Ownership anxiety of an S6

[TomPaul10]

I imagine the things im about to say have been beaten to death and there are many threads on these issues/topics but I recently got into a C7.5 S6 with 27k on it, I'm coming from the 3.0t world (s4, s5, sq5) tuned em and all that good stuff and familiar with maintenance and issues. I sold my S5 owned it outright and put it down on a solid deal I got on this S6. I was familiar with some of the issues- blown turbos, motor mounts etc. But god damn the more I read the forums as I am lately like a hawk to get familiar deeply with this platform, the more my anxiety goes up on the issues that could arise or coming my way. I absolutely love this car its such a step up from the 3.0 platform in every way, its power is effortless and build quality not a single panel gap or misalignment or creeks. But I'm finding myself being a little girl when driving it like the thing is gonna blow up lol, so WHY did I buy it in the first place if I'm not gonna absolutely hammer it here and there. I'm just debating was it worth getting out of S5 that I paid off, and jumping into this with a decent little loan. Basically I'm saying does anyone else have some anxiety here and there about this platform and its unpredictability? I also where I bought it did not opt for their warranty as it was iffy 3rd party, and plan on doing extended warranty with audi. But might wait as I am garaging from Jan-may.

[A6sport]

I imagine the things im about to say have been beaten to death and there are many threads on these issues/topics but I recently got into a C7.5 S6 with 27k on it, I'm coming from the 3.0t world (s4, s5, sq5) tuned em and all that good stuff and familiar with maintenance and issues. I sold my S5 owned it outright and put it down on a solid deal I got on this S6. I was familiar with some of the issues- blown turbos, motor mounts etc. But god damn the more I read the forums as I am lately like a hawk to get familiar deeply with this platform, the more my anxiety goes up on the issues that could arise or coming my way. I absolutely love this car its such a step up from the 3.0 platform in every way, its power is effortless and build quality not a single panel gap or misalignment or creeks. But I'm finding myself being a little girl when driving it like the thing is gonna blow up lol, so WHY did I buy it in the first place if I'm not gonna absolutely hammer it here and there. I'm just debating was it worth getting out of S5 that I paid off, and jumping into this with a decent little loan. Basically I'm saying does anyone else have some anxiety here and there about this platform and its unpredictability? I also where I bought it did not opt for their warranty as it was iffy 3rd party, and plan on doing extended warranty with audi. But might wait as I am garaging from Jan-may.

Get the turbo screens handled. have the DSG serviced and you'll be just fine. Enjoy!

[Alister]

Get the turbo screens handled. have the DSG serviced and you'll be just fine. Enjoy!

Plus prepare yourself for engine mount and PCV replacement at some point.

[digdah]

The problem is the cost of repair on the S is pretty steep. Also people come here seeking help when shit hits the fan so that is a factor as well. Things like how hard it has been driven and maintained come into play as well as the newer the vehicle the less likely it is to fail because it has the newly revised parts inside it already. Turbos, motor mounts and it appears PCV valves seem to be a sure fail. That being said I have seen em all with mine it seems. Never again will I get the first Gen of a car....never!

[TomPaul10]

Get the turbo screens handled. have the DSG serviced and you'll be just fine. Enjoy!

I just did the service, did the DSG and oil change, cabin filter, spark plugs the whole 9. Next move is the screens, are you guys running the revised 18'.. I've seen guys just pulling them out completely

[TomPaul10]

The problem is the cost of repair on the S is pretty steep. Also people come here seeking help when shit hits the fan so that is a factor as well. Things like how hard it has been driven and maintained come into play as well as the newer the vehicle the less likely it is to fail because it has the newly revised parts inside it already. Turbos, motor mounts and it appears PCV valves seem to be a sure fail. That being said I have seen em all with mine it seems. Never again will I get the first Gen of a car....never!

This was one of the reasons I got into the 7.5 for some of the revisions but still very prone.. did you blow the turbos ? If so what mileage ?

