A €56,000 basic car with €46,500 of Extra's

1916

Hard to believe, but read below

The Irish Times - Wednesday, April 13, 2011Audi plays the comfort card

ROADTEST AUDI A6 2.0 TDI SE: Audi’s new A6 seems determined to put in a serious challenge to BMW’s big-selling 5 Series

IF YOU THINK Ireland has become a pauper, you might want to consider the sales of premium family saloons before you abandon all hope.
The Celtic Tiger years saw models like the BMW 3 Series and Audi A4 become common on our roads. In Dublin it was the norm to see a convoy of premium models queuing at suburban traffic lights – and not a one under three years of age.

The age of austerity might have arrived, but it has coincided with a dramatic change in pricing brought on by the introduction of emissions-based taxation.

That, combined with a demand from motoring bosses for greater volume and market share from their premium brands has thrown up some rather surreal sales statistics.

Take the sales of the BMW 5 Series. In the first three months of this year the luxury German model was the 10th-best-selling car in Ireland, with 1,302 sold.

To put that in perspective, it outsold the Toyota Yaris, the Skoda Octavia and even the Renault Clio and was only 177 sales short of matching the VW Passat. Clearly not everyone is living hand to mouth in recessionary Ireland.

And that’s where the A6 comes in. The bosses at Audi’s hometown of Ingolstadt are not going to let BMW run away with the premium market. And with this class of car now outselling many superminis, the A6 is arguably as important to the four-ringed brand as its supposed volume models, like the A3 and the A4.

The first notable feature about the new A6 is its styling. We never really rated its predecessor. It was something of a halfway house, neither as sporty as its Bavarian rival nor as prestigious as the E-Class, while the bulbous rear-end made it look slightly frumpy.

In contrast, the new nose gives the car a slightly menacing look, but the overall effect is far more impressive than with any of the previous generations. Another boon that it’s not simply a larger version of the A4, though to appreciate that you really need to see it in the metal. It’s also better looking than the firm’s new flagship A8.

Comparisons with the A8 don’t end there, for the interior is at a standard we’ve come to expect from this company. Audi has been steadily earning a reputation for the highest-quality interiors in the premium segment, and the new A6 maintains that lead. The quality of the switchgear surpasses all its German rivals’ and has a lot less bling than the Jaguar, for example. It’s subtle, measured and ultimately premium.

Up front is a range of revised and updated engines, the most important of which is the one we tested for most of the week: an updated 2-litre TDI diesel that’s based on the established power train well known in the Audi range but with a few tricks up its sleeve. For a start power output has been increased to 177bhp, but the real boon for Irish buyers is that it drops 10g/km in emissions, pushing its motor tax down to the second-lowest bracket, with a bill of just €156, the same as its equivalent BMW rival.

It’s a sweet, smooth power train that mixes comfort with ample power when you kick down on the throttle. Though not quite as powerful on paper as its BMW counterpart, it never feels the slightest bit tardy. It’s at its best in the mid-rev range, and plenty of power is on tap for overtaking. One gripe we would have is the engine noise from cold – not quite as sound-proofed as we would have hoped for – but it’s only really noticeable when outside the car and doesn’t intrude into the cabin.

The lower emissions are not simply down to engine developments, however. Much of this is directly related to weight-saving measures, particularly the large-scale use of aluminium. Once reserved for the A8, it’s now the metal of choice for the A6’s doors, bonnet, boot lid and wings, along with key underpinnings. The result is a sizeable drop in weight, thereby cutting emissions and fuel consumption.

It also helps with the car’s dynamics and should offer a sportier drive. However, the over-riding impression we got from the new A6 was one of comfort.

The handling characteristics are sharp, but its ethos seems to be about covering kilometres without asking much from the motorist. It can kick down and turn tight into corners, but arguably its strongest trait is getting you across country without leaving you feeling you’ve put in too much effort.

