Buying guide · 2006–2011 · 5.2 V10 FSI
Audi S6 C6
Everything that decides whether the one you are looking at is a good buy or an expensive one.
21-page guide, A4 and phone · 4-page inspection card · instant PDF · VAT included
In the guide
What the Audi S6 C6 guide covers
- 01Every fault this engine has, and how much work it is
- 02The four timing chains at the back of the engine, why that one word decides the price, and the first seconds of a cold start that give them away
- 03The five places water and corrosion get in, and the one of them that costs real money
- 04What is simply fifteen years old — and can be left alone
- 05The inspection card: the whole viewing on paper, in order, to take with you
- 06What to say to the seller, and what to keep to yourself
From the guide itself
This is how it reads
This is what one of the eleven looks likeLast Real Engines
6 · Discs and pads
Half a day · expensive part, easy access
These are S6 sizes and there is less choice than on a normal A6. Good alternatives to the factory discs exist, but cheap it will not be. How you notice it: a lip around the edge of the disc, scoring, and thickness measured on the lift rather than guessed through the wheel.
Expect it within a year or two even if it just about passes now.
And this is how the card readsLast Real Engines
- 1 · The cold start · stand at the gearbox end, and do nothing else
- 2 · Ten cylinders, cold
- 3 · The boot · before anything cosmetic
- 4 · Round the outside
- 5 · Inside, ignition on
- 6 · The test drive · two things it must include
What €24 buys, put next to what it saves
A chain job on this engine is a week or more in the workshop, and the parts are a small fraction of it. The guide is €24. It will not stop any of that from being needed — but it does tell you which of them you are looking at before you agree a price, and that is the whole of the difference between paying for a car and paying for someone else's postponed maintenance.
VAT included · sold by Lemon Squeezy as merchant of record · questions first? buyersguide@lastrealengines.com
Start with the free guide
The six questions that decide whether this car is a good buy
- The timing chains, and specifically the tensioners.
- The camshaft adjusters.
- How much oil it uses — and what the owner thinks is normal.
- The ten ignition coils, and why the test drive is not enough.
- Which suspension it actually has.
- What has already been paid for.
Start with the free guide: what this car is, and the questions that decide whether the one you are looking at is a good buy or an expensive one.
Before you buy
Questions
What exactly do I get?
The full guide as a PDF, 21 pages in A4, plus a phone edition to read at the car; and the inspection card, 4 pages to print and take to the viewing. €24, VAT included.
How is it delivered?
Straight after payment you get a download link for the guide, the phone edition and the card. No subscription, no account.
Can I get a refund?
EU consumer law gives you fourteen days to change your mind. For digital content that right ends the moment delivery starts, provided you agreed to that at the checkout. If the file will not open, or you were sent the wrong car, write to us and we will fix it or refund it.
Who handles the payment?
Lemon Squeezy, who sell the guide to you as merchant of record. They charge the VAT at the rate of your country, send the invoice, and email you the download link. We never see your card.
Why are there no prices in it?
Because a price we cannot verify is worse than no price, and because a price would be wrong for most of the people reading it: workshop rates across Europe differ by a factor of two or three. What does not change is how much work a job is, so every point says whether it is an hour, half a day, a day, or a week in the workshop. Ask your own workshop for its hourly rate, and every hour in the guide becomes your own number.
Is this advice about a specific car?
No. A guide tells you what to look at; it is general information about the model and not advice about a specific car. Have every car inspected before you buy by someone who knows the engine.
Going to look at a Audi S6 C6?
Take the guide and the card with you.
21-page guide, A4 and phone · 4-page inspection card · instant PDF · VAT included