[Alister]

I just did the service, did the DSG and oil change, cabin filter, spark plugs the whole 9. Next move is the screens, are you guys running the revised 18'.. I've seen guys just pulling them out completely

If I was in your shoes I'd just do away with it completely.

[ItsLarryG]

I just did the service, did the DSG and oil change, cabin filter, spark plugs the whole 9. Next move is the screens, are you guys running the revised 18'.. I've seen guys just pulling them out completely

Yes. SRM actually recommends removing it when upgrading the turbos.

[Audisthesia]

The PCV has an extended factory warranty covering it, forget the miles, like 100K or something in the US.

[paul-g]

Got to say first off, don't own an S6. With that said my buddy has an S8 and obviously i own a 3.0l, my view is very different with Audi, BMW as i've owned both. I know what i'm about to say is not for everyone but for me it makes sense, buy some tools and learn to work on things yourself. It truly saves you a ton of money, there are a ton of people with great knowledge on here and youtube can be your friend as well.

The S8 my buddy owns did turbo screens, downpipes he bought the tools to do so (not that expensive) the truly hard part is getting the nerve up to unbolt a few things. I get it that's the hard part but at the end of the day it's just bolts, some nerve and a bit of reading prior to doing it. Have a buddy come over, have a beer and take pictures and take your time....covid is here where ya going??? like you said your parking your car this winter

that's my 2 cents ...can't buy anything with it lol

[2k16A6]

... build quality not a single panel gap or misalignment or creeks...

Not that its the point of your thread, but is there actually a build quality difference between A cars and S cars with respect to panel gaps?

[Optimus247]

Don't freak out ... Just drive it ...! Do regular service when required ... The 7.5 has improvements over the 7.0 ...

[A665]

There's risk to everything, and you've already bought the car. Don't know what your debt ratio is on the car, but it might cost you more to get out of it than to deal with the cost of repairs that never materialize.

I'd urge you to maintain the vehicle well, sock away a little cash each paycheck or each month to serve as a self-funded warranty reserve, enjoy the car, and live your life.

[Alabama]

I recently got into a C7.5 S6 with 27k on it, I'm coming from the 3.0t world (s4, s5, sq5) tuned em and all that good stuff and familiar with maintenance and issues.

Anecdotally my S6 is about the same maintenance cost as prior other Audis I've owned. Their reliability overall seems to be average. Don't forget, internet forums can be very skewed in how information is presented. I suspect AZ is more useful in getting pointers, product reviews, and help understanding error codes than with getting accurate data to predict brand reliability. So long as you are maintaining and operating your car with common sense, you should enjoy it.

[janhe]

Very good points above already! Remember that on forums people usually ask for advice when something goes wrong, Most people don't come here to report that I've driven 80k miles and everything is fine with the car.

Also good advice from paul-g! Cars are mostly made by humans anyway.

Enjoy your car!

[PeytonBrandt]

Of course you will mostly see the posts on forums of people having problems; it would be pointless for the 99% of people to make a post saying “just had another problem-free day with my car.”

There’s a ton of posts on here about what you can do to avoid issues, which should lessen your anxiety. Address the oil screen as soon as financially possible, and generally follow Audi’s recommended service schedule (except change the oil every 5k miles instead of the recommended 10k). If you do that, there’s really not much to worry about. This platform is relatively reliable as long as you don’t neglect it.


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[Kczach]

I agree with Peyton. If you read all the posts you are going to assume the worst is going to happen. It's like reading all the inserts for a medication that your are taking. If you read all of the inserts you would probably not take the medicine! just do the preventative maintenance and don't abuse it.
Enjoy!

[TomPaul10]

There's risk to everything, and you've already bought the car. Don't know what your debt ratio is on the car, but it might cost you more to get out of it than to deal with the cost of repairs that never materialize.

I'd urge you to maintain the vehicle well, sock away a little cash each paycheck or each month to serve as a self-funded warranty reserve, enjoy the car, and live your life.

