5th Sep 2008, 12:08

Re: the front bumper covers coming off on those parking-lot curbs: I have a 2000 A6 Avant and have noticed that the bumper is too low to clear the curb. I noticed it once, and I am careful now not to try to park so close. My 1974 Jaguar E-type roadster's air scoop had to be fixed countless times for the same problem, and I finally figured out I shouldn't drive up so close to the curbs. Can't really blame the manufacturers...

6th Jan 2009, 20:48

I have a 2000 Audi A6 Avant, and like so many, ripped off the bumper cover while coming off a driveway that all other cars negotiate without incident. There was a 6 inch drop to street level over a 3 foot run so the slope was mild.

None of us like frivolous lawsuits, but where must the line be drawn? What if a bit of friction on the underside of a car (going at sub walking speed) ripped off the entire body of the car? Could we then demand that the design be changed, or repairs be paid for, or even a simple "heads up" be given? The overwhelming majority of lawsuits are between businesses, not due to private individuals. Shoddy workmanship should not be given a pass, simply because, within that small minority of private lawsuits there is a still smaller subgroup of frivolous lawsuits.

Arguments that "it did not happen to my Audi" have as much merit as arguments that Audi's are bad because "my Toyota's PART X lasted longer than your Audi's PART X". Something I've heard, in variation, from quite a few folks. A design is not poor when 100% fail, but rather an unacceptable percentage fail.

I'm a Physicist and if I did such shoddy design work I would deserve a kick in the head. We may no longer make use of fisticuffs to solve such matters, but we do have recourse to a legal system.

Having said that, I would have been entirely happy with a "heads up" when I bought the car, with then zero desire to pursue any legalities. I think most all Audi owners would have left it at that.

21st Jan 2009, 04:30

Hi Everyone.

I can't say I have had the same problems with the bumper on my Audi A6 2.4, after hitting a speed bump relatively hard and suffering no damage except some nasty scratches on the belly pan, can't really complain.

However I am having a few problems when reversing and turning the steering fully to the left, I hear a loud metal on metal scraping side coming from the passenger side front wheel well, I have had new pads fitted, skimmed the rotors and no one can seem to find where the noise coming from. If I press the brake slightly, the noise goes away. I have also replaced both CV Joints already. After all of this, the noise is there!!!

The second thing I'm having a problem with is if the car stands outside overnight, when I start it the next morning the instrument panel looks like a disco turning on and off again continuously. This continues to happen while driving, and then eventually slowly stops until everything returns to normal. It is also when it rains very bad, sometimes even completely turning off, and also after this I can no longer change gears. I have to turn the car off and on again. I have had the car at many auto electrical places and paid large sums of money, only to be told they have found no faults, but did reseal everything... After 4 months and 3 mechanics I continue to have this problem.

I have had the vehicle on the diagnostics machine twice, and found only one issue with a faulty lambda sensor, which was replaced.

12th Aug 2009, 16:51

In regards to the front bumper problem on Audis...

I have to ask...

Why do you drive over the curbs knowing full well that the front on the car (bumper) is lower than the curb you are hitting?

If there was a tree laying in the road would you drive over it?

If you can't hit the brakes before hitting the curb, maybe you should think about another form of transportation? Bike maybe?

5th May 2010, 23:55

I am thinking of buying a used Audi 2000 A6 for fun... why not. It is fancy luxury car with a powerful engine and some nice accessories.

After researching the various model and reading comments made by few, I find it strange that some of you are unable to prevent such incident to occur (running over sidewalk or cement curb). I have been driving other brand of cars for the past 20 years and never did such a thing. The car cannot substitute itself to the driver, and the price paid for a car is not guarantee that his pilot has the competency required to drive it. Unfortunately I must admit that there are more negative statements made than good ones, so maybe it would be not be such a wise move after all...

20th May 2010, 20:27

I am looking at buying a 2001 A6 Avant. I have read these comments with interest and was mainly concerned with the handling, and whether they were reliable or not. One thing I have to ask is, whether the people that drove into the kerbs/gutters to park thought about reversing into them?

5th Dec 2010, 18:27

I just recently bought a 2000 A6 4.2 in Phoenix and drove it to Salt Lake City. All in all, a wonderful car to drive 700 miles. The only thing mentioned to me as wrong with the car were the right side power mirror didn't work, the driver's window didn't always go up without help, and the front bumper valance. The first 2 took 15 minutes to fix, however the bumper cover is a different story.

I think the final straw for the gentleman that sold it to me, was parking the car and getting the tires within 4 inches of the parking stop, then backing up and tearing the bumper cover. At least it didn't come all the way off.

Poor design in my opinion, as I have never had this happen with any other car. The penalty for pulling 6 inches too far into a parking space shouldn't be $1000 repair.

Glad I found this site, so don't fix it and blow $1000 because I didn't know. Thanks.

20th Oct 2012, 21:50

Well, I just pulled the bumper off my 2000 A6 Avant, in exactly the same manner everyone else reported: on a concrete parking curb. $1,600 damage. I'm on this page because my insurance adjuster told me it's not uncommon on this car, and that Audi has sponsored a recall because of it. Anyone know if this is true?