Maverick61

Wanted to keep this separate from my first post which was my comparison of vehicles I shopped.

1. What is up with the A6 and the mini cup holders? I assume I am not going to be able to fit my 32 ounce big cups from any fast food places in there. Am I correct? I always usually have something with me so has anyone found a way to work around the tiny size? Really the cupholders were the one bad thing I noticed - size and location. How have the rest of you managed making them usable?

2. Are there any dealers on the forum who sell Audi extended warranties at a discount. I typically have not bought extended warranties but did get one on my current Volvo S60R because I planned to keep it for over 100K miles (not at 120k and counting) and because it had a lot of expensive technology for its time. Add to that a forum member on Swedespeed was a dealer selling extended warranties close to cost, I bought it and it paid for itself. So when I was considering the various vehicles, I saw several dealers on MBWorld do this for the Mercedes. Just curious if any Audi folks here do this. Not sure yet if I would purchase - just want to explore options since I also plan on keeping the A6 a long time

Thanks

mikem33

2- About warranties: FD-warranty.com sells Audi extended warranties.

1- Cupholders do suck. It's the German's way to complain about our habit of eating in our cars while not completely alienating Americans by having a car without cupholders. Some gas stations sell cups with narrower bottoms and wider tops that fit into the right side cupholder. Don't even think of fitting two of them, though, and watch out for thin plastic/styrofoam; the grips of death in the cupholders will gladly shred those for you.
What baffles me the most about the cupholders is the fact that they are different sizes. What's wrong with symmetry? It also seems that they had the real estate to make the cupholder big enough for a big gulp and chose not to...
Having said that, the cupholders are a HUGE improvement over the ones my '98 A4 had; they popped up from the middle console, could only hold a 12 oz. can, and it was remarkably easy to knock whatever was there and spill everything. BMW's in-the-dash, floating cupholders are equally bad and seem to have a short lifespan. THe carpet directly underneath them also usually shows mysterious discoloration.

BugeyeRX

A beer bottle seems to fit perfectly, go figure, crazy Germans.

Grapeking

Fully agree - the cupholders barely fit an aluminum can. I cringe when putting a fast-food cup in there, for fearr of the "Claws of death" ripping the cup apart, as noted by mikem33.

Curious if anyone has tried to remove the cupholders and loosen the death grip of the "claws of death"? This would allow the use of paper/styrofoam cups. Anyone?

Thor_44

Already had those stupid things shred a styrofoam cup in my S6 and the cup leaked. Cup was not even pushed down hard.

Hyundais have better cup holder than we do, seriously.

Jatmobil

The worst part is, if you lift out the little rubber pad/liner on the bottom of the cupholders, there is a rectangular hole through which you can see wiring underneath. Imagine stuff leaks out of a shredded cup, and then gets past the rubber pad and into the console and on the wires!

I sealed the hole underneath my cuphoder!

manishaudi

How did you seal it?

wilfred2k5

As a 20-year Audio owner who, reluctantly, puts fast food in the trunk, hanging from the grocery bag T-bars, and breaks into a cold sweat when carrying non-hermetically sealed liquids in his car, I find these discussions of cup holders hilarious.

Audi pretty much guarantees that, if your drink should spill, you'll short out exactly 10,000 euros of circuitry. Note that it isn't 10,000 dollars worth. It's an "inside" joke, and they wouldn't want Americans to notice.

The four rings are NOT coasters for you to set your 64 ounce Big Gulp's on. If the Fuhrer were alive, you would be sent to the gas chamber for putting a drink in your car.

Seriously, have you seen where the cupholders are in the A8? Smack in front of enough moisture-sensitive buttons to make a 747 cockpit feel inferior. Even in the rear seat, they just happen to be where they can cause the most possible damage.

I'd bet good money that the circuit boards (PCB's) were designed to handle beer and alcoholic beverages without shorting, but to immediately self-destruct on contact with soda.

snagitseven

Not funny.

Thor_44

I know! Wish I didn't . . .

How did you seal? I'm thinking even some duck/electrical tape would do the trick.