Intro And Straight Into The First Question

[robert_t]

Hi all
Just wanted to do the decent thing and introduce myself - robert_t, based in switzerland. I drive a 1998 A6 Avant 2.8 Quattro and am thinking about whether to move on or not. To help me make my decision I am looking for some information about running costs - how much I can expect to have to spend on this car in the coming year or so...

Current situation:
The car has covered 175,000 km (a little high for it's age).
All services have been carried out on time.
"Zahnriemen" - I think this is cam belt in english - has been replaced, brakes were done last November and the engine runs very nicely.
Most of the km have been driven on motorways so the engine runs cleanly.
The car has a 4-speed Automatic (Tiptronic) gearbox.

OK, anybody have any figures or ideas re. running costs and likelihood of things going wrong? Can I expect the gearbox to fall out next year? Will the diffs start playing up or the four-wheel drive start complaining?

Grateful for any feedback!
TIA
Robert_t

[cheesemax]

Hi and welcome to the group.
One thing you can probably count on is one or more of the wheel bearings will need replacing in the near future. I recently did a rear bearing on my A4 and the bill was only about CAD$200, so not too painful.

Cheers.