Junkyard Find: 2007 Audi S6

Murilee Martin
by Murilee Martin

When I’m wandering junkyards and looking for interesting stuff, I don’t pay much attention to Audis of our current century. No, I want to photograph old Audis, preferably ones from the 1970s. I make exceptions for discarded members of the Audi S family, however, because these cars do such a great job of demonstrating the ruthlessly quick depreciation of German luxury machinery that didn’t get the maintenance it deserved. Here’s an ’07 S6 that didn’t even see 15 years of use, found in a Denver-area yard last week.

The MSRP on this car started at $74,000, or about $96,150 in 2021 dollars, and the reviewers wrote all the stuff you’d have expected to read about it.

The 2007-2011 S6 got a (slightly) detuned version of the S8’s V10 engine, giving it an impressive 435 horsepower and bragging rights for owners wishing to point out the closely-related engine powering the Lamborghini Gallardo.

I’d be willing to bet that this engine had the most horsepower (when new) of anything in this yard’s inventory on the day that I visited, beating out this S55 AMG and every one of the Chrysler Magnum and Ford Triton V10s in various trucks and vans.

You couldn’t get a manual transmission in the ’07 S6, which probably had zero effect on sales. Perhaps transmission woes knocked this one’s value down from “clean Suzuki Forenza” to “ hooptie Pontiac Sunfire with thrown rod” prices.

True enough.

¡Vorsprung!

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Murilee Martin
Murilee Martin

Murilee Martin is the pen name of Phil Greden, a writer who has lived in Minnesota, California, Georgia and (now) Colorado. He has toiled at copywriting, technical writing, junkmail writing, fiction writing and now automotive writing. He has owned many terrible vehicles and some good ones. He spends a great deal of time in self-service junkyards. These days, he writes for publications including Autoweek, Autoblog, Hagerty, The Truth About Cars and Capital One.

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  • Burgersandbeer Burgersandbeer on Mar 30, 2021

    I have a high threshold for automotive pain and I'm good at mental gymnastics to justify ownership costs, but Audi V10s are too frightening even for me. I've read you have to lift the engine to change the oxygen sensors. I'm still not sure if the forums are trolling me with that, but the possibility that it's true was enough to scare me away.

  • White Shadow White Shadow on Apr 01, 2021

    Fun fact: My 2011 Audi has been practically perfect since I purchased it new. Literally zero money spent on it if you don't count maintenance items like brakes and tires. My 2009 4Runner, which is supposedly bulletproof, seizes the pistons in it's front calipers every two years like clockwork, is rotting out it's frame (although the body is still perfect), has had the wiper motor fail, then the wiper switch, and the brake light switch. All with less than 100k on the odometer. Go figure.

  • MaintenanceCosts It's not a Benz or a Jag / it's a 5-0 with a rag /And I don't wanna brag / but I could never be stag
  • 3-On-The-Tree Son has a 2016 Mustang GT 5.0 and I have a 2009 C6 Corvette LS3 6spd. And on paper they are pretty close.
  • 3-On-The-Tree Same as the Land Cruiser, emissions. I have a 1985 FJ60 Land Cruiser and it’s a beast off-roading.
  • CanadaCraig I would like for this anniversary special to be a bare-bones Plain-Jane model offered in Dynasty Green and Vintage Burgundy.
  • ToolGuy Ford is good at drifting all right... 😉
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