New RS6 owner----maybe.

[kfitzpat9]

Hello all,

I just purchased the below RS6 on ebay ($21.5K) and was quite excited until I started reading through a lot of the problem posts . I don't scare easily from a repair perspective as I can do my own work but is $13K for a transmission and 10K for turbos accurate? Also, the suspension issue looks a little disturbiing but it a appears Audi will support that with a little bit of a fight. The car has 78K miles and an Audi bumper-bumper warrantly up to 100K so that should help for awhile

Just looking for some encouragement as I really like the car but am somewhat nervous about the cost of ownership. Again, I can do all the work and don't mind spending money, but $13K for a tranny..yikes.

[DHall1]

Congrats on the purchase and you should have looked at cost of ownership before buying.

Now your "all in" at this point.

Welcome to the Crazy Train as others have put it.

At your mileage....was the 75k service performed? Timing belt changed?

Yes, the trans and turbos cost that much if not more. Trans goes out more than turbos if its stock.

Your good on DRC. Audi is going to replace everything this fall.

Post some specifics on whats been done to yours.

Hello all,

I just purchased the below RS6 on ebay ($21.5K) and was quite excited until I started reading through a lot of the problem posts . I don't scare easily from a repair perspective as I can do my own work but is $13K for a transmission and 10K for turbos accurate? Also, the suspension issue looks a little disturbiing but it a appears Audi will support that with a little bit of a fight. The car has 78K miles and an Audi bumper-bumper warrantly up to 100K so that should help for awhile

Just looking for some encouragement as I really like the car but am somewhat nervous about the cost of ownership. Again, I can do all the work and don't mind spending money, but $13K for a tranny..yikes.

[kfitzpat9]

D Hall,

Thanks for the reply and have 11 pages of maintenance records from the Audi dealership dating back to the orginal purchase of the car. The highlights are:

Timing Belt 40,825 miles
O2 sensor 59,066 miles
New Trans 68,741 miles

Looks like scheduled maint done at 5k, 15K, 35K 45K, and 60K. I'm guessing the 75K will need to be done which I assume includes another timing belt. There have been quite a few other repairs as you could imagine so all in all it appears to be a well-maintained car.

[Yellow RS6]

I have heard $10K for turbos, but "only" $8K for trans, not 13. But if you have a 100K warranty, just enjoy the next 22K miles, then worry about it. Hopefully the 75K service has been done, that's about $2500-2800. Although, you mention doing your own work, so it would be a lot less.

[Yellow RS6]

Oops - posted at the same time. Well you got a new trans 10K miles ago, so that's good. But, yes, the 75K service is timing belt, spark plugs, a bunch of filters, etc.

Congrats on your RS6 though, and welcome!

PS - any pics of the 911 Turbo?

[GEN XER]

I was quoted $4200 by my dealer for the 75K service. I laughed as I walked away. I found a tech who use to work for that dealer who owns is own shop now and has 15 years experience on Audi and his partner has 30 years experience on VW, so I have someone I can take my VR6 to as well if need be.

[DHall1]

Kevin,

That is somewhat good news. You could have the updated torque converter with that trans replacement. For the most part the turbos have been good if the cars were maintained and have the proper oil used.

Yep, your due for timing belt service. How skilled are you for DIY? Check my brake threads to save a ton of money on brake service and get rid of those stock Pagid brake pads.

Good luck with it. They drive great when properly maintained. I passed on a 996TT after driving the RS6.

Dave

D Hall,

Thanks for the reply and have 11 pages of maintenance records from the Audi dealership dating back to the orginal purchase of the car. The highlights are:

Timing Belt 40,825 miles
O2 sensor 59,066 miles
New Trans 68,741 miles

Looks like scheduled maint done at 5k, 15K, 35K 45K, and 60K. I'm guessing the 75K will need to be done which I assume includes another timing belt. There have been quite a few other repairs as you could imagine so all in all it appears to be a well-maintained car.

[kfitzpat9]

I'll get some pictures of the 911 turbo taken and put up Yellow RS6. As far as my DIY abilities, I'm OK but I sometimes end-up DIY 3 or 4 times if you know what I mean I have rebuilt a Porsche 911 motor down to the crank as well as an M3 motor that someone was kind enough to sell to me with 3 cracked pistons! I'll be sure to check out your brake thread as I assume I'll need them at some point.

Regarding the torque converter, it doesn't show a separate line item under the parts list, so I'm not sure if that was part of the Automatic Transmission that was put in on 5/23/08. Hopefully so.

Anyway, I'm sure I'll have a lot to learn and if you guys can recommend a good shop manual that would be appreciated.

I'm getting no work done today but this is much more enjoyable!

[peiserg]

$8k for a tranny seems a bit steep.. can't it be rebuilt for significantly less, not including labor to R and R? And for turbos.. can't those be rebuilt as well? I do understand about how much audi charges if you show up at the parts dept asking for that stuff.. but most things can be rebuilt.. the trick is finding someone competent!

