Audi Allroad 2.7t Buying Advice
Discussion
Hi All - I want to get an Allroad for the wife to potter around in - we live a long way up a very muddy and rutted track. Good as, i'm sure the diesels are (or not), I really want to get a V6 petrol. Thinking of a manual 02 plate with 100,000 miles on it - what should I look for? What's engine longevity typically? The wheels seem to be a bit corrosion prone... And what's suspension like? i.e. is it robust? Our track kills most cars. Many thanks.
Hi, I have the non-allroad version of this (ie the A6 avant 2.7T).
Can't answer about the allroad specific bits (ie suspension), but hopefully someone else will answer on that.
Car is fantastic, very capable in all weather, the engine is a lovely unit, and it is very comfortable and practical to. Seriously good car. I've had mine from 92,000 miles to its current 162,000, and its still going very strong
However:
- The are all 10-14 years old now, so stuff will wear out!
- Preventative/wear and tear maintenance is not the cheapest, no they don't have ceramic brakes etc, but it is in essence a B5 S4 in an A6 body. Bits will wear out, and need replacing, and this will cost money (eg suspension drop links, sensors etc
- The engines are superb, but have rep for sensor failure and turbo failure. I suspect much of this is people posting on the internet when it goes wrong, and not when it hadn't (ie you only see the bad press), but bear in mind if the turbo's go its a c3.5K bill (1.5/2 for the turbo's, plus the rest for labour on an engine our job)
- you need to keep an eye on the rear diff seal oil level. If this leaks and loses oil, you will 'lose' your rear drive. Fixing this is probably of the order of £3-4K given labour involved.
So, go in with your eyes open, bear in mind my comment on turbos and diff seals, and keep an eye on it. But for what you get for your money they are superb value. Mine is now 14 years olds, 162K, and feels and drives superbly. And touch wood, diffs and turbo's are ok
Can't answer about the allroad specific bits (ie suspension), but hopefully someone else will answer on that.
Car is fantastic, very capable in all weather, the engine is a lovely unit, and it is very comfortable and practical to. Seriously good car. I've had mine from 92,000 miles to its current 162,000, and its still going very strong
However:
- The are all 10-14 years old now, so stuff will wear out!
- Preventative/wear and tear maintenance is not the cheapest, no they don't have ceramic brakes etc, but it is in essence a B5 S4 in an A6 body. Bits will wear out, and need replacing, and this will cost money (eg suspension drop links, sensors etc
- The engines are superb, but have rep for sensor failure and turbo failure. I suspect much of this is people posting on the internet when it goes wrong, and not when it hadn't (ie you only see the bad press), but bear in mind if the turbo's go its a c3.5K bill (1.5/2 for the turbo's, plus the rest for labour on an engine our job)
- you need to keep an eye on the rear diff seal oil level. If this leaks and loses oil, you will 'lose' your rear drive. Fixing this is probably of the order of £3-4K given labour involved.
So, go in with your eyes open, bear in mind my comment on turbos and diff seals, and keep an eye on it. But for what you get for your money they are superb value. Mine is now 14 years olds, 162K, and feels and drives superbly. And touch wood, diffs and turbo's are ok
Looks like I've bought one - relatively low mileage - 65,000 and in good condition. Just ordered a set of Pirelli All Seasons as the tyres are not quite up to scratch. There seems to be some differing opinions on cam belt intervals - can someone shed clarity? And - although supposedly the dealer has serviced it I want to get it done again - can anyone recommend oil grade? Thanks
billywhizzzzzz said:
Looks like I've bought one - relatively low mileage - 65,000 and in good condition. Just ordered a set of Pirelli All Seasons as the tyres are not quite up to scratch. There seems to be some differing opinions on cam belt intervals - can someone shed clarity? And - although supposedly the dealer has serviced it I want to get it done again - can anyone recommend oil grade? Thanks
Hi Billy,I've had an S4, RS4 and just bought another S4, all with the 2.7T engine.
