The opposite running costs thread

[Midds]

Hi All

Now i have secured my RS6 Avant (C5), i wondered is there were people out there that have had experiences UNLIKE the normal view of 'costs thousands all the time' and 'costs more to run than a ferrari'...?

There must be people that run them every day, have found that they only do routine servicing and that it's actually not too bad. Almost every thread i have read says that they cost an arm an a leg but are utterly brilliant cars.

Or do i need to explain to the wife in a couple of months where £6k went... (just need to prepare the crown jewels for a proper kicking... )

Either way, it's not going to change my decison to buy it

Midds

[Mrfickle]

I don't want to tempt fate!!! But...

I have so far only paid for a couple of CVs, new brakes (wear and tear) and a couple of services (one at 60k being chunky) so what about £1500 in two years.

I have spent another couple of grand on cosmetic work (paint correction) and tyres.

I looked long and hard and bought a car which had had the DRC sorted, a gearbox rebuild and had already got the MTM/Miltek upgrade to 508bhp. The service book is full of receipts from Unit20 and QST for ££££ mind! My big fear (as with everyone else) is the gearbox playing up again. As a consequence I bought a Warranty Direct policy (and then wept when reading some of the issues guys have had on here).

The moral, as always, is take your time and don't buy a dud...if possible buy a forum car or make damn sure that it has a very full service book! Going through handfuls of invoices for works done by previous owners kinda reassured me but also got me atune to what likely yearly costs were going to be.

You won't regret it.

[Mr V10]

I can't comment as I've only has the car three months, however, according to these receipts my RS6 has only cost £1623 to run the past three and a half years. Not bad when you consider that included servicing too.

[MEV]

Forums will inevitably give you an impression that loads go wrong with the car.... Because thats where we post every issue to get an opinion on of course. Performance and supercars cost a lot when something big is needed to be done, fact. To be honest you already know they are not going to be cheap day to day ( mpg, tyres insurance and the like) but if you look after them and like the man says take your time and buy a good one you shouldnt have to part with big bucks unless your unlucky. A mechanic i spoke to today ( 30 yrs plus in the trade with top Marques) suggested that the Audi RS6 was one of the best built reliable cars of its generation..... time will tell

[Mr V10]

Not to undermine what you said Mev, but someone on the A8 forum has a friend at QST who see a lot of RS6s and he said he would never buy an RS6 with his own money.

[Ceveman73]

A lot depends on how you want to look after your car. According the service schedule you needn't service the car more than once every year and you don't need to touch the gearbox. That being the case, the car won't cost that much to run in the short-medium term. However, if you're like me, you'll want to pre-empt any failures by servicing the car every six months, whilst servicing the box once a year for piece of mind. For example I'm also changing all the front control arms now, not due to failure, just because I want the car perfect.

At the end of the day, I wouldn't say that the car is particularly unreliable, it's just the fact that it's a very sophisticated machine with lots to wear out/fail/go wrong, and being 7-10 years old now, failures of some sort are inevitable. The cost of failures is down to the fact that whilst you can pick an example up for under £10k now, it was one of the most expensive cars Audi made in the first place, and Audi part prices reflect this...

Get a looked after one, keep it that way and you'll be ok. Just be prepared that things will and can fail at this age.

It's a great car, you'll love it.

Mart.

[MEV]

Not to undermine what you said Mev, but someone on the A8 forum has a friend at QST who see a lot of RS6s and he said he would never buy an RS6 with his own money.

no not at all mate I think everyone has a right to an opinion on these things. Especially those types who have seen it all. You could say the same for the B5, Bags of character but takes a lot of love to keep it going. Its kind of what I like about it. Its a little unpredictable at times, far from boring and keeps you keen. As the last post suggests its a 7 yr old car now and somewhat older technology will sometimes needs attention. I am averaging 15 mpg at the moment which is a lot lower than I expected but when I plant my foot into the deep shag pile I couldnt give a monkeys!! What the hell you only live once and if it goes bang then it goes bang. It in all likely hood wont though and thats the thing. At least you can say youve owned one of the fastest production estate cars ever made and your grandchildren will think your'e an ultra cool Grandad!

Enjoy the car mate and if you do you will be in the majority

[bakustax]

I think it depends how anal you want to be...I've changed out the suspension and done the brakes discs and pads all round and serviced the gearbox...after a slipping incident only one slip in 18 months of ownership and nothing since the oil change...AMAR will plough thousands into his because he wants it to be just right...nothing wrong with that..depending on mileage, I do about 5k a year, an engine and gearbox oil change at MOT time and a few little niggles here and there...I reckon if you put a side a grand a year for servicing and aforementioned niggles...It's not as expensive as I thought it was going to be...fuel costs aside...Its an Audi when all said and done and should be relatively hassle free...one thing I would say...If it feels ok to you and there are no warning signs illuminated don't put the Vagcom on it..I've said it before and will say it again..Vagcom=Pandoras box...all the horrors of the (Audi) World lie within...Only time to use it is when purchasing.

[Shoppinit]

In my 3 years of ownership I have had:

1. DRC replaced by PSS9 £1400
2. CV boots replaced £400
3. Leaky intercoolers replaced with Wagners £1000
4. Canbus / TMC module fault £80 from ebay.de

That's about a grand a year on average.

[bam_bam]

An RS6 that doesn't cost money to run?!?! What is this, an opposite thread or something?

[chunky79]

Think the only thing you can say is, every car will cost money to run.
These beasts have bigger engines = higher fuel costs
These beasts are made by audi = parts are costly
These beasts do silly speed and weigh alot = can go through tyres quickly
These beasts need servicing along with other car but have lovely big engines
These beasts were made to be driven fast and probably have been for 6 years so are getting a little tired now and need tinkering with.

Now most people will say that the most common faults are gearbox's and drc. Sadly the first can be alot of money but drc can be done quiet cheaply.
Luckily there are 2 great places to get them looked after (may be more but i have only used 2) Unit 20 with the big man Grizz or MRC

[Golfather]

Cheap as chips....

..with an Audi warranty

[Mr V10]

Cheap as chips....

..with an Audi warranty

£2.5k a year though...

[drybeer]

An RS6 that doesn't cost money to run?!?! What is this, an opposite thread or something?

Nah - if this really was an opposites thread then we'd be on a BMW forum, and you'd be gay.

I don't even like to think what your avatar gif would be then...

[bam_bam]

I don't even like to think what your avatar gif would be then...

...it'd include a Nazi, three pig skin covered dildos and a dwarf wearing a Vanessa Feltz mask.