Thinking of buying a 2001 a6 4.2l with 108k Not familiar with theese Any input?

[aaronjudd]

I am thinking of buying a 2001 a6 4.2l with 108k miles For $4000
I Have owned a couple of B5 S4's and I am a General Motors Master auto technician. Im wondering how reliable the drivetrain is in the 4.2 a6's because because I dont know anything about them. I'm going to get rid of my daily driver 2007 GMC Sierra to get rid of a payment, and kind of want something that will hold up. I have already looked it over and its pretty solid except for the RF inner tie rod end, and rust on the doors. Also There are a couple of lines pretty rusted that I can see when I look inside the drivers wheel well just under the steering rack. I didnt have much time to look the car over, so I couldnt tell what theese lines go to. It dose not look like there is much room to work on thees. It also is due for a timing belt which I will be servicing. I can get a kit for $365 , so I am not worried about this. Just worried about how well the engine and transmissions hold up to higher mielage?

Any Input would be greatly appreciated :)

[v8a6]

I have had two C5 A6 4.2 (a 2000 and a 2001). On both, the transmission completely died within six months of buying the car. Transmission problems are a well known issue with these cars.

After the second one died, I swapped in a 6speed manual. The process is pretty well documented on Audizine and other Audi forums. The job is about $2000-$3000 in parts, depending on if you get a new clutch and where you get the parts from. If you can do it yourself, then you save on labor. Installation cost me another $1700.

The engines are solid. Mine has a small oil leak somewhere, which I think is a camshaft seal. Nothing major. It also has a slow coolant leak, which is due to the failure of a $10 plastic pipe (near the oil cooler I think). Problem is, the work is about 4-5 hours to replace the part. I think it can be done at the same time as the timing belt work, so I would highly recommend changing it if it can be done easily at that time. I replaced mine with an aluminum part that a guy on Audiworld fabricates. A great piece.

Good Luck! They are amazing cars. However, I bought my last one a year and a half ago for $6500, and have already put over $10000 (the trans plus a lot of mods). Can't beat the widebody.

[aaronjudd]

What happens to the transmissions, and about what mielage. It was owned and driven by an older woman in her 60's. She has had it since it had 30 k on it. So I dont think it was driven too hard. She bought a new cadillac SRX ( silly girl )
You say widebody, are theese wider than my b5 s4 I had? Because I have concerns of fitting 3 carseats for my kids in the back of this?

[Hambone101]

Interior is the same across the C5, just the 4.2's have flared fenders, makes us that much more special. ;)

I have heard of the transmission problems, I believe it is the torque converter seal that goes bad on these, the main culprit. Josh (einschnellaudi) had a trans die on him too, don't know much about that failure though. I'm currently somewhere in the ballpark of 155-160k on mine with no problems to report as of yet *knock on wood*. Josh also got a replacement auto trans when his went out and was somewhere around $4,500 just for the transmission. Knowing that, most of us 4.2 guys will swap to a 6sp manual if ours ever go out.

Although the engine bay looks tight, and it can be if you have big hands like me, it is not too horrible to work on these cars. I would also check out the control arms and wheel bearings, mine were replaced somewhere around the 135-140k mark. I'm positive other guys will chime in with their experiences with these cars.

I've had mine now for just over 2.5 years, have put about 60k miles on it and loving it everyday. Wouldn't trade it for anything, except maybe an allroad, s6, or rs6

[v8a6]

What happens to the transmissions

One common problem (which happened on my first A6) is that the car will not go in reverse. If you do a search for 'lost reverse' you will find more info. The resolution requires a rebuild or new trans.

On my second one, it simply went into limp mode one day with no previous warning signs. Took it to the shop, and they said much of the internals were destroyed, and not fixable. Again, total rebuild required.

After the second one, a gave up on the auto and went 6speed.

[aaronjudd]

Ahhh ok now I see the flared fenders. Very nice touch! V8a6 Nice a wheels, looked at some of your posts and saw the a8 wheels what year are they off.
Also Does anyone know if theese are wider inside the back seat from side to side than my previous S4's. Concerned about fitting 3 car seats back there!

[ChrisEsco1]

Are they 3 newborn car seats? Those things are fucking huge.

[aaronjudd]

I Know, they are huge. 1 Booster for the 5 year old, 1 toddler (wide as hell seat) and 1 Newborn (also wide as hell)

[rollerton]

I've had a couple C5 Avants, and recently had an S4 Avant then swapped back to a C5 Avant.
No comparison. You will absolutely never get 3 car seats in a B5 S4. It wouldn't be awesome in any car, but in the A6 it's possible, and tolerable.
I've never owned a 4.2 myself, but from what I know it doesn't have any huge issues inherent to itself- a few of the usual problems just take more time to fix.
The TqC on the 02' and older is the 5hp19 that had the internal seal failure. Same as my S4, many BmW's had it and the Boxter had it. ZF made sure that it got around and everyone suffered.
Generally the bad TqC will throw a P09741 code. And from my experience, unless there is an obvious problem, I'd live with it. You could get 10k to 100k miles out of a failing TqC with that problem.
If it's a good deal with no huge existing demons, to the TB service and you're probably fine.

[aaronjudd]

Cool, Thanks :)

[aaronjudd]

Just worried about the transmission now. I hate to work on my own cars, just other peoples.

[mithril]

Tranny rebuild on the early (ie. 2000 and 2001) 4.2's should be assumed as standard maintenance between 160,000 and 200,000 km however once done it should last the rest of the life of the car. Expect the rebuild to be about $3500 - $4000 if you farm it out. The transmission is the only real issue that these cars have that the rest of the C5 A6's don't. The rest is TB service, oil seals, control arms and the LCD screen loosing pixels. As others have alluded to, there's a lot more space in the back of an A6 than there is in a B5 S4. You may be able to fit 3 car seats, but it'll probably be a bit tight.

[v8a6]

For me, 4.2 engine, plus wide fenders, plus the ability to retrofit the RS6 body parts makes the C5 A6 V8 the car to have...



Add a six speed swap and recaro seats and you have your dream car :)

[8520]

I can't get over how much difference the rs6 side skirts make.

[PPGOAL]

V86, it does look sweet with the RS4 (or replica rims)!!

I wish I could figure out how to post a pic as my A6 looks very similar, albeit with the "narrow" body and 196k miles.
http://www.audizine.com/gallery/show...=64261&cat=500