I believe Audi suggest 80,000 miles for the cambelt on this engine. 40,000 for the RS4.
If its not been changed for 5 years then it might be about time irrespective of mileage.
I've always used Quantum Platinum fully synthetic in mine - although Audi will want to put in their Longlife oil. Basically use a good fully synthetic.
As for turbos (K03) being a failure point, both of my S4's have had/have over 120k miles on them with no problems.
Reading around on AudSRS it seems that the turbos, on well looked after cars, can go to well over 150k and some much more - there was an S4 up recently with over 200k on original turbos.
Boost leaks and vacuum control leaks are your enemy - this is what kills turbos, lambda sensors and EGT sensors.
My best advice would be to get it to someone who really knows about the 2.7T for a healthcheck. Someone like MRC or Unit 20 perhaps.
If a turbo blows it can be sorted for about £2k by theturbounit. That's with Ko4 turbos too :-)
Have a look and ask questions on audisrs - there a few owners with Allroads as well as loads of S4 owners.
Enjoy
Many thanks for all help. So, picked it up today and drove it 200 miles back. Despite having a fresh MOT yesterday the tyres were almost bald. I'd already ordered some more, so had them fitted when I got back (Pirelli All Seasons). Worryingly, the wheels only had 4 nuts in each... Anyway, the front wheel alignment feels out and the edges of the old tyres were feathered on the edges. The track rods look rusty and are seized - I've booked it back in on saturday for the tyre place to try and ease the nuts with heat - is this a good idea given the rubber gaiters etc adjacent? 
hi and good luck with it. i bought mine 2.7T Allroad last October and love it and to date it hasn't cost me anything but that will not last. performance is awesome as is ride comfort but fuel habit makes it a bit pricey to run as a daily driver. i bought mine as a 1 owner car with an amazing and extensive service history.
huge amount of car for very little money.
huge amount of car for very little money.
Hi chaps- I appreciate this is an old thread, but its the first thing that comes up in google still!
Very tempted with an Allroad from a mutual friend. It's a year 2000, just over 100k, 2.7biturbo and semi-auto. The flexi part of the exhaust is blowing at the moment, but part of the sale will be to get that rectified by the current owner. Its a cheap sale price so I'm properly excited about a bargain.
I'm going to look at it next week. I just wondered if anyone had any more wisdom to add to this thread? General consesus seems to be that suspension and turbos are an expensive fix if they go wrong. This car has been well looked after by an elderly gentleman (apparently) so my gut feel is its a safe bet.
Good to hear any thoughts. Plan would be to get 200k out of it and then 'retire' the car, remove the engine, rebuild/recondition and put it in a project car (but that's me getting way ahead of myself!!)
Very tempted with an Allroad from a mutual friend. It's a year 2000, just over 100k, 2.7biturbo and semi-auto. The flexi part of the exhaust is blowing at the moment, but part of the sale will be to get that rectified by the current owner. Its a cheap sale price so I'm properly excited about a bargain.
I'm going to look at it next week. I just wondered if anyone had any more wisdom to add to this thread? General consesus seems to be that suspension and turbos are an expensive fix if they go wrong. This car has been well looked after by an elderly gentleman (apparently) so my gut feel is its a safe bet.
Good to hear any thoughts. Plan would be to get 200k out of it and then 'retire' the car, remove the engine, rebuild/recondition and put it in a project car (but that's me getting way ahead of myself!!)
Hi.
You can read my original post.
Same car (2.7T A6 estate) is now on 212K miles, and still running strong on original turbos.
However - it is all about preventative maintenance, and replacing stuff as wears out. This costs money.
To put it in context, last 12 months has seen me need to replace, all the brakes, calipers, discs, plus a number of suspension arms etc. Inc servicing.
You can read my original post.
Same car (2.7T A6 estate) is now on 212K miles, and still running strong on original turbos.
However - it is all about preventative maintenance, and replacing stuff as wears out. This costs money.
To put it in context, last 12 months has seen me need to replace, all the brakes, calipers, discs, plus a number of suspension arms etc. Inc servicing.
