Had a basic '97 2.4 V6 for a while during 2018/19, absolutely knackered at 170k+ when I bought it for £400. Clearly did its service in life, but just hanging on by the time I needed it for a job. I do a lot of miles and my usually reliable '92 Rover 420 was having a tantrum.

The A6 (c5) is perhaps the ugliest and most emblematic late 90's car you can buy. It's the Steriophonics of cars. It's the flabby tail end of the hype of the 90's, with none of the style of the decades that preceded it.

It is ugly to drive, ugly to look at and ugly to sit in. By the time I got mine twenty years after its release, these feelings of antipathy were surely compounded by the burning smell from the heaters and clear gasket issues that the seeping old V6 was having underneath that illusory plastic engine cowling, though to its credit it wasn't too hard to squeeze some miles out of the engine to at least get me home from my current consignment. Let it rest, top it up with oil and coolant, wipe the sludge from the dipstick and pray it gets me home and to be fair, it did.

When it ran well it was solid on the motorways. It's just ugly as f*** and you can feel that in the handling anywhere else.

The thing has a big high a***, with a big enough engine up front that is completely wasted on how high the rear end of the car sits and it being FWD. Useless, like trying to throw a sack of potatoes around a room and begging fo the sack to say it loves you. It doesn't. It'll just chuck a spud in your face when you get bored to remind you of how boringly present it is. You wish you were in another car.

To conclude, I think these heaps of Audicity will probs all get scrapped and anyone who keeps one on hoping for it to become a classic will be disappointed at the absolute heifer they've lumbered themselves with. It's no fun to f*** when you're not getting f***ed back. And besides, I found it hard enough to gleam any info or parts when I did want to fix that brieff and loveless relationship.



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