A6 Saloon Car Leasing & Contract Hire

I would rent the Audi A6 TFSI, but with the tech package as I wanted mood lighting , but I didn't realise that it only came with the tech package and not with all S-Line vehicles.

The car itself is excellent. It’s spacious, the quality is excellent, the ride is good, the performance and economy is good, and it has everything that you would reasonably need on it. However, there are two reasons why I would not have another one, nor would I recommend the car to others. Firstly, the active lane assist twice steered me into danger in the first month of ownership. On both occasions it could not cope where lanes had been coned off and there existed temporary lane studs (at road works). On the first occasion it attempted to steer me into the cones, and on the second occasion it attempted to steer me towards other traffic. Had I not been alert and taken back control of the steering wheel I would have without doubt crashed. Following email correspondence with Audi on how to permanently disable the feature, it transpired that it can only be disabled every journey by pressing a button on the end of the indicator stalk, which I now have to do. Secondly, and more seriously, the car has so far (1 year into a 3 year lease) had 3 episodes of “phantom braking”. Without warning or reason, the car has slammed on the brakes, reducing the car to an almost stop before releasing the brakes. Thankfully, on each occasion, the car did not skid, nor was there a car close behind. Had the conditions been icy, I would have without doubt crashed. On investigation, it is part of a feature called Audi Pre sense, which you can permanently set to one of 3 levels, but like the lane assist, you cannot permanently turn it off. You can turn it off every journey, but unlike the lane assist where it is via a readily accessible button, this feature requires you to turn it off via several complex layers of menu on the touch screen, which is simply not practical to do every journey. After researching, it seems that Audi (and some other manufacturers) do not allow the customer to permanently disable these features in order to get a higher NCAP safety rating. The irony is that although the car has a high NCAP rating, the reality is that these features do not work in all road scenarios, and without doubt place the driver and passengers in serious danger. So, although I like the car itself, I absolutely would not have another Audi A6, nor would I recommend it to others. If you decide to get an Audi A6, please be aware of these serious risks. I hope the review is useful.

I'm always attracted by a deal which is why I took the A6. As a motorway car it is great. The electrics are a little temperamental, otherwise I am enjoying driving it.