OEM Genuine VW/AUDi ATF fluid vs LiquiMoly TopTech 1200 Synthetic ATF fluid

[indigofilipino]

I really want to service my transmission on my Prestige A6 soon.
Before I pull the bullet on buying 9 liters of ATF fluid
I wanted your opinion and get an educated purchase on the Automatic transmission fluid

I'm officially set with buying the OEM Genuine VW/AUDi Automatic Transmission Filter Kit
which will include a transmission pan gasket and the transmission pan securing hardware.



so....
9 liters of OEM Genuine VW/AUDi Automatic Transmission Fluid (Green) is $345


and

5 Liter bottle + 4 Liters of TopTech 1200 Synthetic Automatic Transmission Fluid by LiquiMoly is $96



My gut is telling me to go with OEM VW/AUDi ATF, but my pockets are telling me to go with LiquiMoly TopTech 1200 Synthetic ATF
Let me know what you would buy

Thanks for viewing and replying

[xanmato]

Why don't you go halfway with ZF Lifeguard 8 for about $225?

[indigofilipino]

Why don't you go halfway with ZF Lifeguard 8 for about $225?

interesting, you personally have this fluid running on yours? I'm thinking if I invest in aftermarket fluid, then I should try out the LiquiMoly brand.

[Valpo A7]

VW / Audi did not make the fluid. It’s a ZF trans but even they did not make the fluid either. It was made to the ZF transmission spec. You can save money with fluid if you find another manufacturer that made fluid to spec. If you don’t want to try another refiner then the ZF stuff would be your best economical bet. The OEM stuff is more than likely ZF fluid with different packaging and a price markup.

[indigofilipino]

VW / Audi did not make the fluid. It’s a ZF trans but even they did not make the fluid either. It was made to the ZF transmission spec. You can save money with fluid if you find another manufacturer that made fluid to spec. If you don’t want to try another refiner then the ZF stuff would be your best economical bet. The OEM stuff is more than likely ZF fluid with different packaging and a price markup.

Thank you for your reply. I appreciate the help. I'm most likely will be going OEM Genuine ATF instead of ZF because I have the Audi dealsership 5 minutes from my home that the parts department will closely match the prices and won't have to worry about delivery.

Sent from my LG-H932 using Audizine mobile app

[indigofilipino]

Wednesday morning, March 20, 10:35am.
The Audi dealership is busy AF.
Literally cars left and right pulling into the service department valet. Even a 65+ year old woman pulling up in a S7.

Anyways,
I got in and talked to my service adviser about the Transmission fluid service with filter.
He said that the Audi A6 Quattro Prestige requires 14 liters of ATF? I was like...WTF, those numbers can't be true
Honestly, I did not want to try to validate those numbers because it wasn't worth arguing with this service adviser after all the great customer service he's provided in the past.
I'm so confused where he got those numbers but he printed me out a quote for the job and it'll come out to about $700.

I'm disappointed and this got me to do more research to buy the filter/fluid online and just get it serviced with my mechanic instead.
I just googled 'Audi A6 Prestige ATF' and found pelicanparts to be in the top 5. I remember an article that they bought ECS tuning sometime this year or last year in 2018.

Checked out their website
they have the ZF Filter in stock for $138 [Part #: 0BK-398-009-A-M103]

I'm going towards making my investment with the ZF brand overall buying the filter/fluid.

Anyone here used the ZF filter kit on their A6?
Anyone know how much I should expect to pay someone to service the vehicle? [Filter, Fluid and differential fluid]
Anyone know much Gear oil to buy to service the differentials? Front? Rear? Anywhere else in the vehicle?

Thanks for viewing/replies.

[spdemon91]

Wednesday morning, March 20, 10:35am.
The Audi dealership is busy AF.
Literally cars left and right pulling into the service department valet. Even a 65+ year old woman pulling up in a S7.

Anyways,
I got in and talked to my service adviser about the Transmission fluid service with filter.
He said that the Audi A6 Quattro Prestige requires 14 liters of ATF? I was like...WTF, those numbers can't be true
Honestly, I did not want to try to validate those numbers because it wasn't worth arguing with this service adviser after all the great customer service he's provided in the past.
I'm so confused where he got those numbers but he printed me out a quote for the job and it'll come out to about $700.

I'm disappointed and this got me to do more research to buy the filter/fluid online and just get it serviced with my mechanic instead.
I just googled 'Audi A6 Prestige ATF' and found pelicanparts to be in the top 5. I remember an article that they bought ECS tuning sometime this year or last year in 2018.

