The first ever Audi A6 (which was called the Audi 100 before the name change) was a reasonably popular car in its day. It went up against the E34 5-Series and W124 E-Class, which were both still a little boxy and outdated in terms of design at the time.
That particular generation of A6 was referred to internally as the Typ 4A or the ‘C4’ generation. Compared to the E34 and W124, the C4 looks like a much newer car. It has got a more refined design, with swoopier curves and cleaner lines. None of the hard angles or the ‘80s.
Today, a short search on mudah.my will show that most of the Audi A6 (C4) cars on sale have either the 2.0-litre in-line four or the 2.6-litre V6 engines. A few are 2.8-litre V6 engines, but these are much more expensive in terms of road tax and their double-overhead-cam design will be a lot more expensive to overhaul.
Plus in the 2.8-litre engine, you have 5 valves per cylinder, which is fine until you need to get your mechanic to grind it all down. All engines in Malaysia are mated to 4-speed automatic transmissions as far as we can tell.
The best part? Most of the cars are priced under RM10,000. In fact, a perfectly clean 2-litre A6 can be bought for anything between RM5500-8000!
Think about it. You could spend the next 5-9 years paying your bank back for a RM80,000 loan on a new budget sedan. OR you could spend RM6000 on a beautiful Audi A6, spend another RM10,000 over the course of a year doing it up, and you’ll have something that was built to last, looks prestigious, and drives great on the highway.
A car as simple and straight-forward as the 2-litre A6 (C4) shouldn’t be much of a headache to look after. Interior parts and exterior panels will be your biggest problem, so make sure the car you buy is dent free and perfectly kept from the get go. Mechanically, a lot of parts are shared with Volkswagens of that era.
So the next time you think about upgrading, why not try the old German sedan rout?
