audi A6 2.7TDI oil change

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Fri 25 Aug 2006 22:32
audi A6 2.7TDI oil change - plecostomus
Just bought a nearly new A6 2.7 TDI - surprised to see the service indicator say that there is 14500 miles to go before service required. It has 4000 on the clock - I'm pretty amazed this is good for any engine, longlife oil or otherwise, to do 18000+ from new on factory oil - any thoughts? I'm tempted to sneak in interim oil and filter at every 10000 - where to get hold of correct spec diesel engine oil and Audi oil filter?

Also seem to be trapped in Audi dealership for servicing to maintain warranty thru to 2009- any thoughts on risk / benefits of independent servicing?

Interestingly this car has been used as a company car at Bently Crewe for 4 months only - surely a "VW-Audi" "arrangement" to get nearly new cars onto forecourt at greatly reduced prices (in this case nearly £10K off new price after fairly hard negotiation and cash offer) - can't conplain as it seems OK value to me at the price sold - why not be more honest about pricing structure?
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Sat 26 Aug 2006 00:11
audi A6 2.7TDI oil change - cjehuk
That's about right for first variable. My A3 did 17600 before its first service. You can have the dealer revert to fixed servicing if you like, as the vehicle hasn't reached its first 10k yet. Oil specs must meet VW 507.00 for the 2.7TDI. To be quite honest Audi recommend the fixed service if you drive hard, i.e. lots of town miles, lots of high rpms, harsh acceleration. If you drive normally and longer journeys then leave it on variable. I've seen cars when I've worked at a dealer come in at 3 yrs olds with 150k+ on the clock, on variable service with no problems at all.

You do have to have it serviced at an approved Audi centre to keep the warranty in one piece, and it is worth is, especially if yours has the Multitronic gearbox.

Also for the record first variable should be about £270, at 18k covered that's 1.5p/mile

A service at an independant will be about half that, as the oil accounts for about £100 alone and you'd then be on the fixed servicing so roughly two services in that time, or 1.35p/mile. Is it worth 0.15p/mile to lose the warranty?

I've done 29k happily in my own A3 and am quite content with the variable service program, though admittedly I am mechanically sympathetic and do mainly longer journeys.
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Sat 26 Aug 2006 00:49
audi A6 2.7TDI oil change - rtj70
This has been covered so many times on this and other forums. High service intervals are due to fleet/lease companies saving money over the short term. Longer term these high mileages between changes is not necessarily a good thing. I think some VX diesels are 30k between services. I remember when a diesel was serviced every 6k.

But in the manufacturers' defence, I think there's more than just normal oil in from the factory which it might not be good to replace too early.
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Sat 26 Aug 2006 01:03
audi A6 2.7TDI oil change - Bill Payer
Interestingly this car has been used as a company car at
Bently Crewe for 4 months only - surely a "VW-Audi" "arrangement"
to get nearly new cars onto forecourt at greatly reduced prices
(in this case nearly £10K off new price after fairly hard
negotiation and cash offer) - can't conplain as it seems OK
value to me at the price sold - why not be
more honest about pricing structure?

Most (if not all) manufacturers do this - I bought a 5 mth old ex-MB management Merc with approx a third off its new price. Years ago I used to work for Ford and they did it for quite a wide range of employees - we got first refusal of the cars, but they were (probably like yours) usually top spec vehicles, so a bit rich for the plebs.

I guess there's a couple of reasons why they don't sell them all at lower pricing - it's the old "if we halved the price would we sell twice as many" question. Well, not if everybody else halves their price. It also could be that the internal sale transfer price (ie VW to Bentley) is at cost plus a small margin. Then all Bentley do is look to get their money back so the car doesn't really cost them anything. (Just guessing, but this is how hire car companies used to work).
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Sat 26 Aug 2006 01:09
audi A6 2.7TDI oil change - rtj70
I've worked (IT related) at Bentley Crewe and the Audi's are there for when German staff come over. So it's probably not a ruse just they want nice company vehicles.

Also it was when said staff driving Audi's around near Crewe they realised how bad our roads are and this got fed back to Ingolstadt. There is now a team of Audi engineers based at Crewe that use the same roads Bentley use to test cars to test and tune Audi suspension for the UK. So you might find the Audi A6 was flung around Crewe's back roads helping tune suspension setups in the UK.

You actually see some really nice performance cars at Bentley... they borrow from the other performance brands to compare products all the time. They dismantle them and put them back together - absolutely true. I saw Mercedes from Germany (German plates), Aston Martins DB9 before they were out, etc. when I was there. Oh and an MG SV!
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Sat 26 Aug 2006 01:25
audi A6 2.7TDI oil change - Bill Payer
I've worked (IT related) at Bentley Crewe and the Audi's are
there for when German staff come over. So it's probably not
a ruse just they want nice company vehicles.


I live down the road from Bentley and a friend of mine worked there for a while a couple of years ago. He had several very high spec A6 2.5TDi Avant Quattro Auto's, with full leather etc etc - the works. But they were 'his' cars - he only ever went back and to work in them and they'd each only done a few thousand miles when he turned them in
Also it was when said staff driving Audi's around near Crewe
they realised how bad our roads are and this got fed
back to Ingolstadt. There is now a team of Audi engineers
based at Crewe that use the same roads Bentley use to
test cars to test and tune Audi suspension for the UK.
So you might find the Audi A6 was flung around Crewe's
back roads helping tune suspension setups in the UK.


