Upgraded to the new Audi A6 from my Octavia 1.8 TSI: 7 pros & 4 cons

Ride quality is excellent, and the car just absorbs anything and everything thrown at it.

BHPian sawnilerules recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

The Itch

2016 was the year, when I had upgraded my rides to Hyundai Grand i10 Asta (O), from Hyundai i10 Sportz, and Skoda Octavia Tsi from Honda City. And both the cars were doing fantastically well, apart from the Octavia having random part failures, which were handled well by the team at Skoda.

Come 2022, a new role with a new organization came my way, and with that, came an option of buying a car on company lease. Initial thoughts were to sell of the Grand i10 and buy a new car, however, considering there was no option of adjusting the sale proceeds against the new car on lease, we dropped that plan and continued to hold on to the Grand i10. Another reason of holding on was, we had shortlisted on the Volkswagen Taigun GT Plus and I firmly believed, we needed to have at least one reliable car in the family. Thus, by March of 2022, third car was added to our garage- VW Taigun GT Plus

Fast forward June 2022, Mercedes Benz showcased the all-new C Class, and we were truly blown away with the car, the car looked smashing (in photos) and the C300D variant, made the car look hotter. Octavia was doing just fine, but at the back of my mind, I knew that the warranty of the car would be expiring by December. Thus, there was an inherent itch to replace the Octavia.

So, armed with a cheque book in hand, we darted to the Mercedes Benz dealership (Landmark Mercedes, Thane), to see the C300D (just in case if we like the car, we didn’t want to miss the boat). On display was the C220D, cavansite blue with beige interiors and the car looked fabulous to say the least.

Convinced with the fact that the C300D was a perfect upgrade from Octavia, we booked the car with promised delivery around Diwali of 2022. However, I requested the dealer team to give me a call when they have a C300D, so that I can check out the car in person too, before finalizing and making the balance payments. Below were my parameters for choosing the car-

• Engine & Gearbox- 1.8 Tsi to 2.0 Diesel, 7 Speed DSG to 9 Speed G-Tronic
• Power & Torque- 180/250 to 256/600
• Audio- Skoda Audio to Burmeister
• Comfort & Convenience- Host of features over Octavia.
• Safety- Laundry list of Active as well as Passive Safety Features

In the month of August, I got a call from the dealer, that they have received the first C300D a customer allotted car, and they have the car in the dealership, should I wish to have a look at the car, I can come down to the dealership. We went to the dealership and there she was, in flesh the C300D looked more beautiful and sexier if I can say so. Well, it was once again love at the first site.

But as we saw the car we realized, 2 major problems with the car- low ground clearance and that leading to much lower ingress and egress. Also, this time as we spent more time with the car and realized that lower ground clearance means, limited use case on highways with broken roads as well as limited usage to wander off on unknown territories. Secondly, the spare wheel, did use up considerable boot space. We came back home with two minds, should we continue with the car or should we drop the car.

Home minister then suggested, why not scout for other cars in the market, so that is how we parked the thoughts of C300D momentarily and started to look out for other cars. The C300D was going to have a lot of influence on what we chose next. First shop that we visited was BMW.

The 3 GL

We visited Navnit BMW in Malad to check out the 3 GL. First impressions, the car looks aggressive even while stand still and the interiors were well appointed as well, of course the car did not have the Jazz/Opulence of the C Class, but well, it’s a BWM after all, it has to look sporty. What disappointed me the most was the absence of rear seat blinds, common BMW, I cannot be buying a car worth 70 odd lacs and not have blinds. This was a glaring omission, especially the car was being sold as a back seat car. The overall experience at the dealership was pleasing and the SA was knowledgeable, to say the least.

The Audi A4

Audi had just updated the A4 with B&O setup along with sporty flat bottom steering wheel and a new red color. The car on display at Audi South was the car in silver color. Considering my office is in Lower Parel, I chose to drive down to Audi South dealership to check out the car. Just like any other Audi, the A4 had clean lines, and was more business-like, rather than being flashy or sporty. The fit and finish was exemplary, and the virtual cockpit looked modern and sharp. However, the car was considerably down on space as compared to Octavia and did not feel like a worthy upgrade.

