The wife is finally tired of driving her 2002 Acura RL (this is her 4th RL/TL). We are looking into 2008-2010 Audi A6 3.0L Quattro. Any specific options that we should definitely have. How is the cost of repair compared to other cars. I know it's probably more than typical being German, but I am used to that owning a couple of P-cars.
This is one that we were looking at, but seems pricey even for a dealer.

Just looking for some good advice as we have never owned an Audi before.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/3-2L-...orcev4exp=true

 

I've owned two A6's - a 2001 4.2 that I bought with 11K miles and 2007 4.2 S-line that I bought with 36K miles. Although I love the looks (and interior) of Audis, both cars had problems.

The 2001 issue started at about 15K miles when I had to add coolant about every three weeks. Seemed like a very slow leak of some sort. I took the car to the dealer (still under warranty) for scheduled service and asked them to look into the problem. At first they couldn't find anything but then asked to keep the car for another day or two. Turns out there was a leak in the aluminum head and the block. Long story short the dealer had to have a new short block sent from Germany. I was without the car for about three weeks. I asked them to lengthen the warranty and they said no. Although it ran fine I sold the car with 17K miles on it.

A few years ago I bought the 2007 A6 4.2 S-line. It was loaded with options and drove great. I had ideas of keeping the car a long time. The seller had an extended warranty thru Zurich which I did not want and negotiated with him to cancel it and get the pro-rated refund to lower the price of the car. I then shopped around for an Audi Pure Protection Plan (PPP) warranty which is better than their CPO program. A local dealer did a PPI on the car and found no real issues. I bought the PPP from the dealer (4 yr/48K miles) a few months later. Skip ahead a few more months and I drove the car down to Disneyland from the Bay area (400 miles each way) with my daughter an her friend. Coming back in 100 degree weather in July over the Grapevine I get a 'low coolant' warning that won't go away. I pull over a the rest stop in the middle of nowhere and see the coolant is low. I add about 1/2 GAL or more and head home. Next stop Audi dealer. Turns out the plastic coolant pipes at the back of then engine were leaking and the engine had to be removed to fix the issue ($4K). This may have been a 4.2 only issue, not sure. I also asked them to look at the sunroof as it was making strange noise at times. All issues addressed I was very happy to have the warranty. One month later the sunroof refused to close. Back to the dealer and they had to replace the entire unit ($2K). All toll the car had over $6K in repair costs in less than one year. Luckily it only cost me $200 for the two deductibles. I sold the car not long after and transferred the warranty to the new owner.

I still like Audis but I am done with A6's. Both my MDX's have been much more reliable - not the same car I know. I might buy another but never one without a warranty. Also I'd look for the newer 2009 model - lot's of improvements and not much price difference. That ebay link car is severely overpriced. I sold my 2007 4.2 S-line with 48K miles and three year warranty left for around $23K.

Hope this helps...

PS A lot of people say it's a waste to buy an extended warranty, I disagree. Most warranties are pro-rated and you can cancel at any time and get most of your money back, pro-rated of course. I did all the right things when I bought mine, PPI, service history, etc. and the car still incurred over $6K in repairs in 12 month which would have come right out of my pocket without the warranty.