New Beast in Oregon!

[GreggPDX]

Christmas in August! this baby just showed up under my tree:

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5690/20006411404_9d1af45bfd_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/wtU66E)
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5772/20006408144_4f197b28bc_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/wtU58s)

This is the car from New York listed here:

http://www.rs6.com/showthread.php/32260-2003-RS6-for-sale

I had it shipped over on an open carrier and everything went smooth!

I have been looking for a while, and this car has an almost perfect (for me) combination of color and options: Red on black, carbon trim and SE exhaust. Also has the warm weather package. First impressions are really good, the car drives amazing! Smooth, powerful, no funny sounds. I now understand why everyone likes a functioning DRC. I took it out into the country and flung it through some twisties and I was very impressed with the balance of control and ride quality. The car always felt stable and planted, and it soaked up bumps with no drama at all. It has the stability of my A4 with PSS9s, but without the harshness. Power is amazing, i've had some fairly powerful cars and this thing is right up there with the best of them! It has a lot more pull than I had road or courage! Most important, it's RED! I LOVE the color! I realize it's not everyone's cup-of-tea, but every time I look at the car, I smile. Then I start it, and smile again! Without getting too philosophical, this car falls squarely into the "life is short, enjoy the ride" category. I've been into cars my whole life, and for the past ten years, my cars have gotten progressively slower, more sane and less fun. The RS6 is going to reverse that trend in a big way!

There are a few issues that i'll need to deal with soon: car is at 73k miles and is due for timing belt service. The front brakes look pretty worn, (rotors are heavily grooved), and tires are probably around 10%. I'm sure there is other stuff I'll find, but I knew there would be some initial costs, so I'm prepared... hopefully :)

I'll post more pics after she gets a good cleaning, and I'm sure I'll have many questions. Now I need to go back to the garage for a bit...

Gregg

[P1054]

I like it! Sounds like you got a good one so far. I'll keep my eyes peeled for you, I'm on the north side of the river here but end up in the Portland area quite often. I've met with a couple other rs6 owners in the area too, we oughta get together some time!

[kruat]

I agree, we need to get all the pacnw RS6s owners together for a drive.

Btw, I love the red, if I'm ever able to buy another rs, avus or red are on my short list.

[lswing]

Well done, sounds like a good find!

[DHall1]

Very well done.

[Bigglezworth]

Amazing on just how obtrusive and awful looking that front license plate housing is. It's like a huge pimple on ones nose. Really ruins the nice lines on the front of the car which of course align with eurpoean plates which are quite wide and narrow. So used to seeing my cars which don't have one because we only get issued rear plates.

[Other_Erik]

Congrats on the find, Gregg! You should maybe try to hook up with Greg (G2) here, and see if he can take care of you on the TBelt Service, brakes, and tires. I hear he can get some good price points on all of that, and lucky you, he's in the PACNW area.

I see from the FS thread that the last 6 on this is 905251 - that's before the estimated cutoff for bad vs. good TC seals - dig through your service history and request a full history from your closest stealership to see if the Trans and/or TC were ever replaced.

One "option" I highly recommend is the RNS-E radio - in-dash fullscreen navigation plus dual SDHC cards for music storage, better sound quality and integration with almost all the systems in the car (goodbye non-functional analog OnStar!). If you're interested, read up on it in one of the many,many,many,many threads here and shoot me a PM with your email address - I'll hook you up with Zawa, and he can walk you through picking the exact options you want to make your installation seamless and feature-rich.

Good luck!
O_E

[Turbowned]

Excellent! I'd say you got a good deal if you got it at or below the seller's asking price; it leaves room for the t-belt service, brakes and tires.

[cruzanrs6]

We should hook up some time.

