Hey guys. have just had a windfall of about $7000. yay! want to buy a new car with it as i'm very over the cars i own currently . (88 ea fairmont ghia, 92 bluebird arx, 91 legacy wagon & 93 mazda ms-8 efini) What are the late 1990's audi A6's like! Really like the shape of them & like luxury. if you have any other suggestions for a luxury car chuck them at me. jap or euro.use to have a 97 nz new BMW 528i once upon a time and it was a lovely car so wouldnt mind the audi as i think it may be similar. let me know your thoughts. thanks
vtecintegra,
Dec 15, 9:58am
IMO the E39 5-series (ie your 528i) drives much nicer than the equivalent Audi model.
Not that the Audis are bad, they're just a very different setup. I wouldn't cheap out and buy a basic one though, go at least the 2.8 with 4wd (think all the 2.8s are)
thejazzpianoma,
Dec 15, 8:35pm
The Audi A6 shape starting in 1997 is a fantastic car. It was well ahead of its time and they are amazing value right now. Like vtec said its worth getting a high spec one.
Just remember these are belt driven and most are due. VW/Audi parts are well priced and the Audi while a bit slow to do the change on is very nice to work on. Its a suitable contender for a home timing belt change if you have the time/skills and want to save some money.
Just remember they are 15 years old so get any you are serious about well checked. The likes of Qualitat in Auckland can supply genuine parts very inexpensively (they import them) and can give you a good median price on any work that needs doing.
Hit me up if you have any specific questions. I don't know the BMW you had so well but the Audi is a lovely vehicle by any standard.
mgmad,
Dec 15, 9:26pm
Having driven my uncles 4.2 quattro A6 and his previous E39 540i, I'd say the BMW was the more interesting and rewarding drive - A6 still drove well, and arguably marginally faster (but really not a lot in it), but just a bit boring compared to the BMW. Other than that, both are much of a muchness when you compare spec levels etc.
richard198,
Dec 15, 9:33pm
The BMW is rear wheel drive. The Audi will be front wheel drive or 4WD. That must make a huge difference.
unclejake,
Dec 15, 11:29pm
The quattro makes an astounding difference on the open road and in the rain
candii06,
Dec 16, 1:54am
test drove an a6 today and loved it. overall it was a lovely vehicle. but now a friend of mine had heard i was looking for a new car and they offered me something i think i cant refuse. look below and give me your thoughts :)
It is a 1996 pitch black colour Mitsubishi Diamante 30R-SE all wheel drive. they have owned it & garaged it since imported in 1998. has 64,000 genuine kms with service history dating back to 98, new cambelt & trans flush at mitsubishi dealer. Immaculate exterior. Has beige leather interior with dual airbags, ABS, traction control, electric sunroof, electric seats, mirrors & windows, self locking doors. Has factory touch screen that controls everything including stereo (with factory sub) also controls aircon, jap satnav & tv, cooler fridge box thing in rear parcel tray. Also has fuel consumption computer, tyre pressure sensors etc. the list goes on. looked like a very nice luxury car when I looked at it. much better than other more basic diamantes i had seen. they want $4000 for it. is it a good deal! mean i would have $3000 left over! haha. let me know your thoughts
vtecintegra,
Dec 16, 2:07am
Pity its not the MIVEC version - those were quite a car for their time.
Honestly I'd consider a lot of that fancy equipment a downside on an older car though - its just more stuff to potentially go wrong and even at the best of times touch screen controls and TPMS were iffy until recently.
