Audi A6 review - Reliability & safety

​The latest Audi A6 is very clearly a high-quality machine, inside and out. Bristling with technology and endowed with smart looks, it appears to offer the complete package. Unfortunately, due to the fact that the Audi A6 sells in relatively smaller numbers than most cars, it doesn’t feature on our Driver Power customer satisfaction survey, but Audi as a brand doesn’t fare particularly well.

Audi A6 reliability

Audi came in a disappointing 27th place out of 32 manufacturers in our Driver Power brand-specific customer satisfaction survey in 2024. That puts it behind all its rival manufacturers, Mercedes, BMW, Lexus and Jaguar, which finished in 25th, 14th, 12th and ninth place, respectively. Reliability is at least on par with BMW with around 21% of owners reporting an issue with their car in the first year, with both brands beating Mercedes, with 26% of owners reporting an issue in the same period, and Jaguar, with a whopping 44%. However, that’s still behind Lexus with just 18% having reported an issue.

Safety

As we've seen, the Audi A6 is awash with sensors and computers designed to make driving easier and safer, particularly the Tour package which incorporates active lane-keeping assistance and active cruise control. There's also a City Assist package, which adds the ability to detect traffic crossing your path ahead. The word 'package', though, gives the game away that much of this is optional equipment.

Despite some of the safety tech being optional rather than standard, the Audi A6 scored the full five stars when it was crash-tested by Euro NCAP. It received 93% and 85% in the adult and child impact protection categories respectively, as well as a 76% score in the safety assist category.