I put 17.5k down, so I'll never be upside down in the car and have substantial equity in it whenever I pull out and into the future as that spread from paying down will roughly make the equity the same over time with depreciation. And I do have Audi care plus on it so I'm following services to the T

[jrhgto]

Yeah the C7/7.5 platform is solid and very reliable. I have 160K on my 2012 A6, and the only major problems so far knock on wood, were the well known engine mounts. Looking to maybe move to an 18 S6 next year, and have had some of the same reservations, after hearing about the $10K repair bills for dealer intalled OEM turbo replacement. After talking with a few folks, though it seems that you can get aftermarket turbos installed by an independent for like $3K. So that made me feel a lot better knowing that worse case they do go, its not crazy expensive. ALso the stories about the Mechatronic unit going on the DSGs were my other concern, but that issue seems way less likely.

[A665]

I put 17.5k down, so I'll never be upside down in the car and have substantial equity in it whenever I pull out and into the future as that spread from paying down will roughly make the equity the same over time with depreciation. And I do have Audi care plus on it so I'm following services to the T

Sounds to me like you're in a good position and maybe you're just talking yourself into anxiety. I know, sometimes it happens. LOL

Step back from the ledge and try to enjoy!

[digdah]

This was one of the reasons I got into the 7.5 for some of the revisions but still very prone.. did you blow the turbos ? If so what mileage ?

They went at 70k

I put 17.5k down, so I'll never be upside down in the car and have substantial equity in it whenever I pull out and into the future as that spread from paying down will roughly make the equity the same over time with depreciation. And I do have Audi care plus on it so I'm following services to the T

Not bad!

[paul-g]

honestly like the old saying says " if someone has a good experience they will tell 5 people if they have a bad one they will tell everyone" so in forums they same way. they neve say how good their car has been running but an issue comes up with something everyone talks about it cause it's place for discussion if that makes sense?

[Thark88]

I'm in the same boat. Sold my 700whp mustang and got a 2017 s6 ... tuned it after 2 weeks and now I feel a slight vibration sometimes (2 weeks after tuning) ... sometimes it lunges fwd in 1st gear, sometimes i think I smell stuff burning...

And every time I look i see horror stories about repairs and bills..

Not an easy feeling -_-

[A665]

I'm getting the picture now that owning an S6 can certainly induce anxiety. I'm willing to put up with anxiety for certain things, but not for worry that my car might essentially blow up. lol Who needs that?

[flyfishing]

Time to buy a Toyota Camry with a warranty and put your mind at ease :)

[daytona rs7]

my MY17 RS7 has been bulletproof (knock on wood) and its mechanically similar to the s6, except transmission.

concerned about oil screen? spend $2k and have it removed. or $300 and DIY. never worry about it again.

PCV failure? warranty is extended to 120k miles. alternatively, pay for it yourself and replace it when you remove the oil screen.

motor mounts are hit or miss. its not a catastrophic failure. but a little over $1k to fix. any car can have a bad mount, audi just wedged one of them in there which causes high labor.

the diff is another very expensive part. a few people have had it leak, requiring a replacement under warranty. more commonly others have had the service messed up and the incorrect fluid of amount caused failure, this is also usually warrantied since the shop doing the service is the one that broke it. its about $9k, so be careful with this part.

if your proactive with maintenance and be preventative about the oil screen, there should be no massive repair bills.

while i am confident that my car is reliable and wont leave me stranded, i do know that if it ever does happen, i should be prepared to fork out a couple thousand dollars for an "average" size repair...parts and dealer labor is expensive. luxury cars come with expensive bills, just is what it is.

i have faith that the engine and trans are solid components, which is good since they are 25k and 10k (respectively) to fix.

keeping up with maintenance is the best way to make sure you don't end up with an terrible bill. even if somthign does go bad, it should be caught during maintenance inspections and will give you the option to find a cost effective shop to get it fixed. skipping inspections, missing signs of imminent failure, and ending up stranded on the side of the road will leave you little option except go to the closest dealer and pay whatever they want to fix it.

