2001 Audi A6 2.7T from North America - Comments

After 17 months ownership, the passenger side floor was getting wet whenever it rained. Water would somehow enter into the compartment, and the flooring would be, literally, soaked with standing water. The dealership first "cleared the plugged evaporator". One month later, the same problem occurred. This time, the dealership found that the heater box needed to be resealed. Finally fixed after two tries.

At 19 months, the turn signals became inoperative (wouldn't blink). The dealership found fault with the electrical system and fixed the problem.

At 23 months, the electrical seat adjustment stopped working. The seat would adjust forward, and not back, making it impossible to drive (unless you were under 5ft tall). The car has been into the shop and "fixed" for this problem three times since then (6 months ago). Today - June 1, 2004 - it occurred again.

In addition to this, I have had the ongoing "squeaky brakes" problem, and told that there is really no way to fix this -- only to brake at high speeds, like on the highway to clear out some of the dust.

The handling and comfort of the car is quite nice. But the ongoing problems with the interior manufacture does not make this car anywhere near worth what I paid for it.

More disturbing are the problems encountered with the turn signal and seat adjustment. These could (could have) result in true safety hazards (not being able to drive due to seat adjustment, or not being able to signal).

I can never buy another Audi again. Unfortunate that such nice handling and engineering is pared with such awful inconsistent interior and electrical quality.

Just so you know, consumers need o be a bit more educated on these things. Be proactive. If you are spending $45,000 on a car, it should run properly and repairs should be fixed the first time. First of all, KEEP DOCUMENTATION OF ALL DEALER VISITS AND ALL REPAIRS... make sure they are clear and concise. If you don't, then you deserve what you get! Second, IF THE DEALER CANNOT FIX A PROBLEM AND IT TAKES 3 OR MORE VISITS FOR THE SAME PROBLEM, you qualify for re-embursement under the lemon law. Check it out... I hope this helps!

I have had 3 A6's, and zero problems to report, apart from general wear and tear repairs.

And you should also remember, that there is no such thing as a perfect car, we can try and make it as perfect as possible, by regular maintenance.

My first entry into European luxury cars was a 3 year old, 50,000 Audi A6 quattro. This car has been a HUGE disappointment. Mostly minor problems, just lots of them; simple things like the drivers visor won't stay up, or the cupholder (s) won't stay closed, or the front passenger side window won't raise without help, the rear passenger window doesn't move at all. I could go on and on about other minor things like the lights in the dashboard fading out, ash tray that will no longer open...

The real problems are (2) tie rod failures, transmission slippage (dealer has tried), and rotted radiator seams (leaking on my garage floor). All of this in less than 100,000 miles!! What makes it worse is that the Audi folks just don't care. Reminds me of my days working with Oldsmobile service (now there's an oxymoron).

I'll stick with the Japanese. Honda replaced the transmission in my van at 145,000 miles... and were embarrassed when they did it.

What is it with how North American cars are used that they seem to be riddled with so many problems compared to other users in the rest of the world? Certainly the Audi reviews from within North America are consistently unfavourable, so it is certainly not a figment of someone's imagination, and the documentation of the exact problems and mileages certainly reflect owners who are not stupid. Could it be weather extremes?

I was about to suggest that North American cars are always the highest-spec'd and therefore most complicated cars compared to more basic models with smaller engines elsewhere, but overseas also has the same engines and transmissions, and yet have less problems.

Audis are nowhere near as reliable as Japanese cars, but after having 5 second hand Audis, my experience can't be just sheer luck not having anywhere near the problems encountered by North American owners.