Audi A6 2.5 TDI

...noticed a big 'mean' looking Audi in the Prestige section of this showroom sitting there looking menacing and awsome. It was a Audi A6, 2.5litre V6 Turbo Diesel, 155BHP for the nerdy car people amongst you. In plain english its a big executive motorway cruiser, designed for comfort economy and power.

I asked to test drive the car and as soon as my bottom met the perfectly formed and comfortable driver seat I had that spine tingling ...
...turned green I floored the Audi and by the time i changed gear into 3rd, the Clio was a speck in my rear view tinted mirror. I dont endorse speeding or racing from the lights but this was merely a small test of the power of the car. Driving the car felt like driving a Rolls Royce but no so big and cumbersome.

When I reluctantly returned to the showroom I asked the salesman the dreaded question "how much for the Audi A6" (it ... more

You know whats its like, you fancy a new-used car, you've been working and saving like mad for 3 years, you don't know what you want, but you know that the rust bucket you're driving is going to fall apart when the wind blows more than 30mph, everybody at work laughs at you when you come chugging into work on the back of an AA van. Also you want to stand out from the crowd and look cool and not just blend in, with another Vauxhall or Ford on the road.

I had this same predicament just 3 weeks ago. So I went to my local car dealer with £7000 bulging in my pocket and looked at the selection of cars on offer and I can say I honestly didnt know what to buy. I'm 6' 4" in height so a small car is out of the question for me, I was looking for a medium to large car and it had to be Diesel because I do a lot of mileage commuting to work. This forecourt had 100 different cars on it and they all looked really bland and boring stood next to each other, nothing really stood out. After 3 hours of this really cocky salesman trying to push cars my way, I narrowed it down to 3 cars :-

Ford focus mk1- great all-round car but its a Ford and the new model really makes the first one look dated
VW Golf mk4 - Again good all-rounder but a bit of a curvy - girly car in my eyes, new one looks much more meaner
VW Passat mk4 - good solid car with plenty of head and legroom but has the drabbest looks of all time.

I decided on the VW Passat as the best of the 3 for space, ride and even price as they depreciate quite quickly. So off I went to the VW garage to view a larger range. When I got there I was ignored by the salesmen completely for 30 minutes before one managed to tear himself away from his coffee to come and help me. Later , according to a car salesman friend, I found out that salesmen go for couples for the killer sell routine because the woman usually makes her mind up on a car and the salesmen applies pressure on the bloke by agreeing with the woman and the chap doesnt stand a chance against 2 people wanting him to have the car !!!!!!!!. Lone Women on the other hand know what they want and go for it without messing salemen around for too long. They dont spend hours asking stupid questions like torque generated, horse power etc.

Lone men walking into a showroom, like myself are the worst buyers because we are too cautious, ask too many nerdy car questions, will test drive loads of cars then leave not being any the wiser on what they want.

I test drove 2 diesels and they were ok, nothing to write home about, but no matter how much silver trim and alloy wheels they had they still looked as dull as dishwater. They were both over budget at £8000. I went home with my head spinning.

I spoke to my girlfriend about it and she basically pulled the strangest face when I mentioned the word PASSAT. She basically said that yes it was a bland and dull car and there were too many on the road already and they were as dull as John Major on a cloudy day in greysville!!!!

That decided it, I wasn't going to have a Passat and back to another showroom I went. As I was looking around the selection of bland boring cars I noticed a big 'mean' looking Audi in the Prestige section of this showroom sitting there looking menacing and awsome. It was a Audi A6, 2.5litre V6 Turbo Diesel, 155BHP for the nerdy car people amongst you. In plain english its a big executive motorway cruiser, designed for comfort economy and power.

I asked to test drive the car and as soon as my bottom met the perfectly formed and comfortable driver seat I had that spine tingling feeing that sends a chill up to you brain, which in return releases loads of endorphine into your body making you feel great.

The salesman was alone on the pitch and allowed me to take the car out alone which was even better still , no pressure, no hard sell. I spent 30 minutes driving the car round the streets. I took it easy to start with then built up speed and took it round curvy bends as well as long straights and it felt great. The ride was superb, cornering was fantastic, ride position was excellent it really had great road presence and the power was awesome. Half way through the test drive a boy racer pulled up next to me in a modified Renault Clio revving it to death to make sure I heard his engine as well as his young ladyfriend. When the light turned green I floored the Audi and by the time i changed gear into 3rd, the Clio was a speck in my rear view tinted mirror. I dont endorse speeding or racing from the lights but this was merely a small test of the power of the car. Driving the car felt like driving a Rolls Royce but no so big and cumbersome.