[wheelsup69]

I bought mine with 90,000 miles on it and did the oil screen and RS7 turbo upgrade, pcv replacement, all of it and it wasn't too bad. I didn't know any history on the car so I just did it all. Once I got in there I actually found that the oil screen had been replaced but had no way of knowing.

That being said the fundamental issue with turbo failure is clogging of the oil screen that filters the oil feeding the turbos. It gets clogged primarily from dirty oil. There really isn't anything that can cause it. If you don't have dirty oil the screen won't clog. Knowing what you know all you really have to do is change your oil and keep fresh clean oil in the motor. No clogged screen, no turbo failure.

[TomPaul10]

one thing to ease my mind is that I talked to my buddy that I used to work with who's a Audi tech, he does work on the side at his personal garage so I have him now to take care of anything that might go wrong and also use to remove the screens etc. so thats nice. he to stated a lot of the issues arise from people not properly allowing the car to warm up and then pounding on it ( no brainer due to the oil needing to be fed to the turbos) and basically proper oil scheduled oil changes

[5000S]

one thing to ease my mind is that I talked to my buddy that I used to work with who's a Audi tech, he does work on the side at his personal garage so I have him now to take care of anything that might go wrong and also use to remove the screens etc. so thats nice. he to stated a lot of the issues arise from people not properly allowing the car to warm up and then pounding on it ( no brainer due to the oil needing to be fed to the turbos) and basically proper oil scheduled oil changes

Good advice and common sense, proper warm up and cool down with any turbo engine.

[Joe'sS6]

Once I had the oil screen removed, PCV changed, new RS7 turbos installed, and the car tuned, I have complete peace of mind. If it breaks, it breaks, just as any car might.

I do not use it at the track and quarter mile racing, I guess that is where most cars break.

I use the power at overtaking and open road fast driving, pushing it in progressive accelerations. That way, and with good maintenance, I expect it can last a loooong time. Love this car! Enjoy it.

[zcd2.7t]

Concern over what might go expensively wrong was a factor in my decision to trade my out-of-warranty S6 on a Tesla Model 3 Performance.

[JWebb_C7_Comp]

Concern over what might go expensively wrong was a factor in my decision to trade my out-of-warranty S6 on a Tesla Model 3 Performance.

How do you like Tesla compared to Audi. Buddy of mine has model S, but when driving my car he said he still really like the feel of Audi in corners, etc...


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[zcd2.7t]

How do you like Tesla compared to Audi. Buddy of mine has model S, but when driving my car he said he still really like the feel of Audi in corners, etc...

The Model 3 Performance’s handling is on a different level (read: much better) than the Model S. Similar to an RS4 vs. an A8.

I'll be at 2 years of ownership on December 28th and have done about 29,000 miles.

I've had zero problems with my car, and enjoy it more than any car we've previously owned. It's not just the acceleration - it's also the handling and the tech and the seat comfort and the audio system quality and the convenience of having a full battery every morning when I wake up, among many other strengths.

It's not perfect - it should be quieter on the highway on textured pavement, and a magnetorheological/air/adjustable suspension would be appreciated, but on balance it's quite the amazing vehicle.

I can't see myself ever buying an ICE daily driver again.

[A6sport]

The Model 3 Performance’s handling is on a different level (read: much better) than the Model S. Similar to an RS4 vs. an A8.

I'll be at 2 years of ownership on December 28th and have done about 29,000 miles.

I've had zero problems with my car, and enjoy it more than any car we've previously owned. It's not just the acceleration - it's also the handling and the tech and the seat comfort and the audio system quality and the convenience of having a full battery every morning when I wake up, among many other strengths.

It's not perfect - it should be quieter on the highway on textured pavement, and a magnetorheological/air/adjustable suspension would be appreciated, but on balance it's quite the amazing vehicle.

I can't see myself ever buying an ICE daily driver again.

That's quite a statement coming from a guy I've known on several Audi boards for at least 15 years...

He's had 2 of Audi's most venerable engines, the 2.7T and the 4.0T, which says a lot.

[Joe'sS6]

I agree that electric cars are the way of the future and the present if you have long daily comute.

