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The reason for the need for 4 wheel drive is two fold- firstly the rural lanes and roads in my area, which don't see grit anyway, are generally in less than perfect condition, throw in even wet winter weather and the inevitable mud from farm machinery and roads can get pretty hairy without warning.
I work as an agronomist presently and nearly do as much off-roading as on road work- certainly I go off tarmac and even off hard standings/tracks daily. Hence the use of a company Navara complete with the BFG Goodrich tyres, and because it runs in rear wheel drive by default, it becomes interesting trying to drive in the conditions I described above. I'm talking if you pull slightly on to the verge to let a car or something pass, and then try to pull away, you sit there and don't move until you put it into 4wd. During the wet weather in July I even managed to slide the thing off some pretty terrible tarmac and put it into a ditch at 20mph.
My wife is a farm vet and part of her work includs routine out of hours call outs. I don't relish the thought of her being called out at midnight on some dark and hideous night in just a Focus if I am honest. Whilst the XC60 is her day to day car there could be some reason that the Audi would be pressed into service instead. Of course it would go off tarmac but generally would not leave a hardened surface or be expected to traverse rutted tracks or anything- I wouldn't want to put the Volvo through that, nor any other SUV type vehicle actually, I don't believe any of them have sufficient ground clearance.
In my previous life I used to have amongst other things, a Subaru Legacy Spec B, which was one of the most capable cars I have ever owned. I had it for several years and drove it some of the most atrocious weathers- including full blown snow which saw most cars just sit there at the slightest incline. I remember once driving home after unsuccessfully trying to get to work one morning after a heavy snowfall (roads all blocked by cars or HGVs all over the place) and was less than 10 miles from home when the road became blocked by a half dozen cars none of which could climb a slight slope. I turned around and went home via an even more scenic route on mostly minor roads, I'm talking 3 or 4 inches of pristine snow, untouched. I was driving through villages and down the lanes steady and people were utterly amazed to find that mere saloon car appear and trundle on by. There were people in the streets building snowmen and riding sledges, all bewildered that I had even got that far much less was carrying on. I was amazed that a set of Toyo Proxes (admittedly with plenty of meat left on them) would work in that kind of situation, but work they did.
Hence I am very keen that our second car is a 4 wheel drive as well, like the XC60. The size and safety factor built into the A6 (numerous safety features all as standard) also swings me more in that direction. They are also very well equipped as I said earlier.
I would have another Legacy in a heartbeat, but the new ones look ugly, they are reliable but suffer from hideous parts prices, whereas anything German you can get from GSF etc.
My uncle owns an independant garage and his customer base is nearly entirely composed of people running cars of this kind who are fed up with main dealers bleeding them dry. Hence a lot of the cars he sees are middle or premium ends of the market brought in once the warranty has expired. Hence I sought his advice the moment I began thinking about the idea of going German.
Regarding the timing belt thing- he has said that you need to change it according to the manufacturer recommendations, along with the water pump and maybe the hydraulic damper that keeps the belt tight.
The intake manifold(s) issue is a recurring VAG thing- they suffer from the engine reguritating exhaust gases and getting a horrible tar like build up in them, but also the motors/vanes and little 'bearings' involved all get worn. Not a problem at all I am told- you can get reconditioned, cleaned and reworked parts from various companies or even Ebay for less than £300 the pair. The amount of labour involved is not ridiculous either- around 2 hours he thinks. Incidentally the motor flap thing is also not unheard of in the petrol engines as well.
The gearbox thing I am not sure about, but the multitronic thing is I am told similar to the DSG box from VWs- IE a robot manual with about 5 million moving and wearing parts. I am quite keen on an auto but it will definitely be a CVT (with frequent fluid changes) if I go that route.
The Allroad is also an option, it's even better equipped than the regular A6, has the same choice of enegines basically but the air suspension involves 4 air shocks, a compressor and a control unit. Replacing the lot in total will be £1000 in parts alone, that kind of bill I could do without for a few years unfortunately.
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