Although we were testing the manual version, an automatic with a CVT multitronic transmission, due in the next few months, will likely form the bulk of Irish sales. People here expect automatic in a car this size, though I would still suggest the manual version is not to be disregarded that easily. Admittedly, I have never been a fan of the multitronic transmission, so that might influence our view on the matter.

FOR THOSE WHO want more dynamic driving, the answer comes with the 3-litre TDi diesel quattro automatic with 245bhp on tap, which we also tested. A much sharper proposition, this engine seems to get the most out of the chassis engineering. The price – €56,000 – seems a sizeable jump from that for the 2-litre version, but it does have the extra power and the four-wheel-drive system. Go back four years and that sort of money would barely get you a 140bhp 2-litre A6.

Of course no review of a big Audi these days is complete without a few words about its gizmos. The firm’s engineers seem to be vying with Apple for the latest in tech wizardry, and, eager to show off the latest wares, the 3-litre test car came laden with €46,500 of options added.

No, it’s not a typo: €46,500 of options on a €56,000 car. This was not so much a car as a mobile electronics store. For example, the Bang Olufsen audio system alone will set you back an eye-watering €9,000.

Features purloined from the flagship A8 range from night vision and heads-up display to the touch pad that lets you trace letters and numbers with your fingertip. Like most infotainment features these days, suffice it to say you won’t miss most of them if you don’t have them. Frankly, for €46,000 I’d want a second A6 to be parked at the back of the house.

The most impressive feature was that it was riding on gorgeous 10-spoke 20in alloys, yet even on the potholed roads of Ireland we never felt the need to scroll the phone number of a chiropractor on the touch pad.

The A6 faces a stiff challenge trying to loosen the 5 Series’s grip on the market. It will also have to see off the E-Class Mercedes, Jaguar’s XF and a long-awaited replacement for the Lexus GS. Yet the A6 is perhaps the best-placed challenger, and for those looking for comfort and refinement it’s got the edge on its Bavarian rival.

Factfile

Engine 1,968cc four-cylinder front-wheel drive diesel putting out 177bhp and 380Nm of torque at 1,750rpm

0-100km/h 8.7 secs

Emissions (motor tax) 129g/km (€156)

L/100km (mpg) urban - 6.0 (47.1); extra-urban - 4.4 (64.2); combined - 4.9 (57.6)

Specifications 17in alloys; leather upholstery; heated front seats; climate control; ESP stability control; 7in driver information system; multifunctional leather steering wheel; front and rear park assistance; MMI stereo system; cruise control; leather upholstery; and Bluetooth connection. Options include MMI navigation (€2,399), four-zone climate control (€901), xenon headlights with LED running lights (€1,633) and metallic paint (€1,316)

Price €42,500 (test car €52,718)

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/motors/2011/0413/1224294549449.html

d2ww

That B&O stereo is 7091 euro extra in the UK. Nice mark up by Audi Ireland then. :mad:

bijapos

I think its nuts that on a supposedly premium car they still want to charge €1316 for metallic paint, knowing full well that everyone will have to have it.

Absurdum

d2ww wrote: »

That B&O stereo is 7091 euro extra in the UK. Nice mark up by Audi Ireland then. :mad:

I'm pretty sure that VRT is added to extras as well!

unkel

>€100,000 for a tiny engined diesel A6? Hahahahahaha - what idiot would buy that?

Padraig Mor

unkel wrote: »

>€100,000 for a tiny engined diesel A6? Hahahahahaha - what idiot would buy that?

It's the V6 quattro they're referring to I think. That'll be a nice one to pick up in 5 years when the extras are worth about 2 grand.

ShadowHearth

Padraig Mor wrote: »

It's the V6 quattro they're referring to I think. That'll be a nice one to pick up in 5 years when the extras are worth about 2 grand.

I doubt there will be many of those high spec ones. It's Ireland after all. I bet if there would be new a6 with bare manual handles for windows, no radio, no power steering, but with atleast 3k less price tag, it would be moist popular model sold!