Sure thing, a Taycan would be lovely. But I like to also have a car that I can use on any day at any time, on long trips, pushing it as much as I like, and not worry about where and for how to recharge it. Specially on Covid times, it sounds best to drive than to fly commercial, if possible.

[JWebb_C7_Comp]

The Model 3 Performance’s handling is on a different level (read: much better) than the Model S. Similar to an RS4 vs. an A8.

I'll be at 2 years of ownership on December 28th and have done about 29,000 miles.

I've had zero problems with my car, and enjoy it more than any car we've previously owned. It's not just the acceleration - it's also the handling and the tech and the seat comfort and the audio system quality and the convenience of having a full battery every morning when I wake up, among many other strengths.

It's not perfect - it should be quieter on the highway on textured pavement, and a magnetorheological/air/adjustable suspension would be appreciated, but on balance it's quite the amazing vehicle.

I can't see myself ever buying an ICE daily driver again.

Thanks for the comments. My limited experiences as a passenger and driving Tesla makes me believe the technology is definitely the way of the future and they’ve gotten off to a great start. My wife considered one in 2017, but opted for an ICE based Q7, largely because we routinely dive roughly 250ish miles visiting family and we were both uncertain about mileage per charge and access to charging in “remote” areas.

Now, we’re seeing charging stations popping up everywhere!


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[zcd2.7t]

Thanks for the comments. My limited experiences as a passenger and driving Tesla makes me believe the technology is definitely the way of the future and they’ve gotten off to a great start. My wife considered one in 2017, but opted for an ICE based Q7, largely because we routinely dive roughly 250ish miles visiting family and we were both uncertain about mileage per charge and access to charging in “remote” areas.

Now, we’re seeing charging stations popping up everywhere!...

Things have definitely improved regarding EV charging, particularly where Tesla is concerned. Other charging networks are continuing to be built out, with varying degrees of success.

You can easily visit the vast majority of the country via Tesla's network of "Superchargers". The fact that the Supercharger network is completely integrated with the vehicles themselves is absolutely key - simply dictate a destination to the NAV system, and it tells you where you'll have to stop and for how long - it's seamless. The NAV even knows how many actual Superchargers are in use at any given time so you know before you arrive. Payment, which is often a real hassle with the 3rd party chargers used by every other EV introduced thus far, is tied to your Tesla account, typically to the credit card used for the order deposit. Pull up, plug in, the charger recognizes the car and bills the card automatically - no action required on the driver's part.

Yes, owning an EV requires a bit more planning for road trips than does an ICE vehicle, but that's more than offset by all of the technology's advantages, IMHO.

[5000S]

As you should know with EV's, in colder climates battery life falls off dramatically, you lose 25-50% of capacity when temps are below freezing.

Just think about the energy required to heat the cabin. EV's may be fine in California, AZ or FL, but not going to work in the north and midwest, including the lame
state of Illinois.

[zcd2.7t]

...EV's may be fine in California, AZ or FL, but not going to work in the north and midwest..

LOLOLOLOLOL!!

(Sorry for the partial threadjack, OP. If anyone has any more questions about my Tesla, feel free to PM me.)

[TomPaul10]

you guys might call me crazy and im comparing apples to cantaloupes... but ive been super interested in the new 21' SUPRA.. HERE ME OUT! from a technicality standpoint the platform is majority BMW based outsourced through a third party manufacturer in Austria ( I know, you don't give a shit about that ) and then shares the platform of the z4M and dampening and suspension of the M2. the performance is quite literally insane just stock and its a drivers car. its completely different than the S6 obviously. and all ive had is Audi. but I always wanted that V8TT so I bought my dream S6. but after driving it, it is just stupid sterile and I don't find myself hooning on it like my S3,S4,S5. and obviously thats not its complete soul intention it ticks every box very well. well rounded. But I have a second car now and can garage, and im still in my mid 20s. and might still be looking for more of that brute drivers experience. let me hear your thoughts, and let me know if im nuts.