Looking at 2006 A6 3.2Q--buyer's tips????

[lelandr]

Hi everyone,

New. Looking for some help in the form pointers, FAQ, buyer's guides, etc. for an 06 Avant I'm looking at for my wife.

I'm a definite car enthusiast. I have a couple of older BMWs and work on them myself. I have an 88 M3 that I have tracked & autocrossed relentlessly and put hundreds (or thousands) of hours into. I'm picky about cars and when my wife asked about getting a newer car, I took her to see pretty much everything, but reserved a short list.

This week, I stumbled across a really nice, local A6 Avant. We went to take a look, and my wife loved it. I will admit (being a BMW guy) that the styling of new Audis is very avant-garde, and the A6 is nothing short of stunning (and it has a full-size spare!). Anyway, my wife decided that this should be her next car, so I'm trying to make sure we get a good car.

So, I know that pretty much every car has it's, we'll say "quirks," or maybe "features." What should I be looking for with a 55k mile 2006 A6 3.2Q Avant? Like I said, I can pretty much fix anything and I found that Bentley has a nice manual. I'm just looking for what I should be looking out for, i.e. I don't mind issues as long as I know what I'm getting into.

Speaking of a pre-purchase, while our home is in metro ATL, I'm actually working now in Chicago.....can someone suggest a good indy in the W Chicago burbs to get a pre-purchase?

Thanks a lot in advance!!!!

[Kemer1]

Wll let me start off by saying welcome to the Audi family if you actually do decide on the Avant. This being an avant you'll be getting the Quattro AWD system which is paired to the Tiptronic 6sp tranny. Both units are pretty much bulletproof. I would stay away from FWD models with CVTs. Since you like working on them yourself you'll need to invest in a VAGCOM from Ross-Tech. They make the software and interfaces to work with VW/Audi cars. This is a must have tool since the car does have an Electronic Parking Brake which needs to be retracted with the VAG to allow for pad replacement. Also it's needed for resetting the service reminder.

As far as common issues....well the coil packs tend to go, but there is a new design now and a open recall on those so those won't come back to bite you. The MMI in some cars is problematic, but a software upgrade on those fixes the issue, and the latest version seems to be working fine. The FSI motors can sometimes suffer from Carbon buildup in the intake and valves, but a good quality fuel and a good boot to the go pedal keeps that at bay. Healight motors can act up, or HID bulbs fail. Also some cars have had the sensors in the steering column that reads the code for the immobilizer go bad requireing the whole column be replaced. And most of the other gremlins with thses seems to be with the sedans...LED tails fail, trunk latches, sunroofs can have issues. But aside from a few minor neusance issues lited above these cars are really solid. Make sure you get either a good extended warranty, or get the car CPOd. As some of thses issues can cost a pretty penny ro fix.

Sunroof replacement is like $2200...Steering column $850..etc.

The bentley is a very good tool to have if you like to do things yourself. I would drfinately say to go for it.