When I reluctantly returned to the showroom I asked the salesman the dreaded question "how much for the Audi A6" (it didnt have a price on it as it was still being prepared when i first saw it).
He said "£7995", I said "what, £17,995", he said "NO £7995". I couldnt believe it I thought he had brain damage. The car was 3 years old, 70,000 motorway miles on it, Full audi service history, List price, when new, of £24,000.

He explained that the A6 was designed for the high power executive market of people that spend all day on the motorway for work. The smaller A4 model is better suited to most people and they tend to hold their value but the A6 does depreciate quickly for the first few years then it levels off below £10000. Also due to the christmas period, dealer forecourts are dead and you can get a bargain in January.

researching further into the car I found out that the car was modelled on the Passat but it had more time and expense spent on design \ aerodynamics \ comfort and everything else, hence the hefty £24000 new price tag. I have also found out that the grade of plastics used on the interior is one of the best on the market and generally the materials used to build the car are better quality that you would find on a BMW, Mercedes or V.W. !!!!

After borrowing another £1000 I went off to buy it. the car was insurance group 14 which was slightly higher that my current car but the premium only went up by £40. But the car was executive luxury motoring at a fraction of the cost, fantastic.

The best part came was when I went to work and I parked the A6 near my managers Jaguar S type, assistant managers Passat and the Directors Volvo s60, it made their cars look inferior. All my work colleagues thought I had won the lottery and the management thought I was on the fiddle somehow, the car certainly stirred up a lot of attention. Its not really what I wanted to do but now the boss is considering having one of his own and the director is looking into the A8 which is even bigger and luxurious.

I cant say enough to praise the quality and the drive of the car and it does make having to go to work a bit more enjoyable. The cabin seats 5 people very easily and the boot space is massive and can easily fit all my girlfriends wardrobe in it for those weekend breaks !!!! I am getting 47mpg as an average fuel fuel consumption which is very good, servicing is reasonable as long as you dont take it to a Audi garage, and due to the reliability of Audi I am hoping nothing serious will go wrong too soon, but if it does I have the 1 year warranty to fall back on.

Below is the exact specification on my car and its all as standard for the model, no extras added or modifications but what an impressive list of stuff for £7995

-Audi A6 SE 4-door Saloon, Silver
-2.5, V6 turbo diesel , 155BHP
-6 cylinder
-6 speed manual gearbox
-137mph top speed
-24 Valves
-0-60mph on 9.4 seconds
-310 Nm Torque
-3 point seatbelt-all seats inc centre rear
-4 spoke steering wheel with stereo controls
-10 spoke alloy wheels
-8 loudspeakers
-ABS+Electronic Brake force Distribution
-Air quality sensor
-Aluminium trim strips framing side windows
-Anti-theft with interior ultrasonic protection
-ASR traction control
-Auto check system
-Colour keyed bumpers
-Colour keyed door mirrors/handles
-Cruise control
-Driver and passenger airbags
-Driver's information system
-Dust/pollen filters
-EDL traction control
-Elec heated + adjust door mirrors
-Electric front seat height adjustment
-Electric headlight adjustment
-Electric heated windscreen washer jets
-Electronic climate control (ECC)
-Electronic Stability Programme
-Ellipsoidal headlights
-Entry/exit lights on all doors
-Front and rear electric windows
-Front centre armrest
-Front fog lights
-Front passenger airbag isolation
-Front side airbags
-Front/rear adjustable head restraints
-Front/rear can holders
-Front/rear reading lights
-Fully zinc galvanised body
-Heat insulating tinted glass
-Height/reach adjustable steering column
-Illuminated vanity mirrors
-Individual driver/passenger climate controls
-Interior switch for central locking
-Locking wheel bolts
-Low profile tyres
-Luggage net
-On board computer
-Outside temperature gauge
-Power Assisted Steering
-Radio wave central locking
-Rear screen aerial
-Seatback storage
-Seatbelt pretensioners
-Side impact protection
-Sports suspension
-Symphony radio/cassette/6 CD changer
-Tailored front \rear carpet mats
-Tinted rear view mirror
-Third rear headrest
-Transponder immobiliser
-Visible vehicle identification number
-Warning triangle

dimensions

-Weight 1560Kg
-Height 1453mm
-Length 4796mm
-Width 1810mm
-wheelbase 2760mm

The only disadvantage with having this car is that its a tight fit in some supermarket car parks so to avoid the inevitable trolley bumps and clumsy drivers at Tesco I go shopping in my girlfriends fiesta instead for the time being!!!!

I would definitely recommend looking at an A6 as opposed to a VW \ mercedes \ BMW simply for the amount of car you are getting for the money.
 

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