New member - A6 BiTdi

[Whatthecurtains]

Hi all,

Been meaning to do this for ages but, after 18 months of ownership (sorry), I just thought I'd share my opinions of my A6 BiTdi (C7). I bought my 2013 Avant in 2019 to replace a 2010 Mercedes E350 estate (S212 for those in the know).

Dislikes:

• Poorly equipped – no retractable wing-mirrors, auto-dipping headlights, courtesy headlights, part-electric seats or electric tailgate, all of which were standard on the Merc
• Poor satnav, both in operation and appearance – Merc’s was much higher definition (retractable screen very nice though)
• Bigger than Merc but less roomy
• Thick passenger headrest coupled with big mirrors and wide pillars make visibility at junctions an issue
• Cheap-looking l.e.d. fuel gauge only shows level in 8ths. Much prefer conventional dial. (Yeah, yeah 1st world problems and all that)
• Front parking bleepers do not come on automatically (although they do if manoeuvre includes reversing)
• Heated mirrors do not come on in conjunction with rear screen demister and there’s no warning light to tell you that they’re on. (They were on constantly for the first month before I realised. According to the handbook, they’re temperature dependant so perhaps my temperature sensor has failed?)

Not sure about:

• Keyless unlocking/engine starting – an answer to a question no-one asked imho. Silly I know, but I’d rather know that the keys were safely in the ignition.
• Rear child-proof locks. Great that these are controllable from the driver’s seat (and individually for each side) but not so good that you can’t control the rear windows separately. (I don’t mind my kids being able to open the windows, but I don’t want them to be able to open the doors.)

Likes:

• Very good-looking.
• No rattles or other signs of wear despite nearly 90,000 miles.
• Has been very reliablle.
• Lovely interior, especially the retractable screen, which makes the ‘fixed ipad’ style of other cars look really cheap and nasty. It would be even better if the screen itself used more of the available area though.
• Erm, there was one other thing. Oh yes, the engine. I think there’s some kind of magic going on under the bonnet because the car sounds more like a V8 petrol than a V6 diesel, it goes like stink, yet we averaged 45mpg on a jaunt across France, the car packed with 4 people, dog and a lot of ‘stuff’. I think this is astonishing for a large, heavy 4wd vehicle, and it routinely returns 35+ doing a mixture of more mundane journeys.

Thanks for reading and would be interested to know others' opinions!

Cheers for now.

[Trevor]

Thanks for the detailed review Simon.....very useful for someone looking to acquire this particular Audi model.

I particularly like the fact that it has incredible economy 🙂

[Whatthecurtains]

Hi Trevor,

You're welcome. Re the economy of the car, it's interesting that, since I posted, I've come across a few comments from people actually saying the opposite - i.e. that it's not as good as they would expect! Comparing people's economy claims is never very scientific because there are so may variables, not least driving styles, environments and routes taken. I only said what I said because, despite its performance advantage, my A6 is about 25% more economical than the E350 Merc it replaced, and I've measured both over many miles, and broadly very similar overall driving environments.

If you (or anyone else) are looking for a BiTdi, happy to discuss further - pm me your number.

Cheers,

Simon