Should I buy an A6 TDI?

relumalutan

Veteran Member
Joined
Dec 6, 2012
Location
Michigan
TDI
2011 Audi A3 TDI, 2006 VW Jetta (Sold)
Just sold my 2006 Jetta TDI with 316k miles, DSG transmission. Bought it in 2012 with 125k miles on it. Car still drove like new, got $5k for it. To be honest, I sold it because I did not have the time anymore to fix it.

When I worked only a job 5 days a week I had no problem fixing it myself in the garage of my home (replaced DMF, camshaft, turbo, 3 times the O-ring on the coolant flange, leaking EGR coolant hoses, sagging headliner, suspension, and chased all kinds of electrical gremlins caused by wires chaffed due to being too short in length, along with multiple oil leaks). I started working two jobs 7 days a week a couple of years ago, whenever something simple died on the car, it used to sit for a month or two until I found the time to fix it. I basically lost the joy and desire to drive it anymore. I'm not complaining about regular maintenance (timing belt, oil changes, brakes replacement, engine and DSG transmission oil changes, or filters, which by the way I always did on time). I understand the car is 18 years old, but some of the parts I have replaced 2-3 times already, all OEM parts and I got tired of it.

Latest repairs I've done for the past 2 weeks: RCV valve on the AC compressor (this is the third time I replaced it since I bought the car), radiator replacement because the connector from the cooling fans rubbed against it causing a hole and a coolant leak to be formed, and brake boost vacuum hose. While I had the car raised on jacks, I noticed the driver side CV booth cover cracked... I replaced the entire damn driver axle with a new one from Raxles (trusted vendor) 1 year and less than 10k miles ago.

I've been eyeing a 2016 Audi A6 TDI with 85k miles on it. I know they have advanced emissions systems and I think I heard they are prone to break down.
Other than that, If you own(ed) an A6 TDI or the Q5 TDI what has been your experience with it? Are they reliable, or should I expect a similar experience like the one I had with my 06 Jetta?

Should I expect the same story: are things breaking up all the time on them too?

Perhaps I should look to buy a Lexus, if my main concern is reliability? I have a Toyota RAV4 hybrid with 120k miles on it, bought it brand new: oil and filters it's all it required this far, not even one hiccup since I bought it.
 

danmin

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 6, 2023
Location
DFW
TDI
2014 Passat 2.0 TDI @ 180k
Just sold my 2006 Jetta TDI with 316k miles, DSG transmission. Bought it in 2012 with 125k miles on it. Car still drove like new, got $5k for it. To be honest, I sold it because I did not have the time anymore to fix it.

When I worked only a job 5 days a week I had no problem fixing it myself in the garage of my home (replaced DMF, camshaft, turbo, 3 times the O-ring on the coolant flange, leaking EGR coolant hoses, sagging headliner, suspension, and chased all kinds of electrical gremlins caused by wires chaffed due to being too short in length, along with multiple oil leaks). I started working two jobs 7 days a week a couple of years ago, whenever something simple died on the car, it used to sit for a month or two until I found the time to fix it. I basically lost the joy and desire to drive it anymore. I'm not complaining about regular maintenance (timing belt, oil changes, brakes replacement, engine and DSG transmission oil changes, or filters, which by the way I always did on time). I understand the car is 18 years old, but some of the parts I have replaced 2-3 times already, all OEM parts and I got tired of it.

Latest repairs I've done for the past 2 weeks: RCV valve on the AC compressor (this is the third time I replaced it since I bought the car), radiator replacement because the connector from the cooling fans rubbed against it causing a hole and a coolant leak to be formed, and brake boost vacuum hose. While I had the car raised on jacks, I noticed the driver side CV booth cover cracked... I replaced the entire damn driver axle with a new one from Raxles (trusted vendor) 1 year and less than 10k miles ago.