I still can't get over old mercies with cloth interior in ireland.. It's bizarre...

Padraig Mor

ShadowHearth wrote: »

I doubt there will be many of those high spec ones. It's Ireland after all. ...

I suspect the test drives took place abroad and such a car will never enter these shores, new at any rate!

bobdole968

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5gwc4UizUc

Tea 1000

9k for a sound system that would be blown away by a 2k one in your living room is madness. Audi always knew how to reef you for "extras".

Matt Simis

Tea 1000 wrote: »

9k for a sound system that would be blown away by a 2k one in your living room is madness. Audi always knew how to reef you for "extras".

Your living room doesnt drive you to work..

mike65

Matt Simis wrote: »

Your living room doesnt drive you to work..

You can't sit with your fit up in the front of the fire in an Audi A6.

Zubeneschamali

mike65 wrote: »

You can't sit with your fit up in the front of the fire in an Audi A6.

Not more than once! :pac:

RedorDead

d2ww wrote: »

That B&O stereo is 7091 euro extra in the UK. Nice mark up by Audi Ireland then. :mad:

As mentioned by a poster already the goverment add tax to beat the band to this price.

bijapos wrote: »

I think its nuts that on a supposedly premium car they still want to charge €1316 for metallic paint, knowing full well that everyone will have to have it.

Please compare like with like. Tell me one competitor (E Class/5 Series) that offers metallic as standard? Mercedes charge for metallic on an S Class.

unkel wrote: »

>€100,000 for a tiny engined diesel A6? Hahahahahaha - what idiot would buy that?

Engine in question is 3.0TDI 245 quattro S-Tronic - base price €56,900

Padraig Mor wrote: »

I suspect the test drives took place abroad and such a car will never enter these shores, new at any rate!

Both test drives in the article here are in Irish cars on Irish roads.

Lauder

This is something that really annoys me about Irish car buyers. They whinge and begrudge when someone specifies a car they want.

In the UK people, in the most cases, specify it to their own spec with extras etc. In Ireland people get the bare-minimum just to have a 2011 plate. Its stupidity. You can bet there will be plenty of cloth seated, manual 2.0l TDI versions of that A6 sold in Ireland.

If I was getting a new car I would get every extra I wanted and keep it for 10 years.

Fair play to someone who spends on extras and gets the car they want.

Tea 1000

Matt Simis wrote: »

Your living room doesnt drive you to work..

My point mainly is why pay for something that's compromised from the beginning? A car cabin isn't the most accustically efficient place before you add road noise and engine noise, and you can't fully concentrate on the finer points of a musical piece while driving! Therefore you've spend 9 grand on a system that's in a compromised environment.
An MX5 on a track is infinitely more fun than a McLaren F1 in a multistory car park!
Besides, the 9k spent isn't near as good as half that spent on a system for you home before you even get into the acustic benefits of a room versus a car cabin.
That's my point!
I like good sound in my car, but €500 max upgrade would probably be all that I'd spend.

lau1247

Lauder wrote: »

If I was getting a new car I would get every extra I wanted and keep it for 10 years.

If you're referring to the thread where the car cost 56K and extras at 46.5K. I'd be much more happier with no extras and drive till it conks out.

Then use that money from the extras to get another one.. that'll probably last for 15 years combined easily and probably more!!


While extra's are great and nice to have.. People complain that they don't get why some people buy most bare basic version.. At this kind of price that's one of the reason (granted you don't have to get every extras).

My car to me is a tool to get to where I want to go in comfort.. As long as the ride is nice, the engine is smooth and mechanical side is sound.. I'd much rather keep the money for something else.. just my two cents

Tea 1000

lau1247 wrote: »

If you're referring to the thread where the car cost 56K and extras at 46.5K. I'd be much more happier with no extras and drive till it conks out.

Then use that money from the extras to get another one.. that'll probably last for 15 years combined easily and probably more!!