HiAsAKite said:
Hi.
You can read my original post.
Same car (2.7T A6 estate) is now on 212K miles, and still running strong on original turbos.
However - it is all about preventative maintenance, and replacing stuff as wears out. This costs money.
To put it in context, last 12 months has seen me need to replace, all the brakes, calipers, discs, plus a number of suspension arms etc. Inc servicing.
That's good to hear! I'm very happy to be hands-on with the maintenance- have you got a go-to supplier for parts? I've heard the brakes give out pretty quickly, given the weight of the car, worth thinking about an upgrade anyway perhaps? You can read my original post.
Same car (2.7T A6 estate) is now on 212K miles, and still running strong on original turbos.
However - it is all about preventative maintenance, and replacing stuff as wears out. This costs money.
To put it in context, last 12 months has seen me need to replace, all the brakes, calipers, discs, plus a number of suspension arms etc. Inc servicing.
I use a local VW specialists, so most of the parts are from Eurocarparts.
Re: brakes - the brakes it comes with aren't that trivial (the fronts are 4pot and barely fit within the standard 16" alloys). Main cause has been failed calipers,as opposed to just wears.
As I said,its an old, and heavy car (1800kg basic weight, so prob close to 2,000kg with driver, fuel etc etc) -I budget /plan for c£1K per year to cover preventative maintenance... - some years it is significantly less, others much more...
Re: brakes - the brakes it comes with aren't that trivial (the fronts are 4pot and barely fit within the standard 16" alloys). Main cause has been failed calipers,as opposed to just wears.
As I said,its an old, and heavy car (1800kg basic weight, so prob close to 2,000kg with driver, fuel etc etc) -I budget /plan for c£1K per year to cover preventative maintenance... - some years it is significantly less, others much more...
Just like to add I have recently acquired a 51 reg Allroad, 2.5 diesel auto.
As it is 16 years old now, with 143,600 miles, I'm astounded how well it drives.
Just passed MOT, with a few minor advisories, the worst being front anti-roll bar bushes have slight wear!
I recently replaced the rear disks/pads - very cheap.
Then had to replace a front calliper - seized piston - disks and pads. Not so cheap!
Front calliper was a strange 2 piston Lucas low profile unit, but got exchange deposit back!
Headlamp washers kept leaking, various forums gave different reason, but one of mine was the internal seal coming off it's seat!
I dismantled it to find this out!!
eBay 2nd hand part cured that!
But for info, if it is leaking from the angled adaptor???
Just replace the O ring! Halfords metric kit has the correct one!
Another possible cause of dribbling headlamp washers is the bumper covers being pressed too far in!!
Pull them out (knife will help) then with the knife, lift the centre clip holding the jet head in place.
The jet heads will come out and the rest spring back in.
Now push the jet heads back in, BUT make sure the cover is not hard up against the bumper!
As that will stop the internal part sealing on the washer!!
As it is 16 years old now, with 143,600 miles, I'm astounded how well it drives.
Just passed MOT, with a few minor advisories, the worst being front anti-roll bar bushes have slight wear!
I recently replaced the rear disks/pads - very cheap.
Then had to replace a front calliper - seized piston - disks and pads. Not so cheap!
Front calliper was a strange 2 piston Lucas low profile unit, but got exchange deposit back!
Headlamp washers kept leaking, various forums gave different reason, but one of mine was the internal seal coming off it's seat!
I dismantled it to find this out!!
eBay 2nd hand part cured that!
But for info, if it is leaking from the angled adaptor???
Just replace the O ring! Halfords metric kit has the correct one!
Another possible cause of dribbling headlamp washers is the bumper covers being pressed too far in!!
Pull them out (knife will help) then with the knife, lift the centre clip holding the jet head in place.
The jet heads will come out and the rest spring back in.
Now push the jet heads back in, BUT make sure the cover is not hard up against the bumper!
As that will stop the internal part sealing on the washer!!
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