I've been eyeing a 2016 Audi A6 TDI with 85k miles on it. I know they have advanced emissions systems and I think I heard they are prone to break down.
Other than that, If you own(ed) an A6 TDI or the Q5 TDI what has been your experience with it? Are they reliable, or should I expect a similar experience like the one I had with my 06 Jetta?

Should I expect the same story: are things breaking up all the time on them too?

Perhaps I should look to buy a Lexus, if my main concern is reliability? I have a Toyota RAV4 hybrid with 120k miles on it, bought it brand new: oil and filters it's all it required this far, not even one hiccup since I bought it.
I have a 2014 A6 TDI. Very nice car. When you get it- you need to invest about 3 days of work into it. Then it’ll last a long time. The coolant and EGR systems leak. The EGR cooler can be deleted and the plastic leak-prone coolant flanges can be replaced with billet aluminum. Delete kits are pretty cheap and a hood stack is the easiest way to delete it. I daily a deleted hoodstack A6. The only headache beyond “bulletproofing” is any upgrade beyond the tune and delete is pretty expensive or it’s time-consuming to DIY. Otherwise driving the V6 is WAYY smoother than the 4 banger TDIs.

I would buy it. The best Delete and tuning bundle is NAT Performance and Oakes Tuning. Get the Stage 2 with TCU tune. Join the Facebook group and see all of us talking on there. I just put a 2872 turbo on mine.

You’ll find many testimonies in the FB group of how much people love this car. The Gen 2 3.0 TDi’s are the most sought after (i believe) because they are powerful and reliable.

My A6 is at 185k miles and my turbo just went out. That’s from me abusing it daily though. Outside of maintenance the only worries you should have would be with the EGR cooler needing to be deleted and the plastic coolant flanges needing upgraded. Everything else is perfect on these cars. Far less work needing to be done VS your current car.

Take a test drive and you’ll be sold.
 
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Tom_B

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 24, 2004
Location
Central Oklahoma
TDI
15 Touareg, 14 A6
They are nice cars but not cheap to own or work on. Parts are generally more expensive than VWs. The 3.0 TDI is a great engine, but nothing like your 2006 Jetta's. An oil change is 7 liters instead or 4 or 5, no timing belt just chains, sophisticated systems, etc, etc.

I enjoy mine as a daily driver and for long trips, it's comfortable, quiet & powerful. Mechanically it's had to have a valley re-seal & water pump (both covered by TDI warranty) and engine mounts at just over 110k miles, but the TDI warranty is now gone. That repair bill would now be over $4k. I replaced pads and rotors myself, parts were a good bit more than our old Jetta or Passat's, also had the drivetrain fluids replaced proactively ($$). It's a Prestige with lots of options, don't get me started on the $$$ when some of that stuff goes out. Bottom line is I was pretty sure of what I was getting into when I bought it, we've had 3 Touareg TDIs. All great vehicles, just in another class than a Jetta with repair costs also in another class. The one you're looking at should have some TDI warranty left on it though.
 

gforce1108

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 2, 2006
Location
Newburgh, NY
TDI
04 Jetta GLS BEW, 14 Audi A7 V6 TDI, 13 Porsche Cayenne V6 TDI
I own one A7 (mechanically identical to the A6) and work on a second. Neither have any coolant leaks at 140k and 100k miles. Zero oil seepage on mine - there has been some signs on my buddy's but he recently had the valve covers replaced/resealed under warranty. My EGR is deleted in the tune but still in place - I did the full SUStdi bypass kit on the other one.

I went from a BEW to a CKRA and back to the BEW when VW bought back the POS passat. The A7 is 10x the car the NMS passat pretended to be (and the used A7 cost less than what VW paid me for the passat).

Spectacular cars!
 

