Audi A6 - automatic - questions

Casati wrote: »

Sounds like the EGR valve and inlet manifold will be clogged up if it’s not able to rev on the motorway. Turbo could be problematic - do you have any wining sound coming from it?

Sounds like you could have to pump a few quid into - presumably the air con will cost a few bob to fix too- I’d guess 500 quid+?

As others have said you should get a full inspection done on the car and list everything that needs doing and work out of if worth it or if you should sell it on, it could become a proper money pit

I've had a turbo blown on me before and it doesn't seem the same as the time that happened. Also, there's no wining sound etc. coming from it, it's just not really picking up speed on motorway after a certain point.

Tbh, I won't bother with the air con. I will get the air con fixed before next summer if I still have the car.

My mechanic has the new caliper and parts for a service and due to do it this weekend. Would he be able to send them back? He still thinks it's all to do with the caliper sticking and putting pressure on the engine. Would you go ahead with getting that done this weekend and if not running right then get the full diagnostic and make a decision then on sorting it fully or just move on?

Also, let's say I went ahead with the jobs this weekend (costing me just under €500) then car total will be €2,300. If the car isn't sorted and I get a diagnostic, sure would I even be able to sell it on and if selling on would you just sell on with diagnostic results pointed out and check average prices of an A6 and bring the price down a bit?

Hopefully it's sorted after this weekend.

I just want to point out again that I am not trolling and I just started the thread looking for help or what others thought. Again, I have always bought cars 8-12 years old and thought I was good at checking out a car (maybe I have just been lucky with my previous cars). This one seemed to drive absolutely great and was very clean. Again, even my mechanic drove it last week and said it seemed a great car apart from the caliper. Is it just one of those things where I got unlucky and problems are starting and I've gotten unlucky? Sellers even maintained it was 100% and anything that ever needed to be done on it was done and seemed genuine. I remember my dad used to always say buying a second hard car you could do all the checks you want and it might seem fine and you buy it and a few days later the engine blows and you're always taking chance buying a second hand car, which is why I always tried to buy for under 2 grand. In saying that, I really do hope it's sorted after this weekend. I will keep everyone updated anyway. It's not mega money but you don't like incurring losing a couple of grand at any time.

_Kaiser_ wrote: »

I will still say that you need to get it properly scanned ASAP (preferably before you get it serviced) so you know what you're dealing with.

These are good cars that will last (as mine has) but they will require you to put money into them to maintain them right. To be honest, from reading your posts it may not be for you as you seem already ready to move it on based solely on a few (as yet undiagnosed) issues in a car you spent <2k on.

I'm not convinced your mechanic is the best source either if he's pinning everything back to a sticking caliper. If/likely when that doesn't fix it, you'll be no better off but probably more frustrated.

Get it scanned... this week.

I agree about the scanning and a couple of users have kindly offered to do it for me but my mechanic said not to drive it until he has it fixed, so I don't know what to do!

You're right, I've always bought cars under 2k with the hope of getting 1/2 years out of them and not really having to spend too much and then just moving on. So yes, it may not be for me.

I'm not 100% convinced either re the caliper that it is causing all the issues. Granted, a google search does correlate with what he's saying in that driving a car with a stuck caliper makes it worse and puts a lot of pressure on the engine and can give those symptoms but the pessimist in me does think it can't all be from that.

Appreciate all the replies from everyone so far!

So the mechanic who’s been sorting the car for me has got back to me with the following:

He put in the new caliper and gave the car a service.

However he brought it into work and put it on the ramp and gave it a diagnostic scan.

He said the following also has to be done on it to bring the car to 100%. Some jobs I don't have to do but he said I should just do them all now. They are the following:

- the air con: he said there's a faulty switch causing a leak, the new switch is about €90. It will then need a re-gas. That will be €60.

- needs new rear discs and pads as the stuck calliper wrecked them. That will be around €200.

- front wheel needs a wheel bearing. Say €100.

- gearbox needs an oil change which is causing the judder and stopping it from accelerating at high speeds. Cost will be around €200.

- needs two new tyres. €120.

Not even sure what he will charge for doing the above jobs. He is very reasonable.

