2003 Audi RS6 Quattro

Finished in what many consider to be the best colour combination of them all, ‘NY52 FMG’ is a Mugello Blue RS6 Quattro with an off-white leather interior and carbon-fibre trim inserts.

It’s been well maintained over the years too, comes with an advisory-free MoT certificate, and its last major service was carried out in May 2024 by the well-known RS specialists, MRC Tuning. This work was comprehensive – heck, it cost £7,500, so it had every right to be – and included a stage one MRC engine and gearbox tune that raised the power available to around 500bhp, while simultaneously making all of that power and torque more accessible than it was when it left the factory.

We can hear you asking: Why spend so much servicing a car that isn’t worth much more than the bill came to?

Well, the seller was an automotive engineer at around the time this generation of the RS6 was being built and he was keen to keep this one working as well now as it was when his colleagues built it, including the (recently fettled) DRC suspension, which he admires.

He’s run it now for around 30,000 miles and has enjoyed every minute of reliving his glory days. But all good things come to an end, so if you’re looking for a fastidiously maintained, pretty-much-standard RS6 to add to your fleet, your time has come.

It isn’t immediately apparent that this one has 120,000 miles on the clock because it’s shrugged off 22 years with impressive aplomb – but then this is an Audi from the period when the German manufacturer still had a reputation for building cars properly.

The HPI report is clear too, and this winning combination means the presence of mm-accurate shutlines, and perfect panel alignment shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise.

What might be a (very pleasant) surprise is how well its previous owners have looked after it because there are no ripples along the sides, no scrapes on the door mirrors, and no park-by-touch scuffs on the corners of the bumpers.

The original 19-inch Ronal five-spoke alloy wheels are in a decent condition too, and they’re shod with matching Pirelli P-Zero tyres, with the front ones being replaced in 2022 and the rear ones in 2024.

We will never get tired of telling you that experience shows that matching high-quality tyres are an infallible sign of a caring and mechanically sympathetic owner who is prepared to spend the appropriate amount in maintaining their car properly.

As you can see, the Mugello Blue paintwork shines well, and while there are a few marks, which we’ll detail in a moment, the fact so many of them have been painstakingly touched-in speaks volumes about the care the RS6 has received over the years because chips and scratches are inevitable and it’s what we do about them that matters.

The light lenses, badges, and side glazing are all good too, and the result is a well-cared for car that still draws lots of admiring glances.

As you can see, the door mirrors are finished in silver, an ‘RS’ trait that ties in with the trim around the side windows, boot, and nose.

Of course, no car enters its third decade without a few marks, and the ones we spotted are: a few small scratches and marks to the front and rear bumpers; a touched-up scratch on the bonnet, one on the offside rear wing, some to the offside doors, and another to the left of the Audi badge on the boot lid; a scuff on the nearside sill; a scratch on the passenger door; a small area of micro-blistering to the nearside C-pillar; a scratch above the offside rear window; and a paint chip and a tiny area of bubbling above the driver’s side of the windscreen.

The windscreen also has a chip in it, the rear wheels show some kerbing damage, and the nearside front wheel has a tiny mark to it.

The electrically adjustable and heated Recaro front seats (the rear seats are also heated), have the ‘RS6’ logo and the maker’s name embossed on the off-white leather, the same material that’s used for the door cards.

There’s a little grey vinyl in the cabin too, plus charcoal carpets. A touch of glitziness comes via the carbon-fibre trim that used on the dashboard, centre console, and the top of the four doors; the result is airy and sporty and has, like the coachwork, retained much of its original showroom appeal.

The seller also replaced the Alcantara headlining, and the carpets look clean and in good shape, at least partly due to the presence of overmats.

The steering wheel is a simple three-spoke jobbie that’s probably nicer to hold than it is to look at, but there are a pair of flappy paddles behind it, so #swingsandroundabouts, eh?

The original headunit, which’ll stream music from your smartphone via a Bluetooth connector to the CD input, still plays through the factory-fitted Bose speakers and the only thing we are aware of that doesn’t work on it is the analogue TV. As you’ll know, analogue TV was turned off years ago but the Internet has plenty of suggestions on digital upgrades if this sort of thing bothers you, but we suspect the advent of smartphones and the presence of that sonorous V8 engine will render this unnecessary.

