No warranty - What should I be worried about?

[cjargo]

Your solution to save money maybe worse than your problem in the big picture. I have yet to hear a RS6 owner regret having bought a warranty. One year into my 48K / 4 year / $4300.00 warranty with zero deductible, it has paid for itself. Aside from regular maintenance, it covers everything, even the timing belt. I purchased the car with 48K pampered miles with impeccable maintenance records, and currently it has 55K miles on the clock. Unfortunately there will always be big ticket items in the mail for any RS6 owner. My 2 cents says "Pull the trigger", and know there will be the day you will high 5 yourself for buying a warranty. Cheers.

[eanders]

Your solution to save money maybe worse than your problem in the big picture. I have yet to hear a RS6 owner regret having bought a warranty. One year into my 48K / 4 year / $4300.00 warranty with zero deductible, it has paid for itself. Aside from regular maintenance, it covers everything, even the timing belt. I purchased the car with 48K pampered miles with impeccable maintenance records, and currently it has 55K miles on the clock. Unfortunately there will always be big ticket items in the mail for any RS6 owner. My 2 cents says "Pull the trigger", and know there will be the day you will high 5 yourself for buying a warranty. Cheers.

I've seen the light and finally found a warranty I'm comfortable with. Am either going Fidelity or Continental Casualty Company through CNA.

[G2]

Items over-looked are likely to to be expensive repairs, irrespective of what a dealer or Audi specifies for service "needs".

My first concern being a new RS6 owner was to change the fluids, even at 72K miles, but nearly 9 years. The "lifetime" drivetrain fluids are not adequate by my standards, ESPECIALLY for a a vehicle that is so torque rich (which will shear down oil that much faster).

Once drained the fluids reaffirmed my concerns: old, discolored, bad smelling, contaminated, and thinned out (looking gear lubes) and very dark/black ATF fluid.

In went 85-140 Amsoil Severe Gear lube in all 3 differentials and Amsoil ATF fluid (full flush, NOT a drain and fill service). I felt that the OE spec 75-90 gear oil to be inadequate for my vehicle, it's use, and the local climate (rarely freezes). I also had 75-110 Amsoil on hand for the front diff. but since it has a hot turbo mounted above it and doesn't get much air flow, opted for the thicker oil (when it's hot; same "cold" viscosity).

I would only use the OE grade gear lube if changed every 1-2 years, the car was stock HP/TQ, not driven hard and not in a hot climate, or was a very low mileage example with a known service and owner history (read: single owner that can attest to how it's been used).

The power steering is next: fluid flush. Want to keep the fluid fresh both for better viscosity stability and prevent acidity levels from elevating that will attack rubber parts and seals-- which causes leaks.

To make up for lost time will change the drivetrain fluids in a year, then extend the drain interval to 2-3 years. This will keep the oil in viscosity range and provide ideal rust protection.

Fluid samples were taken and will be sent into for UOA. I know it won't be pretty, but want hard scientific data for a starting point. More to follow in the future.

From my experience nearly all mechanical failures or problems are due to poor lubrication. Seems these cars need and use a lot of lubes and overall it's cheap insurance to frequently change them.

I get my lubes at www.oiloregon.com

I've also noticed on newer trucks the OEM's are recommending (mandating?) gear oil replacement at very low miles due to break-in. I can verify this on a new 2011 Mustang GT that had the R&P changed. In 1K miles the oil had metal flakes in it (Royal Purple lube partly to blame??) using a Ford gear kit (read: OEM quality).

Naturally there are other services and maintenance needed besides lubes, but are so often over looked.

From one new RS6 owner to another, congrats on the new purchase.

[eanders]

1uglymug... my learnings / response is that you should be worried about getting a warranty if you're like me and can't fix the car yourself.

My two cents from a 3-week long search for the right warranty is summarized below:
1. Beware of sub-par companies, and most are. Even if the contract looks good the question becomes will they pay and how long will they take - lots of horror stories out there. After too many hours of research and almost a bad decision I narrowed it down to Easy Care and Fidelity (written under lots of names... believe Costco's is the same carrier). Easy Care has a great reputation, but they were very expensive.
2. Audi stealers will indeed write vehicles that were not purchased from them... I got some bad information in this regard, but as it turns out, Audi was my best bet... they have the most to lose by selling a bad product.
3. The Audi stealers have room to move on the price... shopped a couple dealers and saved about $500... was still expensive, though.

[G2]

My wife, having worked in the banking industry and able to sell car warranties, was instrumental is getting us great deals on warranties thru the various dealerships we've bought vehicles from.

Because she could buy at wholesale, would just hardline the dealer and get it for wholesale. Granted they wouldn't make much, it saved us the hassle of paying up front for the warranty afterwords. In some cases the warranty was better priced and covered niche vehicles that otherwise would couldn't get covered.

Use this information as you feel fit to negotiate down what would otherwise be an expensive or overpriced warranty product. In short there's no reason to pay much more than about 50% of the full "normal" price.

[1uglymug]

I am seeing the light as well. Thank you for all your replies! I will talk to a few dealerships this week. Will keep you posted. eanders, did you have to take your car into the dealership for inspection? Where did you end up going? There is only one Audi dealer here in Columbus. We might need to compare notes since you are not far from me.

[eanders]

I am seeing the light as well. Thank you for all your replies! I will talk to a few dealerships this week. Will keep you posted. eanders, did you have to take your car into the dealership for inspection? Where did you end up going? There is only one Audi dealer here in Columbus. We might need to compare notes since you are not far from me.

I actually started with Byers Audi in Columbus. They offered me a lower price than I was seeing up here in Cleveland. Byers wanted to see the car for a complete inspection. I called one of the Audi dealers in Cleveland and was able to get their price down a bit from Byers (not much, though), although they started much higher than Byers. This Audi dealer only did a cursory review of the car - drove it, looked at the engine, that was about it. I was expecting a 200 point inspection, but it was not that at all. I suspect some dealers may dig deeper into the vehicle - could be a good source of immediate service revenue and / or exclusions for Fidelity. Ping me to compare even more detailed notes. I will say I am driving the car with much more relief now.