While extra's are great and nice to have.. People complain that they don't get why some people buy most bare basic version.. At this kind of price that's one of the reason (granted you don't have to get every extras).

My car to me is a tool to get to where I want to go in comfort.. As long as the ride is nice, the engine is smooth and mechanical side is sound.. I'd much rather keep the money for something else.. just my two cents

I'd agree in a way. I'd rather take my 56k and buy the entry level 3 litre A6 than buy a 2 litre A6 with 12 grands worth of extras.

ottostreet

lau1247 wrote: »

If you're referring to the thread where the car cost 56K and extras at 46.5K. I'd be much more happier with no extras and drive till it conks out.

Then use that money from the extras to get another one.. that'll probably last for 15 years combined easily and probably more!!


While extra's are great and nice to have.. People complain that they don't get why some people buy most bare basic version.. At this kind of price that's one of the reason (granted you don't have to get every extras).

My car to me is a tool to get to where I want to go in comfort.. As long as the ride is nice, the engine is smooth and mechanical side is sound.. I'd much rather keep the money for something else.. just my two cents

Ugh!

coylemj

Lauder wrote: »

This is something that really annoys me about Irish car buyers. They whinge and begrudge when someone specifies a car they want.

In the UK people, in the most cases, specify it to their own spec with extras etc. In Ireland people get the bare-minimum just to have a 2011 plate. Its stupidity. You can bet there will be plenty of cloth seated, manual 2.0l TDI versions of that A6 sold in Ireland.

If I was getting a new car I would get every extra I wanted and keep it for 10 years.

Fair play to someone who spends on extras and gets the car they want.

That's ok if you're keeping the car for 10 years but in general terms you don't get your money back on extras, finance houses for example depreciate extras down to zero over the life of the lease on company cars i.e. they are perceived to add zero value to the residuals.

Apart from metallic paint (most cars) and leather (pretty much mandatory on E-Class unless you are going to be buried in it), most extras are bad value for money, the dealer markup is huge (SatNav for over a grand FFS!) and you won't see the money back nor any part of it on a trade-in or private sale.

Zubeneschamali

coylemj wrote: »

most extras are bad value for money

Cars are bad value for money, too.

New cars are incredibly bad value for money, but people keep buying new poverty-spec cars which are awful to sit in and dull or frustrating to drive, when they could go back a couple of years and get a car with all the comforts and a bit of zip for the same money.

d2ww

S-line package is €3750 inc vat here, but only €2650 in the UK. Which begs the question, and I apologise in advance for not sifting through the hundreds of posts on importing from the UK but,...
When it comes to a new car, is it worthwhile looking across the pond? Assuming the basic pre vat price of the 2.0tdi manual is £24,583(€27,630) in the UK, how much has to added to that to get it on the road here?

Zubeneschamali

d2ww wrote: »

S-line package is €3750 inc vat here, but only €2650 in the UK.

VRT will easily make up that difference.

d2ww

Not sure about that, it's 41% extra. :eek:

Bodhan

I had an A7 on test a few weeks back, 62 grand for the basic model, 87 grand for the test car. Audi know how to charge for options, but if I was looking to buy an Audi there are options I'd get, I wouldn't mind paying extra for some of the stuff that Audi fit.
I wouldn't begrudge someone getting a car they can be happy in, they are the ones going to be driving it for years, some people don't think about trade in value, for some it doesn't matter

Zubeneschamali

d2ww wrote: »

Not sure about that, it's 41% extra. :eek:

Ha ha! You haven't looked into how VRT works, have you?

You don't pay VRT on the UK cost of the S-Line package, you pay VRT on the Open Market Selling Price of the S-Line equipped car here in Ireland.

-Corkie-

I would be happy buying a 3 year old s line in 3/4 years time. They will take a heavy hit on depreciation in the first few years.

NewApproach

d2ww wrote: »

Not sure about that, it's 41% extra. :eek:

VRT, plus a higher VAT rate.