Regards - Scott16618

[repda503]

Count me in the PDX group looking to get together

[GreggPDX]

Thanks for the kind words everyone, I'm really enjoying the car so far. Spent some time cleaning it really well, inside and out and I'm overall pleased with the condition. Some usual wear-and-tear, but definitely on the low side for it's age. I agree about the front plate, and I already removed the mounting bracket for it. I'm running a temp tag right now, so I don't need it, but eventually I'll have to put it back on. On a previous car with the same euro plate cutout, I actually trimmed an Oregon plate down to fit better. Just enough to subtly reduce it's size, but not enough to scream "I butchered my plate!" I'll play with it a bit when my new plates show up.

I also ran a VAG COM scan on it last night and pulled the following codes:

3 Faults Found:

17865 - Exhaust Gas Temp Sensor 2 (G236)
P1457 - 001 - Open or Short to Plus - Intermittent
16840 - EVAP System
P0456 - 002 - Very Small Leak Detected - Intermittent
19497 - Powertrain Databus
P3041 - 004 - Implausible Engine Temp. Message from Inst. Panel - Intermittent

I'm assuming I should try the re-solder fix for the EGT, and I'll probably just keep an eye on the other two unless you guys think I should take action sooner.

Gregg

[kruat]

EVAP fault is probably the N80 valve. Very common problem. The value is located on the passenger side shock tower, right either behind or above the ac condenser.

[kruat]

So seems to me we have enough interest in a GTG. Anyone have any ideas?

[DHall1]

Buy that euro plate bracket that fits in the tow hook hole.

[hahnmgh63]

I removed my front plate north of your border here in Washington and I've only been pulled over maybe twice in the last 10yrs and only given warnings....which I still haven't followed. I know Seattle is bad and some cities which I've already sworn to keep my Seattle travels to a minimum due to Politics, etc... (except for German Beer pub get togethers of course).

[kruat]

Ya, I also don't run a plate on my S4, haven't since I bought it in 06. Only been pulled over once, got a warning. Come to think of it, I don't even have a plate on the front of my truck, never been pulled over for it.

[GreggPDX]

This is where I work:

http://www.katu.com/news/investigators/Pulled-over-in-Beaverton-City-heavy-handed-with-traffic-citations-211879491.html

and I have been ticketed here for no front plate in the past. It's a "fix-it" ticket, so not a big deal, just an annoying waste of time.

[GreggPDX]

Jut wanted to share some of my initial experiences with this car. First, I am getting a lot more attention on the road now! Including some "thumbs-up" passes on the highway. You all are probably used to this stuff, but I'm really getting a kick out of. I'm finding there are two types of people out there: "that's a pretty red car" people and "holy shit, that's an RS6!" people.

I also stopped by a local speed shop to pick up some rotors, and the guy came out and took pictures of my car. They had a Gallardo and an R8 out front, so it felt pretty good that the RS6 was getting the attention.

Finally, I did a "Ferrari driving experience" last Friday where they let you take an F430 out on an autocross course for some laps. It was a kick to drive the Ferrari, but they also let me take the RS6 out, and I was really impressed with how it did! The RS6 is obviously not designed for autocross, but it certainly held it's own and in some ways was more fun than the Ferrari. Mainly because I was not as scared to fling it around! I was impressed with the brakes, and the way the car would rocket out of corners once I got the courage to floor it just after the apex. The car still wanted to plow a bit if I didn't manage the corner right, but AWD+turbo really makes for some good fun!

Anyway, bottom line is I'm loving this car more everyday!

[lswing]

^^^Nice, glad it's going well! Sounds about right on all accounts there. I'm still amused at the occasional Audi fanatic waving and honking at the car with a thumbs up.

[Chung]

I was in Portland in July and was stopped in traffic going from i84 east to 205n. All of the sudden a pickup pulls up next to me in the shoulder all to stop and say "nice ride." It is a car no one notices until someone really notices.

[nistah]

I was in Portland in July and was stopped in traffic going from i84 east to 205n. All of the sudden a pickup pulls up next to me in the shoulder all to stop and say "nice ride." It is a car no one notices until someone really notices.


One Friday someone asked me if my car was an RS6 and told me it was a unicorn:addict: