Cost of Ownership!

[MaxRS6]

I've had it!!!! It is a warm balmy 36F here at the moment.

I just threw the clubs in the trunk and I'm headed to the course to knock the little ball. I've photoshopped some of your pugs onto the balls, so I'm expecting to get some real club head speed on the ball.Good news is that no blue hairs will be in the way- However; I may be playing with blue balls ;0

[uncfrk]

It's warming up here too. 9 degrees from -3 this morning

[RS6-4dr911]

Someone please KILL this thread! Like someone said above, this is residual value kryptonite. If I had seen this before I bought mine, I surely would have gone in a different direction - as will most sane future buyers. I know that misery loves company and that it is fun for some of us to revel in our financial misery, but come on......

Anecdotal evidence, but have you seen how many RS6s are for sale right now, and have you seen the prices since this thread was started? Surely I am not alone in wanting my car not to have it's value destoryed..............

Mine included RNS-E and bluetooth ($2500) and interest on payments. Subtract those and you're down to about $900/mo for maintenance and depreciation. That's less than the 993 I owned for 1 yr (in 1999) and about the same as I spent on a 4 yr old 1991 M5 for 2-3 years. Neither had anywhere near the performance of the RS6. Count me happy.

[uncfrk]

Adding a lift to your garage is very easily done, but you must first check the type of concrete used for the floor.
The lifts require the higher strength concrete at a certain thickness for the slab. You can get around using the thicker slab and more expensive concrete if you poor footings at the sites for the lift installation points.

I looked into this back in about 2000 when we built our house. I had the thicker slab put in but did not end up staying in that town.

The issue is liability should the lift fall over due to collapse of the slab. If you have seen how garages are built you'll note that the back fill the area of the floor after pouring the cement walls for the foundation of the garage. That backfilling SETTLES and can create a void right where you mount the floor plate for the lift. If that happens and you have a 4000 lb car on the lift it can break the floor and the lift will fall.

Mike

I'm sure we want good support under the hoist, but I've not heard of any problems with collapsing floors around here. I always made sure that we drilled through the concrete to make sure it was substantially thick. Also, you want to do that so if the hoist is moved, you can drive the studs down below flush and fill the holes without pulling them up. I can't imagine one side of a properly installed hoist collapsing with a 13" x 18" (234 sq inches) base with 6 studs holding it down. One front corner of my F250 weighs nearly 2,500 lbs. with only a 8" x 8" (64 sq inches) surface patch on the floor, three and a half times more surface pressure than a hoist with an RS6 on it. I've never worried about it dropping through the floor. I would recommend a 20" x 24" 1/4" steel plate under the hoist's footings to double your area if you are uncomfortable with the integrity of the floor. I believe the going price for a professional installation is about $400.

[peiserg]

well i only had about $3000+ in non warrantied maintenance beyond my purchase price.. most of which was my 35k mile service. thats about $100/month!

dont forget.. i spent a lot on a warranty, and a lot on mods... $21,000 between just those two items, which severely skews my overall monthly cost, especially over a mere 32 months!

[kismetcapitan]

I'm taking a different route, and one that will become more common. I sought out the best example I could find with as low mileage as possible *after* the 75K service, with as many mods that I was going to install anyways already done. My car came in at $22K cash, private party sale, and I think, other than it being immaculate, the Level 10 mod having been done was a big factor for me (along with the requisite ECU/TCU reflashes). One month of ownership, about 2000 miles done (two big road trips), lots of V-Power consumed, $90 for insurance for the month, $200 for iPod wiring, $600 to get the DRC "high rear" syndrome and Hotchkis roll bars purchased and installed - the car will be expensive as I complete my modification list over the next few months.

Then we'll see if my cost of ownership compares favorably or not with my new car option - to buy a brand new Nissan GT-R. I'm fairly certain that the depreciation hit alone on that car will be more than I spend on maintenance for the RS6.

That being said, for the fiscally minded, this isn't really a car to consider. I got this car because I wanted this car, and if it cost $50K used these days, I'd have paid that much (I missed that 6K garage queen RS6 that went for $42K due to being overseas and not being able to move cash fast enough - by the time I had, the car was gone).

But it does make sense to get the most bang for your buck, and I think I found my equation. A fair amount depends on the depreciation in the next 50,000 miles, but I didn't buy this car to resell. It's a different mindset.

[Turbowned]

I hate to bring this oh-so-scary thread up from the dead, but have any of you *gulp* not purchased a warranty and can share associated costs with that? Potentally looking to buy an RS 6. I will do my own maintenance/service but it's those unscheduled repairs that scare the willies out of me. I don't think you can even get a warranty given the age of the car now?

I'm wondering how big of an "oh-sh*t" fund I should keep on the side. Gas mileage is the same as my WRX STi. Insurance shouldn't be much worse. Car can be had for $18-30k so buy-in is more than reasonable for a car of this caliber, and at 10yrs of age it's no longer en vogue so I think it's hit the low point of depreciation (or at least we can only hope). Doing it all with a just-barely-under-six-figure salary and two other cars in the garage is the question. I'm accustomed to dumping all my money into my cars, so long as all my money is enough!

[lswing]

My previous car was a WRX wagon tuned, close to 300hp, but no sti. Fairly reliable, and not too bad to fix. RS6 is an amazingly powerful luxury sedan when tuned, but costs can be scary...

Leaking radiator, $2k...

Steering rack, $3k...

O2/EGT sensors, $2k...

Trans, $7k...

That was over the last few years, car has been great this year. It's almost a restoration project as it's 10 years old now. Big thing I didn't know before buying was how many repairs require an engine pull and drive up the price.

Advice...find one that's sorted and fixed and cared for...make sure you know a good mechanic...have $5-10k around at all times.

[DHall1]

I have service contracts on both my RS6s. One has been perfect from day one and the other blown trans at 40k. I think its the early/late vin situation on the trans.

That said, you can still buy a service contract if you find a low mileage example. Say 50k miles.

Do it! But find the lowest mileage example you can afford and make damn sure its 100% stock on the driveline. Oh and find a late vin say later than 905500 Sept/03 or later build and the trans will be good to go. STI is fun but still a tin can. RS6 is a real car.

I hate to bring this oh-so-scary thread up from the dead, but have any of you *gulp* not purchased a warranty and can share associated costs with that? Potentally looking to buy an RS 6. I will do my own maintenance/service but it's those unscheduled repairs that scare the willies out of me. I don't think you can even get a warranty given the age of the car now?

I'm wondering how big of an "oh-sh*t" fund I should keep on the side. Gas mileage is the same as my WRX STi. Insurance shouldn't be much worse. Car can be had for $18-30k so buy-in is more than reasonable for a car of this caliber, and at 10yrs of age it's no longer en vogue so I think it's hit the low point of depreciation (or at least we can only hope). Doing it all with a just-barely-under-six-figure salary and two other cars in the garage is the question. I'm accustomed to dumping all my money into my cars, so long as all my money is enough!

[mmaturo]

What DHall said. Transmission fund. Read up on symptoms. Test drive any RS6 carefully after you do read up. RS6s without a transmission failure in my opinion are the exception. Owned one under 6 years of warranty. 5 torque converters and 4 transmissions...I traded it in at 86K with early symptoms for a 5th. Of 8 fellow RS6 owners I know personally only one still has the originally transmission. He rarely uses it and even more rarely drives it hard. Fantastic car. I miss it but glad I can replace it finally.

[MORS6]

I got mine with 68,xxx miles. Stock and allegedly problem free. Within 300 miles the dreaded cel for TC was thrown. I spent $450 on a rebuilt TC with ACE and spent New Years day and $2,xxx with Gabor aka TOZO. He also took care of the O2 sensors then for about $300 from amazon. For the last 50,000 plus miles I've had a Eurocharged tune with mtm transmission chip. I had EBC red brake pads ($225) put on the existing rotors and paid for one timing belt change. Kit was around $400 from a member here and my local guy charged $500 for the labor. I went through a set of continental extreme dws tires at about $1000 mounted. That is about it.
Summary:
$3000 torque converter and O2 sensors
$1000 tires
$900 timing belt service
$1000 Eurocharged & MTM tunes
$550 for 5 oil changes
$325 brake pads with labor
$149 alignment
$281 replace all upper arms
$60 Quantum Blue atf from member
$19 Hazard/Blinker flasher (ebay)
$7 wiper blades
The above covers 3 years and 55000 miles.

SO to answer your question. I didn't have a warranty. My only unscheduled repairs were less than $3000 for the TC repair and O2 sensors. $281 to replace all upper arms and I also spent $19 to replace the hazard flasher myself. Bought with 68,xxx miles and am at 123,xxx and counting.
Would I do it again? Heck ya! Would I do it if I didn't know a local mechanic that worked cheap and did great work? Heck no! - Even though I've only needed him for the timing belt, brakes, and upper arms I wouldn't own any Audi if I had to go to the local dealership for service.

Would I give my mechanic a lung or kidney, if he needed it, to stay alive? If it keeps him repairing Audis, so I could keep my RS6 - Yes again.

[lswing]

Would I do it if I didn't know a local mechanic that worked cheap and did great work? Heck no!

This....saved me $5-10k....

[ttboost]

If you can do your own work and you find a car that has been maintained, you will be fine. If you find a manual one, you will be even better off, because 95% of the trouble you will have will be trans & TC related. Not "if"...but "when". IMO, anything other than trans or TC is an "easy" fix. Mine also has the SAI and EGT deleted, which is another source of nuisance CELS...sometimes putting you in limp mode. I also have Vagcom and the cable, another MUST HAVE if you own this car.I
f it wasn't for the manual swap, I wouldn't have spent squat on my car in 3 years. And by squat, I mean less than $1000...It needs a tires and a trans mount now, but only because I am being lazy and cheap...

[905084]

If you're 18....get Subaru Impreza....(what I got my daughter).....when your 28....get a Subaru WRX......when you're 38......get a WRX STI.....when you grow up....48....get an RS6...

[DHall1]

My first RS6 at 45 then next at 50. Now I have two to burn as I wait to see what Audi brings over next.

If you're 18....get Subaru Impreza....(what I got my daughter).....when your 28....get a Subaru WRX......when you're 38......get a WRX STI.....when you grow up....48....get an RS6...

[lswing]

If you're 18....get Subaru Impreza....(what I got my daughter).....when your 28....get a Subaru WRX......when you're 38......get a WRX STI.....when you grow up....48....get an RS6...

I opted for the RS6 at 38...but I basically agree...first car was a 91 civic sold at 290,000 miles, good little car.

[905084]

My first RS6 at 45 then next at 50. Now I have two to burn as I wait to see what Audi brings over next.

My wife saw the new RS....she said "hey, we can have that in 10 years!" wish I could afford all the new Panamera Turbos and Teslas I've seen around here....but for now I'll settle for being able to play with them on middle class salary )

[DHall1]

Get rid of the big mortgage and high property taxes and its amazing what you can afford. Been there and done that...now we are making another move to trim even more overhead, more/zero mortgage, more property tax and most importantly 0 state income tax.

Got my eye on the new S6 sedan when I turn in my dd #3 RS6 in a few years.

The middle class is a trap to break our wallets. We are the ones that pay for everything. Well I'm done paying for the hind tit wankers. Bring on Obamacare.

My wife saw the new RS....she said "hey, we can have that in 10 years!" wish I could afford all the new Panamera Turbos and Teslas I've seen around here....but for now I'll settle for being able to play with them on middle class salary )