IndigoBlueWagon

TDIClub Enthusiast, Principal IDParts, Vendor , w/
Joined
Aug 16, 2004
Location
South of Boston
TDI
'97 Passat, '99.5 Golf, '02 Jetta Wagon, '15 GSW
When my kids were young and I was traveling a lot for work, I realized that maintaining an older European diesel (Peugeot at that time) was not something I had time for. I bit the bullet and bought a Toyota Camry. It clearly was an appliance, but I drove it 100K miles in 4 years and all I replaced were tires, one set of rear brakes, a timing belt, and a window regulator that I broke. All I did was put fuel in it and drive it.

If I were in the same boat now I'd probably do the same thing. Honestly a Camry Hybrid is going to use about the same amount of fuel as your MK5 did. And it'll just run.

If part of why you're working 7 days a week is to keep up with living expenses, taking on a limited run European luxury car sounds like a bad idea to me.
 

danmin

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 6, 2023
Location
DFW
TDI
2014 Passat 2.0 TDI @ 180k
I own one A7 (mechanically identical to the A6) and work on a second. Neither have any coolant leaks at 140k and 100k miles. Zero oil seepage on mine - there has been some signs on my buddy's but he recently had the valve covers replaced/resealed under warranty. My EGR is deleted in the tune but still in place - I did the full SUStdi bypass kit on the other one.

I went from a BEW to a CKRA and back to the BEW when VW bought back the POS passat. The A7 is 10x the car the NMS passat pretended to be (and the used A7 cost less than what VW paid me for the passat).

Spectacular cars!
I came from an NMS Passat TDI as well. Built that car completely after the turbo exploded and got someone to trade me a fully stock A6 TDI for it. It’s light years ahead of the passat
 

TurboABA

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jul 24, 2010
Location
Kitchener, ON
TDI
RIP-2010 Jetta 6spd 2014 Touareg Execline '14 A6 Technik S-line
There's no comparison. I have both a '14 Touareg and a '14 A6.... They are way more complex and costly to maintain and repair but the driving dynamics and comfort is also way above what you're used to.

If you just want transportation, they are overkill.
 

TurboABA

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jul 24, 2010
Location
Kitchener, ON
TDI
RIP-2010 Jetta 6spd 2014 Touareg Execline '14 A6 Technik S-line
Also, keep in mind that PDs and CRs are not even close to being the same in terms of being a TDI.....
The CRs are way more sensitive to neglect and skipped maintenance, contaminated fuel, etc. CR injectors will also wear out faster and are very expensive to replace....
To top it off, you're not only taking about what's under the hood being way more complex, but now you're getting into needing to do costly fluid changes on things like the ZF tranny and 3 diffs....
I wouldn't entertain getting into an A6 or Q5 unless you're really up to speed on VCDS and CRs and know how to "evaluate" one pre-purchase, and it came with maintenance records.
 

relumalutan

Veteran Member
Joined
Dec 6, 2012
Location
Michigan
TDI
2011 Audi A3 TDI, 2006 VW Jetta (Sold)
Also, keep in mind that PDs and CRs are not even close to being the same in terms of being a TDI.....
The CRs are way more sensitive to neglect and skipped maintenance, contaminated fuel, etc. CR injectors will also wear out faster and are very expensive to replace....
To top it off, you're not only taking about what's under the hood being way more complex, but now you're getting into needing to do costly fluid changes on things like the ZF tranny and 3 diffs....
I wouldn't entertain getting into an A6 or Q5 unless you're really up to speed on VCDS and CRs and know how to "evaluate" one pre-purchase, and it came with maintenance records.
I have VCDS, and I've always done the maintenance on time.
Thank you for the advice.
 

TurboABA

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jul 24, 2010
Location
Kitchener, ON
TDI
RIP-2010 Jetta 6spd 2014 Touareg Execline '14 A6 Technik S-line
Good.
Go scan it before you even start it.
Pull the history file. Check battery Stats.
Scan it after you test drive it.
Check DPF stars and Regen/DEF stats.
Check injector deviations at full temp idle.
Check how many driving cycles and kilometers since last DTC erase.
Make sure all readiness is passed.
That's all I can think of off the top of my head.
 
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