The Volvo S60

The Volvo dealership in Mumbai, had last 2 units of the S60 available with them for sale. Both the cars were white in color and considering the cars were 4 months old, they were offering good discounts as well. We casually went to check out the S60, while the build quality was splendid, but all black interiors made the car look claustrophobic. The home minister too, didn’t approve of the car.

So now with all the cars checked, we were not very convinced with anything in the market and as I mentioned earlier, the C300D was constantly playing in our mind, as Mercedes had upped the ante in the segment and how.

But considering, road trips are a big part of our lives, while the C Class ticked all the boxes, we still officially cancelled the booking in September. But the itch to buy a new car, still remained.

Fast forward 2023, discussions around new car picked up momentum at home and we were again out there scouting for options. Albeit this time we decided to go one segment above. So once again, our trips to dealerships started, starting with BMW first. We called up the SA at Navnit BMW to check on the 5 Series, however to our disappointment with 530D discontinued and 530i out of stock, the only option left was 520D. We weren’t keen on the 520D, so we didn’t bother going to BMW dealership.

Next stop was Mercedes.

The E Class

I must say, the E Class, is a segment leader for a reason. The amount of space on offer is tremendous. However, both the petrol as well as diesel felt under-powered. Not that 0 to 100 dash matters to me, however I associate more power with better efficiency due to better power to weight ratio and thus translating into better NVH and less effort to pull the car leading to better efficiency. While the home minister loved the E Class, all because it was a Mercedes, but I was not quite sure, whether I needed that kind of rear space, as mostly, the car would be self-driven, with limited or no use of rear space. But the E Class is current shape is a looker for sure.

Considering, we were in Andheri itself, we decided to drop by to Audi West dealership to check out the Audi A6.

The Audi A6

While the car was definitely not as spacious as the Mercedes, but the built quality of the car spoke a lot about the superlative quality that Audi was offering. We checked the car, went on a short drive and the 245 horses mapped to a fast-changing gearbox clicked immediately. The price offered for Daman Registration was mouthwatering. For 63 lacs all inclusive (5 years warranty & 4 services), it felt the best buck for money. The only hitch was absence of Audi’s much famed Matrix Lights. However, the SA was smart enough to convince me that the headlights without the Matrix functionality also perform well. We took few days to think and after conversation with few motorheads we bite into the decision to book the A6- Chronos Grey with Beige Interiors. We paid 2 lacs as booking amount and considering the car was in stock, we were to take the delivery on the Gudi Padwa day. We got into loan processing and while that was happening, casually my home minister asked me to get the car for a test drive towards late evening to check the ambient lights in the car.

The SA happily obliged to my ask, and on the Monday evening (9 days to Gudi Padwa), the SA dropped in at our place with the car. We took a longish test drive and when we came back and parked the car, my home minister got out of the car and was looking at the car from front 3/4th quarters and she asked me, “Issme DRL’s nahi hain kya?” I answered honge, I must have switched off the car, to which the SA replied, “No Sir, this car does not come with DRL’s, they were a part of Matrix Lights, and all non-Matrix Light cars, do not have DRL’s as those lights are a direct lift of Premium Plus Model” Even at the rear Audi had done away with LED tail lights and the lights that Audi had given were halogen powered. All this was due to chip shortage in 2023.

We came back home pretty disappointed, and that disappointment aggravated coz my home minister said, “Audi without a DRL is not an Audi at all” I quite agreed to that statement.

The Confusion

Next day, we went to the dealership in a confused state of mind. While we loved the car, but we were not ready to accept that there can be an Audi without DRL’s. We were almost on the verge of cancelling the car, and that moment, a team member from Audi’s Pre-Approved division approached me, who happened to be my friend from old days. It was a bharat milap moment coz we were meeting almost after 10 years. I explained him the situation, to which he responded, that he has just last Saturday picked up a 5600 kms run car, and the car is landing to the dealership today evening, it is an A6, technology pack, with matrix lights, and what it misses is the 360 camera, ionizer and perfume (that was 2023 update from Audi), however the car comes with warranty and it is January 2021 registered & December 2020 model. We thought, no harm in checking out the car, if we were further going to save sum mullah. Evening the car came to the dealership, it was firmament blue with beige interiors. We checked the car, it indeed was in mint condition, we drove around Juhu and other areas of Andheri, and the car literally felt straight out of the plant.