That said its potentially a lot of car for the money
candii06,
Dec 16, 2:15am
yeh i need to talk to the owner about the whole MIVEC thing. because the engine says "mivec" on it. but the badge on the back of vehicle says "30R-SE" and from what i have researched on google. the "mivec" versions are supposed to say "30M-SE" maybe the original badge fell off and they just replaced with one from a 30R-SE diamante! who knows. hahaha
richard198,
Dec 16, 3:34am
Why not! I've driven front wheel drive cars and rear wheel drive cars and found the difference when cornering to be huge. Care to elaborate!
mugenb20b,
Dec 16, 6:53am
You also mentioned AWD, but anyway, both Audi and BMW are exceptionally good "driver's" cars. They both hold the road so well that it's hard to tell which are the driving wheels, so I found the difference to be minimal when it comes to cornering, not "huge" as you put it.unless you drive cars like you stole them.
thejazzpianoma,
Dec 16, 7:08am
I think you answered your own question when you said "cars" as opposed to Audi A6's. The glaring difference in handling between front and rear wheel drive has diminished over time and dissapear's even more so with quality vehicles like the A6. You know its possible to design a real FWD drivers car when the likes of Alfa convert their entire lineup to FWD.
vtecintegra,
Dec 16, 7:18am
I don't know about that - you can definitely tell which end is doing the driving on an A6 from that period. Which is probably why all the good models were 4wd anyway
msigg,
Dec 16, 9:12am
At that price the mitsi is a far better car. With those km nothing should go wrong for years. the others will just depreciate more, the more you spend the more you loose. Mind you more equipment means more to go wrong.give it a few years and with petrol going up none of the bigger cars will sell anyway.
thejazzpianoma,
Dec 16, 9:16am
I agree you can tell. But a HUGE difference to the driving experience (which was what was being argued) no. Yes Quattro is better, but its also better than RWD too. That's the beauty of it you get a choice with the Audi, if you don't like the FWD just get the Quattro and the neat thing is that secondhand the Quattro is often no dearer.
candii06,
Dec 16, 10:47am
Hey guys. interesting points about the rear/front wheel drive characteristics. im soo stuck right now. do i buy the diamante i described above for $4000 or do i buy the very classy and to me mouth watering A6 2.8 i drove today for $7000. i guess if i wanted to sell the audi down the track it would have a better resale value than the diamante. but then the diamante only has 64,000km on it with excellent service history so could just drive it into the ground. and it has more bells and whistles than any other car ive seen of the same age. oh i dont know. stuck stuck stuck! ahaha
richard198,
Dec 16, 9:41pm
Or buy a BMW which will be more reliable than both of the Audis!
thejazzpianoma,
Dec 16, 9:57pm
I like the BMW too but at that age reliability is more a function of km/s and how the car has been treated. To say the BMW is twice as reliable would be a real stretch of the truth. Because of the nature of the servicing required I find the A6's tend to be very reliable for their age.
candii06,
Dec 20, 1:56am
bought the a6 guys! yayyyy its an awesome ride. anyways can u guys please help me in my new thread about my efini. just my luck. i drove it one more time and nows it wont start and is stuck on my friends driveway. any help appreciated
richard198,
Dec 20, 2:10am
Maybe it's jealous! Seriously though, you know the drill; won't turn over etc. or what!
scotty20001,
Dec 20, 4:36am
nice car, life is to short to drive s**t unlike a certain person on here would have you belive lucky he didn't show up or he would have you in a cr-v (vomit) the 2.8 is a pretty tough engine just make sure you get the cambelt water pump and thermostat done and it shouldn't give you any trouble, sorry i didn't reply sooner as i was banned for speaking my mind (happens a lot here)
craig04,
Dec 20, 7:22am
That would be a very short conversation.
mugenb20b,
Dec 20, 7:54am
Doesn't sound "pretty tough" to me.
thejazzpianoma,
Dec 20, 8:02am
What because you have to maintain it, as in one major service every 5 years!
The 2.4, 2.8 and 3.0 engines are phenomenal units capable of massive mileage with nothing but scheduled maintenance. They are supremely reliable units and if you do have a problem its usually minor ancillary stuff like an ignition module.
They would have to be one of the very best 6 Cylinder engines of last century. Great performance, reliability, economy and longevity.
mugenb20b,
Dec 20, 8:34am
I know what you mean, but thinking of tough engines, the first ones that come to mind are industrial strength, gear driven, cast iron, push rod diesels.
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