A6 C6 Pre-purchase check

Educate

I've €2.5k to spend, commute 600km per week, had an 04 130bhp Passat that's had it's day, need something to last me two years (obviously can't guarantee anything), I'm happy to do some work on the car if needed (plenty of forums with guides) and was considering moving to a 05-06 A6 diesel as I'm feeling the commute more and more and want something with a little more comfort.

Every car has common faults and I know that year of A6 has the oil pump/balance shaft issues outlined here. I'd really appreciate if anyone could point out any other common issues that I should look out for before purchase?

I've searched for posts and noticed there has been some debate about the automatic vs manual - I do mostly motorway but am tempted to try an automatic for the first time...bad decision?

Cheers for a steer

Azatadine

I took a chance around a year ago and bought an auto A6 C7. I wasnt too sure beforehand either but I'm very happy with my choice. It was my first auto too. I do an 80 mile round trip daily.

Educate

I’ve done some reading that I should have done before posting and was wondering if anyone could point out any flaws in my (below) car searching to date? I’m feeling a bit worn out trying to work out the best car to go for next after searching through the below options. It was an RTA that took out my Passat.

I’ve looked at my finance and can bump up €5k now. I do over 600km a week commuting (large portion motorway) and would like a saloon diesel with good economy (previously getting 48mpg) and a good spec to survive that commute.

Original plan was to get another B5.5 but I got too used to the highline spec and am finding good ones are few and far between. I can’t wait much longer to pull the trigger and with €5k to spend I’m gonna be in high mileage territory so conscious of making the right call. I tend to prefer getting something that is reasonably common so spare parts aren’t going to break the bank as I can do some pieces of work myself (servicing, window regulators, brake pads).

The cars I started to consider all seem to have serious enough issues:

• A6 C6: It’s been a long graft getting myself on a reasonable career path and thought about treating myself to a mid-2000s A6 C6. I know not exactly lighting the world on fire with that ‘treat’ but it would be a big treat for me. I then read about the range of issues on the 2.0 TDI PD engines (e.g. oil pump, injectors) and then even the 2.0 CR engines still having the hexagon oil pump issue costing about €650 to fix as a preventative measure (If I’ve read that right). My understanding is that the DPF issues I read about wouldn’t be an issue given the 600km a week I do?
• BMW: I then considered BMWs of that same age and read about the issues with the N47 engines, such as the timing chain being inclined to break and even having that changed as a preventative measure is over €1000.
• VW/Skoda: I then started to think of late 2000s Passats (hoping to avoid new model issues) and Skodas, but the 1.9 TDI engines all seem to have 104bhp which I just couldn’t live with. I currently have a rental that’s a 113bhp petrol engine and can’t believe how much slower it is compared to my old 130bhp Passat – but that said I’m also reading that this might be because I’m not adjusting my driving style to suit this engine (?). My reading suggests that the 2.0 TDIs in the late 2000s Skodas (Octavias and Superbs) all still have the hexagon oil pump issue, so realistically have to add €650 to each purchase.
• 1.6 TDIs vs 1.9 TDIs: I can’t get my head around the 1.6 TDIs of the late 2000s Skodas, as they have the same bhp as the 1.9s. Have the 1.6 TDIs got the same poke but better economy when cruising?

Overall I’m feeling that my budget is not matching up with the high mileage cars in my range, and am wondering if there a motor/engine combination that I’ve missed that anyone could recommend?