really does smack of a glorious lack of maintenance! If the owner has been prepared to run tyres beyond the legal limit then personally, I would be questioning the level of care and maintenance this car has enjoyed. 

I'm sure you will make the decision that best suits your requirements Simon.

Good luck with this,

Kind regards,

Gareth.

p.s. No apologies about Metros - I have a 18k from new one here.

 

A very interesting point you make there and thank you for bringing that to light. I did wonder about that and i'm also wondering is it yes, a poor ownership period with the car coupled with buying budget tyres for a vehicle that really needs a better quality tyre or is it just poor choices made during that period of time. 
The current owner has taken the time to fix various issues and has also given the vehicle a fully documented service recently. 
Having owned several MG ZT's and Rover 75's that haven't been well cared for, i understand why you'd point this out. I am a fairly skilled DIY mechanic and i am confident that because of it's moderately low mileage for it's age, there's still some enjoyment to be had. 
The red metro was saved from the crusher and has required several months of restoration and repair. Granted, an austin metro is a little easier to work on than say an Audi, however, the principles in ownership are the same. look after it and it'll look after you. Hopefully, if i take the plunge, it'll be a positive chapter in the cars life and one which will maybe quash any fears i have about owning such a complex (compared to a metro) car. 

[Steve Q]

Tyres wise, my dad and I found the a6 runs the best on Bridgestones. 

Suspension arms unfortunately do wear on the a6 both upper and lower this is because it is a big heavy car. 

It sounds like you'd be the perfect person to take care of the a6 and like I say as long as it's maintained then you should be fine :) 

Keep.us posted on how you get on :) 

[Obiwancanblowme]

4 hours ago, Steve Q said:

Tyres wise, my dad and I found the a6 runs the best on Bridgestones. 

Suspension arms unfortunately do wear on the a6 both upper and lower this is because it is a big heavy car. 

It sounds like you'd be the perfect person to take care of the a6 and like I say as long as it's maintained then you should be fine :) 

Keep.us posted on how you get on :) 

i will do indeed. The tyre issue was a one off around  5 years ago. The service was done last november. Is there a haynes manual for the car or an electronic owners repair manual i can download?

[Steve Q]

2 minutes ago, Obiwancanblowme said:

i will do indeed. The tyre issue was a one off around  5 years ago. The service was done last november. Is there a haynes manual for the car or an electronic owners repair manual i can download?

Fair point. 

Erm, there isn't a Haynes manual and the only paper manuals are from Bentley's. However I do believe you can get copies of the Audi workshop manuals on a CD from.ebay but I can't say I've used one. 

Cheers

Steve

[Juggati]

Welcome to the forum! I once hit 90mph in my metro (on a track)...me and the passenger could barely talk over being shaken to death! :D