We took the details of the car and had sent it to the Audi India’s service team to check on the service data and other details. Additionally, we got the car physically checked at Audi’s service station to check if everything was in order.

Once we got a go-ahead from all the corners, now we sat with the team for final negotiations. Final price we locked at 48 lacs OTR, which included 4 years additional Audi India warranty, next 2 annual services & first year zero dep insurance. The only problem, the car was earlier registered in another state, however, that did not pose a greater problem, coz I anyways had a lease agreement in that state. We came home without any commitment, and we were on Thursday by the time we go all the data in place (5 days to go for Gudi Padwa).

The Decision

Friday morning, we finally took a call, to bite the bullet and gave a go-ahead to Audi West’s team to switch my booking from Chronos Grey/Beige Interiors to Firmament Blue/Beige Interiors car from Audi Pre-Approved Route.

All this while, the team at Audi West had evaluated my Octavia, and they offered me INR 13 lacs, for a 2016, 54000 kms run, immaculately kept car. So, net-net, the A6 was going to cost me 35 lacs, not bad I thought to myself. With banking formalities done by Monday evening (considering we shifted to a lower loan amount), we said, we will hand over the Octavia on the day of delivery.

Tuesday evening, 1 day to delivery, there were mixed emotions, one an emotion of upgrading to a premium/luxury segment, and two letting go the Octavia. We briefly toyed with the idea of keeping the Octavia as well, but 4 cars in the family, could be an over-kill. So, we had to finally let it go.

The Delivery Day

March 22, 2023, a new year for all the Maharashtrian’s in the house, was the day chosen to take the delivery of the car. Before I jump into the details, I would like to mention few folks from various brands that I interacted for being patient and always a phone call away, while we were deciding.

Swapnil Sawant, from Landmark Mercedes who helped me book and cancel the C300D without any fuss about it, Anthony from KIFS Volvo to take efforts to get the S60 multiple times at my place, Harsh Sachdeva from Audi South during our A4 conversations, Julian Mariadas from Navnit BMW, Aditya Jani, for being my literally to go guy with Audi West, Maurice for being ever transparent.

10:30 we started from home to reach the dealership as we had planned to reach there by 11:30. There were almost 26 deliveries happening that day at Audi West. That was the last time I was going to drive the Octavia. We parked the car at the back entry of the dealership in the by-lanes and entered the dealership to be greeted by Aditya as well as Rohit from Maurice’s team. The dealership team was in traditional attire as well, giving festive vibes to the environment. We settled in and started the process of documentation and other formalities. Once we were through with the formalities, we walked towards the car, she was drapped in red cloth, we did the customary unveiling of the car, followed by the puja and Aditya then sat down with us to explain all the features in details and he helped us create profiles in the car to make it ours. The dealership team took the car out from the showroom, and we took the car from there.

It was almost 1:30 before we set course to home, we bid a final bye to our loved Octavia one last time before heading home. Once back home, the A6 happily took the parking spot of Octavia, I turned back to the car to realize that a new love story is about to start.

Initial Impressions

First week into the ownership, the car was largely used over the weekends and on and off for home to office and office to home runs. Here are few initial views.

Pros

• The space on offer, especially coming from Octavia felt much more and more than enough.
• Excellent built quality and use of high-quality sound deadening materials all around, ensure the outside sound is out.
• 17 speakers Bang & Olufsen speakers are well tuned, and the sound staging is #simplybrilliant.
• 245 horses just pull and pull.
• Ride quality is excellent, and the car just absorbs anything and everything thrown at it.
• Full tank range excess of 800 in city and 1000 on the highways
• Audi virtual display, it is still the bloody best in the business, add to that those soothing ambient lights, they change the ambience of the car as the sun sets in.

Cons

• No DCC, thus rending the driving modes, actually useless. In dynamic mode the car is extremely aggressive with false sense of weight in the steering, without tweaking the suspensions, means you are looking at having a car which is not taut when you want it to be.
• Heavy front bias, means the weight distribution is a disaster, leading to you fighting the car on corners to keep it in the line, even at speeds around 90-100.
• Seats don’t feel from a 75-lac car, especially looking at the seats that competition offer at the similar price bracket. They feel very basic, neither do the seat have thigh extenders.
• Matrix lights a boon as well as bane, depending on where you are driving.

Continue reading BHPian sawnilrule's review for more insights and information.