Although I see lots of Bentley's I haven't seen lots of Audi's being thrashed around (although the Bentley's do stand out, and of course they're on trade plates). In the OP's case, if it had been thrashed, then the service interval would be much shorter than is the case. It would have also done a lot more miles - 1000 miles/mth is nothing.

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Sat 26 Aug 2006 04:19
audi A6 2.7TDI oil change - jonno
I live down the road from Bentley and a friend of
mine worked there for a while a couple of years ago.
He had several very high spec A6 2.5TDi Avant Quattro Auto's,
with full leather etc etc - the works. But they
were 'his' cars - he only ever went back and to
work in them and they'd each only done a few thousand
miles when he turned them in


My uncle's been there for a couple of years now and is working his way through the VAG catalogue, it seems - he's had a Golf, couple of Audi A4s, TT, and now S4 - next up is a Q7....
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Sat 26 Aug 2006 16:27
audi A6 2.7TDI oil change - daveyjp
How long do you intend keeping the car? If it will be changed before the warranty expires why bother with anything but what the car tells you? If you intend keeping it for longer go on to 10,000 mile services, but these are not much cheaper than variable services.

Let us know how you get on with the A6, especially mpg.
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Sat 26 Aug 2006 22:12
audi A6 2.7TDI oil change - plecostomus
I generally keep cars for 6-7 years 130 000 miles

My initial impressions of the A6 2.7 Avant are good quality fit and finish, good economy (45mpg on computer), brisk when needed and the MMI system is good enough to use without reverting to the instructions (this is a man thing - but if controls are correctly designed e.g. ipod, there really is hardly the need to have a manual to refer to).

I went for a manual with cruise to get best economy and wanted something that with that bit of poke when needed. I have previously done all my servicing at home apart from cam belts & that is what concerns me about the Audi. Ride would be considered harsh for some (but not next to our Mini Cooper S!) but is fine for the motorway - the S-line pack makes the ride worse I am sure but the other extras and handling are nice. One quibble , the stereo seems very flash. 6xCD etc. - but the sound is not all that impressive.

I note the post about quality issues re: A4 vs A6 - I have to say when I sit in an A6, I do not feel it is of barge-like proportions - and the A4 is to my mind little more than golf sized. The price differentials between equivalent engined A4 and A6 is relatively modest. At 6'4" it was an easy decision to find the extra £3k or so.

Thanks for the advice re fixed / variable servicing - it will waft on Mway at 70mph for quite a bit of the time - so I'll see.....
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Sat 26 Aug 2006 23:02
audi A6 2.7TDI oil change - daveyjp
Agree with the S line ride. I tried an S line A3 and with 18inch wheels the ride was terrible.
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Sun 27 Aug 2006 10:58
audi A6 2.7TDI oil change - Martin Sweeney
The first service on my 2.7tdi was around 19k, then 35k, and 56k. It never missed a beat in that time and if anything the engine kept getting smoother and stronger. IIRC I used to get an average of 42mpg on a lengthy and very fast commute. The s-line suspension setup was too firm for my needs and liking, but the body trim looks great. The standard sound doesn?t compare to a well setup home hifi or good after-market setup but with 10 speakers incl subwoofer, DSP and 160watts it?s pretty good and much better than the standard setup for this car class. The thrust of the Audi quality thread is nit-picking and largely fatuous. You?ve got a cracking car there and I hope that you enjoy it.
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Sun 27 Aug 2006 11:53
audi A6 2.7TDI oil change - plecostomus
which is exactly what you need to be told after writing a large cheque! cheers
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Tue 7 Dec 2010 22:13
audi A6 2.7TDI oil change - garythedecorator

I have read about the oil change what you wrote.

There is no way an engine can take 20 ish thousand miles for the first time.

I have got a few friends who bought their cars new. They did what they have been told, not to service their cars before 30000 kilometers which is 18000 miles. Since the engine is using the oil, and they only got 70000 miles or less.

People has to understand that the oil is the soul of the engine.

Do it every 10000 12000 miles will never have problem with it.

I have an a6 audi for ages now. A 2.5 sport tdi V6. I do it every 10000 miles. I have 207000 miles in it with no problems at all.......

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Wed 8 Dec 2010 10:35
audi A6 2.7TDI oil change - turbo11

in reply to your car being ex- Bentley. This is a very common occurence, where manufacturers put their new vehicles with their own or "partner" personnel to gain mint condition,low mileage nearly new vehicles on their forecourt. Whilst at McLaren I had the use of any Mercedes or Smart car. You would keep the vehicle for 9 months,insure it yourself and replace any well worn tyres(that applied to the more exuberant staff members driving AMG's). The vehicle had to be in excellent condition when returned with no more than one chip per panel and any dents smaller than 5mm. Any more than that then you had to pay for the repairs yourself. The overall scheme was good value( typical £170pm for C or E class Touring), although I was driving very high mileage at the time and the mileage penalty (over 9,000 miles was too high for me, much of the time). Other F1 and WRC teams have very similar deals.

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Wed 8 Dec 2010 11:38
audi A6 2.7TDI oil change - AnotherWaiting

Another fine example of why it would be a good idea to make threads read only after a year or so of inactivity.

THIS THREAD WAS OVER 4 YEARS OLD. THE OP MAY WELL HAVE SNUFFED IT!

Actually beaten this week by the resurection of the "Which big cheap car?" thread which was OVER FIVE years old.

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