[satine]

Very nice RS6 you got, love it with the Audi rims!

Congratulations!

[kfitzpat9]

Satine,

Thanks for the compliment and the transport company picks up the car tomorrow for arrival this weekend! I'm prepping my garage floor with a special German wax blend.

Also, I may have an OEM source for both turbos on our cars. They are Borg Warner and sell for $1,999 and $2,099 for the left and right, or vice versa. I'm not sure if the BW is OEM, but I'll look into it as it sounds to good to be true compared with the $10K I had previously heard. However, that may have been an Audi price with them doing the work so this may make sense as it is through a well connected friend of mine that gets German parts at wholesale.

I'll let you all know.

[DHall1]

Yep, the stock turbos are BorgWarner.

So yes there may be "deals" out there for parts....

Back door wholesale
Used or rebuilt
Race shop discount direct

But, we must all take into account labor. Just a guess....but I bet the book time for turbo replacement is around 40hrs. R/R engine/trans to do the job. You plug in the local shop rates for your job....120-130/hr.

Now, does anybody want to pay for a back door deal on turbos and labor any way you factor it? Because those back door turbos have no labor warranty if one of them fails on startup. We can all do the math from there. Start eating money.

Dont get me wrong as I do a ton of my own work and sway away from stock parts in some cases. (EBC red pads) but for the most part stay with stock parts for this car. I wont mess with turbos if they fail.

Satine,

Thanks for the compliment and the transport company picks up the car tomorrow for arrival this weekend! I'm prepping my garage floor with a special German wax blend.

Also, I may have an OEM source for both turbos on our cars. They are Borg Warner and sell for $1,999 and $2,099 for the left and right, or vice versa. I'm not sure if the BW is OEM, but I'll look into it as it sounds to good to be true compared with the $10K I had previously heard. However, that may have been an Audi price with them doing the work so this may make sense as it is through a well connected friend of mine that gets German parts at wholesale.

I'll let you all know.

[kfitzpat9]

D Hall,

Again, I'm a newbie to the RS6 forum and am therfore not sure what a "back door" turbo is. To my knowledge, there are only a handful of Turbo manufacturer's that supply to OEM's like Audi, Porsche, VW and include companies like Garrett, KKK, Borg Warner, etc.

The turbos I'm referring to are sourced through largest parts distributor in California and appear to be the same as those supplied to Audi. I may be wrong but I thought it was worth passing it along to the folks that have the most experience with the RS6 to see what you come up with.

I'm happy to get more information (part numbers, specs, etc) so others can draw their own conclusions. It might be a wild goose chase or a way to save the DIY'ers (cheap bastards like myself) some serious cash.

[DHall1]

Not a problem. Back door turbo=your source for the direct route to BW.

Zero labor warranty on that deal.

I dont know how many DIYers have the tools and lift needed to R&R the RS6 drive line. I dont and I have a 1.5acre homesite with 2 garages, 5 stalls, motorhome parking, enclosed trailer and 5 cars. Not saying there are DIYers out there that could. But its the reason I have Fidelity coverage for 6 more years and 70,000 miles. I dont have to worry about it.

D Hall,

Again, I'm a newbie to the RS6 forum and am therfore not sure what a "back door" turbo is. To my knowledge, there are only a handful of Turbo manufacturer's that supply to OEM's like Audi, Porsche, VW and include companies like Garrett, KKK, Borg Warner, etc.

The turbos I'm referring to are sourced through largest parts distributor in California and appear to be the same as those supplied to Audi. I may be wrong but I thought it was worth passing it along to the folks that have the most experience with the RS6 to see what you come up with.

I'm happy to get more information (part numbers, specs, etc) so others can draw their own conclusions. It might be a wild goose chase or a way to save the DIY'ers (cheap bastards like myself) some serious cash.

[Bigglezworth]

Hello all,

I just purchased the below RS6 on ebay ($21.5K) and was quite excited until I started reading through a lot of the problem posts . I don't scare easily from a repair perspective as I can do my own work but is $13K for a transmission and 10K for turbos accurate? Also, the suspension issue looks a little disturbiing but it a appears Audi will support that with a little bit of a fight. The car has 78K miles and an Audi bumper-bumper warrantly up to 100K so that should help for awhile

Just looking for some encouragement as I really like the car but am somewhat nervous about the cost of ownership. Again, I can do all the work and don't mind spending money, but $13K for a tranny..yikes.

21.5K for this caliber of car is a steal. You cannot come to the plate unhappy with that price and feel you didn't get a good deal finding out various items may need replacing and their cost. I got mine at a steal 8 months ago prior to the worsening economy and at that time knew I'd be in it for a few K in various items from the get go.

[ruxprncd]

Regarding turbos...I realize there aren't many RS6 at the ~100K+ miles mark, but to-date very few failures have been reported on any of the forums. I remember hearing about one - ?