2002 Audi RS6

This Audi RS6 saloon was first registered on 1 January 2003 by Robinsons Audi of Norwich. Since then it has had 8 owners and has covered 90,337 miles, but has been regularly serviced by Audi main dealers and independents.

Although our vendor is a car dealer, this RS6 has been his own personal daily driver since late 2016 giving him reliable, trouble-free service. But, like many commuter cars, it hasn’t been needed much lately. It was stored for around 18 months and then brought out and prepared for sale.

It was recently serviced by Worcester Audi and the vendor reports that it has also had the gearbox serviced, suspension fluid changed, 4 new struts, all new front arms, brake pipes, 4 new Pirelli PZeros and the alloy wheels refurbished. At the previous service, the timing belt and water pump were done. He thinks he’s spent somewhere around £8k on the car over the last few years.

The car is painted in Audi’s Mugello Blue - a slightly lighter than navy blue metallic finish which gives the RS6 a strong look. Only when you look closer do you see the handful of stone chips on the nose and a few light scratches and scuffs here and there around the car, plus a patch of bubbling on the nearside edge of the roof panel. But this kind of wear is not only to be expected but actually surprisingly low given its 18 years and 90k miles.

The door mirror caps are silvered, matching the trims around the side windows, boot and nose and also the silver wheels.

The car sits on its original specification 19-inch Ronal 5-spoke alloy wheels, which have recently been refurbished and present in a very good condition. All are fitted with Pirelli PZERO tyres.

The interior is a pleasing combination of charcoal grey vinyl and carpeting with a light coloured (officially White) leather upholstery and door panel inserts. All of the trims on the dash, centre console and door tops are in carbon-fibre weave effect.

The seating is by Recaro - we know that because it is embossed into the leather below the RS6 logo - and is in a reasonable condition throughout, although having suffered more wear on the driver and front passenger seats and front armrest as you would expect. These surfaces look quite creased and appear to have been repainted with leather colouring at some point. In the rear, there are a few dents in the leather, presumably from loads carried on the back seats.

The most-used switchgear and control surfaces are a little scuffed and scratched and there’s a control knob missing between the front seats. Another piece of plastic trim on the centre armrest hinge has come off too. Such things are to be expected and wouldn’t take much to rectify.

The centre console includes the original navigation and entertainment screen. As far as we’ve been able to test, all the electrics and interior equipment works as it should with the exception of the analogue TV with Teletext - both services having been discontinued in the UK for some time. The RS6 forums are awash with retro-fit digital TV upgrades should you find yourself needing to stop in a layby to watch Chasing Classic Cars or Wheeler Dealers whilst you’re out and about.

The dark grey carpets look clean and undamaged throughout and have protective overmats front and rear. Up above, the alcantara headlining is in a fair condition but during storage it has come unstuck and has dropped a few inches, especially on the passenger side.

Under the bonnet, don’t expect to glory in the beauty of a chunky V8 fed through well-sculpted twin turbochargers. It’s all hidden away under acres of carbon-fibre (or carbon-fibre effect) panels. But it tells you on the top that it is an Audi V8 biturbo, so that’s something. There are a few ancillaries visible, but what matters is that all is well in the engine bay and the mechanicals have been well looked after throughout the car’s life, mostly by main dealers but also a few specialists.

The undersides of the car are relatively clean and appear undamaged, with signs of recent renewal to the suspension and the brake lines. The floor panels have good underseal coating and aside from rust flaking off the coating of the roll bars there seems nothing more than light oxidation on various brackets and fixings.

Inside the boot, the carpet and linings are clean and intact. Under the floor is the jack, wheel brace, tyre inflator and tyre repair canister alongside the battery. In the sidewall to one side is the Bose sub-woofer and in the other is the CD-changer unit. A warning triangle is mounted under the boot lid.

The car has a current MOT valid until March 2022, which it passed with just an advisory on slight damage to the rear suspension.

The car comes with a handful of MOT reports and service invoices as well as its original owner’s book pack including the Service Record which shows the following stamps:

Dec 2002 - PDI - Robinsons Audi Norwich

Jan 2004 - 9,389 - Robinsons Audi Norwich

Jan 2005 - 19,051 - Robinsons Audi Norwich

Dec 2005 - 25,687 - Robinsons Audi Norwich

Nov 2006 - 32,028 - Norwich Audi

Feb 2008 - 38,135 - Manchester Audi

Sep 2009 - 40,369 - Bolton Audi

May 2011 - 51,080 - Universal Audi London

May 2012 - 60,972 - Universal Audi London

Oct 2015 - 84,727 - Six Mile Garage Canterbury

Jun 2016 - 87,612 - Worcester Audi (incl cam/timing belt, water pump etc)

Plus an invoice showing further servicing:

Feb 2021 - 90,230 - Worcester Audi

The car also comes with the number plate R561LUV or (if you squint) “RS6 I LUV”, which the vendor has had valued at over £2k.

We include an online HPI report run at the auction start which shows no finance outstanding and no insurance markers for theft or damage.

There are only around 500 first-gen RS6s still on the road in the UK and given that just 1 in 5 were saloons, that makes this quite a rare car. Of course we know that rarity is no guarantee of desirability, but the seminal RS6 is still a belter of a car. It is one of the fastest five-seater cars on the planet and, with the quattro drivetrain, sure-footed too. Also, it may well increase in collectability over the coming years, which would further reduce the cost of ownership. Makes you think, eh?

While a lot of fast Audis you’ll find for sale have stratospheric mileages or have been thrashed, crashed, or otherwise abused, a mechanically well maintained example like this just seems better and better the more you think about it, and this one drives exactly as it should.

There are a few cosmetic things to do, particularly inside, but nothing likely to require big money, so we think this good-looking RS6 with recent four-figure expenditure will fetch between £14,000 and £16,000. Get your best bids in, it won’t be standing still for long.

Viewing is always encouraged (within Govt. guidelines of course), and this particular car is located with us at The Market HQ near Abingdon; to arrange an appointment please use the ‘Contact Seller’ button at the top of the listing. Feel free to ask any questions or make observations in the comments section below, or try our ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.