Checked out their website
they have the ZF Filter in stock for $138 [Part #: 0BK-398-009-A-M103]

I'm going towards making my investment with the ZF brand overall buying the filter/fluid.

Anyone here used the ZF filter kit on their A6?
Anyone know how much I should expect to pay someone to service the vehicle? [Filter, Fluid and differential fluid]
Anyone know much Gear oil to buy to service the differentials? Front? Rear? Anywhere else in the vehicle?

Thanks for viewing/replies.

Been researching the same and here is wisdom I was able to glean from forums... For transmission, assuming you have the 8-speed automatic transmission, the initial fill was approx 9 liters. When you drain it, not all 9 liters drains out, even with dropping the pan and changing the filter. Plenty of fluid remains in the torque converter and other nooks and crannies. So as I understand it, the proper procedure is a multicycle drain. First step involves dropping the pan, draining all fluid, installing new filter, cleaning magnets and pan, reinstalling pan, and refilling with approx 6 to 7 liters of new fluid as 2 to 3 liters of old fluid are still in there. Second step involves running the engine for approx 20-30 minutes while going through the gears while the car is lifted to circulate transmission fluid. Final step involves a simple drain and refill with approx 4 to 5 liters of new fluid (not as much new fluid here since not dropping the pan). For me I was planning on 13 liters just to be absolutely sure. If your dealership is saying they are going to need 14 liters to do the job, that is in the ballpark for a multicycle drain. I would go back to your dealer and question them regarding the process. Please report back with your findings. Also question them on the differential fluid changes.

For transmission fluid & parts, I was looking at blauparts as they sell kits. I was planning on buying the kit which includes 9 liters of fluid. I was then going to buy an extra 4 liters of fluid to be sure I had enough on hand. Here is a link for your car... https://www.blauparts.com/audi-a6-at...t-8-speed.html

Separately, I have been researching the differential fluid changes but there is much less information available on the forums. It would be great if others with real world experience on changing the differential fluids would provide guidance on the procedures.

[kennysexypants]

VW / Audi did not make the fluid. It’s a ZF trans but even they did not make the fluid either. It was made to the ZF transmission spec. You can save money with fluid if you find another manufacturer that made fluid to spec. If you don’t want to try another refiner then the ZF stuff would be your best economical bet. The OEM stuff is more than likely ZF fluid with different packaging and a price markup.

ROWE in Germany bottles the Lifeguard 8 for ZF, and their own bottled product can usually be found for much less than the price of ZF.

https://www.eeuroparts.com/Parts/419...r-25063001003/

[indigofilipino]

Been researching the same and here is wisdom I was able to glean from forums... For transmission, assuming you have the 8-speed automatic transmission, the initial fill was approx 9 liters. When you drain it, not all 9 liters drains out, even with dropping the pan and changing the filter. Plenty of fluid remains in the torque converter and other nooks and crannies. So as I understand it, the proper procedure is a multicycle drain. First step involves dropping the pan, draining all fluid, installing new filter, cleaning magnets and pan, reinstalling pan, and refilling with approx 6 to 7 liters of new fluid as 2 to 3 liters of old fluid are still in there. Second step involves running the engine for approx 20-30 minutes while going through the gears while the car is lifted to circulate transmission fluid. Final step involves a simple drain and refill with approx 4 to 5 liters of new fluid (not as much new fluid here since not dropping the pan). For me I was planning on 13 liters just to be absolutely sure. If your dealership is saying they are going to need 14 liters to do the job, that is in the ballpark for a multicycle drain. I would go back to your dealer and question them regarding the process. Please report back with your findings. Also question them on the differential fluid changes.

For transmission fluid & parts, I was looking at blauparts as they sell kits. I was planning on buying the kit which includes 9 liters of fluid. I was then going to buy an extra 4 liters of fluid to be sure I had enough on hand. Here is a link for your car... https://www.blauparts.com/audi-a6-at...t-8-speed.html

Separately, I have been researching the differential fluid changes but there is much less information available on the forums. It would be great if others with real world experience on changing the differential fluids would provide guidance on the procedures.

Thank you for this informative reply.
It would of been nice if the service adviser thoroughly explained why 14 liters is required like how you did.
Now this makes me want to do the transmission service with the dealership.

[AudiC7Owners]

Look into ROWWE ATF fluid too. Awesome specs and you can get it for 14.95$/L from Europa Parts