The boot is both huge and in good shape, with some nice carpet and trim. It also plays host to the jack, wheelbrace, tyre inflator, and tyre repair canister in addition to the Bose sub-woofer and a disconnected CD-multichanger. A warning triangle is mounted under the boot lid.

Our man went through the Audi with a magnifying glass and a clipboard and noted the following: There are marks to some of the interior plastics, buttons and switches, some cracks in the dashboard carbon fibre trim,  plus age-related creasing to the leather, most noticeably to the front seats. These may also have been recoloured at some point and are gently rumpled in appearance, although they are still comfortable and supportive.

As for actual faults, the offside rear window sometimes plays up but can usually be persuaded to return to its normal position (the seller tells us this fault has previously been rectified with a squirt of PTFE spray to the rear window seals), and the parking sensors do not work.

On the positive side, everything else does work, including the air-conditioning, which blows ice-cold.

The RS6’s service history is as follows:

• 30.12.2002 – pre-delivery inspection by Robinsons Audi Norwich
• 23.01.2004 and 9,389 miles – service by Robinsons Audi Norwich
• 11.01.2005 and 19,051 miles – service by Robinsons Audi Norwich
• 02.12.2005 and 25,687 miles – service by Robinsons Audi Norwich
• 24.11.2006 and 32,028 miles – service by Norwich Audi
• 29.02.2008 and 38,135 miles – service by Manchester Audi
• 15.09.2009 and 40,369 miles – service by Bolton Audi
• 23.05.2011 and 51,080 miles – service by Universal Audi London
• 16.05.2012 and 60,972 miles – service by Universal Audi London
• 02.10.2015 and 84,727 miles – service by Six Mile Garage Canterbury
• 18.06.2016 and 87,612 miles – service by Worcester Audi including a new cambelt and water pump
• 19.02.2021 and 90,230 miles – service by Worcester Audi
• 22.02.2022 and 99,494 miles – service by MDM Technik
• 04.04.2023 and 107,104 miles – service by MRC Tuning Ltd
• 26.04.2024 and 114,352 miles – service by MRC Tuning Ltd including new cambelt and waterpump, new front and rear brake discs and pads, and more at a cost of more than £7,500

The latter service included a stage one MRC engine and gearbox tune, with the resulting 500bhp coming courtesy of meticulous set-up following the deletion of the secondary air pump.

Other work during the seller’s tenure included having the front brake calipers refurbished, and the steering rack and rear wishbones replaced.

In addition, there is an invoice on file showing the replacement of a DRC line by MRC Tuning Ltd in January of this year at a cost of more than £1,500. As an ex-automotive engineer, it looks like he just couldn’t help but fix the sort of stuff the rest of us might have been tempted to ignore knowing we’d be selling it shortly…

But, as you can see, this dedicated curation has paid off because the twin-turbocharged V8 engine fires into life with enthusiasm, idles nicely, and makes a helluva noise when you provoke it – and it does it all with a healthy charge to the battery and no warning lights on the dashboard.

The engine is hidden under carbonfibre-effect panels but what you can see looks good – and carbonfibre is never going to look wrong under the bonnet of a car like this, is it?

The floor pan and underside have a good protective coating of underseal, albeit one that is starting to peel and flake off in places. There is a little superficial rust here and there that could do with being addressed but, importantly, no MoT tester has ever had cause to mention structural corrosion, so it shouldn’t be much more than a cosmetic issue for the time being.

The Audi’s MoT certificate, which is valid until May 2025, was issued with no advisories, so the fact it expires fairly soon might not be too much of an issue.

The recent Vehicle History Check is clear, and the Audi has one key fob.

The history file contains a number of invoices, the stamped service history booklet, and the book pack and wallet.

With the Big Expense Service out of the way, this painstakingly preserved example is being offered with an estimate that starts at only fifteen hundred pounds more than the cost of the last service.

Yes, that’s right: This slice of Teutonic heavy metal could be yours for between £9,000 and £12,000 – but as it’s being offered with no reserve, it’s going to sell from the very first bid, so it may even go for less.

We doubt it’s possible to go so hard, so elegantly, and so reliably for so little money.

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