So that's €800-900 odd to bring the car to 100%.
Then the €500 odd already for the calliper and service.
Easily €3000 all in to include cost paid to buy the car to sort it fully.

I’m not happy, but I suppose the total cost is still a decent price going by what they’re charging in dealers on DoneDeal for the same car that’s supposedly 100%.

Following on from the above he said the only good thing is I got it very cheap.
He said if I want to just sell it on now as is then I'd probably sell it on for near what I paid for it. That is €1800-2000.
Don't know what to do.

He's gonna get me official prices tomorrow for it. I’ll make my decision then but I’ll probably go ahead with it. I did plan on keeping the car for a good while so why not?

He also said if I managed to get €800-900 for my old car then I'm not doing too bad.

Anyone have any thoughts?

colm_mcm wrote: »

I’m thinking the €60 tyres will be absolute ditchfinders.

I would ask him to do the gearbox oil at this stage and see if it fixes it. If it does then proceed with the other work.

Thanks Colm. Thinking back about 2-3 years ago he got me brand new Davanti tyres at €60 a tyre. So it will probably be them. Average at best?

Ok cool. Yeah, tbf, he is leaving it up to me. He said I don’t have to do all the jobs but they are what will bring it to 100%. I might do as you suggest and say look can we just do the gearbox oil change for now and I’ll drive it on for a month or so and if all good then I can go back and sort the other jobs? Positives of that are I can see if the car is actually good and then sorting the other jobs is spreading the cost rather than splashing out all at once.

He won’t care either way what way I do it.

colm_mcm wrote: »

I’d just do the gearbox oil to rule out that being a bigger job. Remember the mechanic initially blamed the brake calliper for the issue. Oil might get changed and issue still there. In that case cut your losses and sell it on rather than fixing everything else and still having a potentially expensive issue.

Ref the tyres, even if it’s the most basic wheel option with 225/50R17 even Nankangs (which are very much at the low end of what’s acceptable) would cost you €90 each, with mid range brands around €115 and household brands €130+ each.

Anything for €60 is going to be shocking. The theme of this thread is that cheapest isn’t always best.

Ok cheers. Well he got a discount on the tyres. They were normally €80 if I remember correctly. But yeah, noted, it’s still the cheap option.

Ok yeah noted also regarding him thinking it was originally the calliper causing most of the issues. I just thought now as he has scanned it and had it on the ramp he might have nailed it now. He said the jobs are to bring it to 100% but I don’t have to do them all.

Sorry again but would you still just say to him look let’s just go with the gearbox oil change and we can see then?

If that doesn’t seem to sort it do you reckon I would still get about €2000 with selling it on? I wouldn’t like selling on a car without at least notifying the potential purchaser of the issues that I am aware of with it. That restricts the purchasers to low ballers or those will fix it up themselves and sell it on? Could I put it in an auction either with a reserve of €2000? That way I’m not losing much and just chalk it down and move on. Sorry for all the questions. I really don’t know what to do. I do like the car and it’s not costing mega money but at the same time it’s not ideal to have to put saving on hold for a month or two to sort the car. So I want to make sure I’m making the correct decision.

travist wrote: »

Ah, not such a bargain after all.

Looks that way. Not a bargain. But if it’s sorted for around €3k mark then from looking at this type of car in garages then it’s still not a horrendous price. Just hassle and a disappointment as I went to view it twice and it drove great when testing it out. As Colm said it might still turn out to be reasonably priced.

colm_mcm wrote: »

OP has an A6 though, think they’re 17s standard. Could be wrong.

Yes. A6. Not sure of the standard tyres - you’ll see from my posts I’m not very experienced. My old car (which I’m still driving btw) is a 2007 A4. That has 17 inch tyres on it. Should have kept it. Got it last year for €1000. Only thing done on it by me was new tyres and brake pads.

Thanks all for the replies.

He is going to give me an official price for the parts for the jobs and doing them later.

At that stage I might say to him can we not just do the gearbox oil change and I will drive the car on for a month or two and then get the other jobs done.

He won't charge much for doing the jobs, he only charged €50 labour for putting in the new calliper and doing the service. So I will see what he says later.