The lowest fuel bills come courtesy of the 2.0-litre TDI Ultra diesel engine, which returns up to a claimed 64.2mpg in some specifications.

Even moving up to a six-cylinder 3.0-litre V6 diesel doesn’t incur a huge penalty, as economy doesn’t suffer too badly and CO2 emissions are low enough to keep tax bills down.

Insurance grouping range from 26 to 50 (the latter being for the RS 6 Avant) so ensure you get a quote before committing to buy a car as there could be a sting in the tail there.

Audi’s servicing costs are on the high side, but you can alleviate this somewhat by choosing a fixed-price package when you buy the car.

Watch out for ordering larger wheels too, if costs are a consideration. Tyres won’t be cheap if you’re running 20-inch alloys… 

On launch you’ll have chosen the 2.0-litre diesel as it kicked out 129g/km of CO2, which wasn’t too shabby for a large estate car. Following the 2014 refresh the Ultra A6 Avants are the ones to pick for lowest CO2 emissions, since 109g/km is possible in some configurations.

We’ve heard of no reason to be concerned about the A6 Avant’s reliability. Many of its mechanical parts are tired-and-tested in other Audi products, and there haven’t been any major recalls to be concerned about.

The build quality of the cabin is very good indeed – everything feels very well screwed together.