C6 A6 4.2 chain guide life?
 

I am looking to buy a used c6 a6 4.2, but too many are out there with wiped out engines from chain guide failures.
The ones that I've seen, that I can afford, are being sold with about 120-135k miles on the clock I've also seen more than a few with 120k miles & blown engines.
So, is there a ''typical'' life to those guides?
I realize that the tensioners are sensitive to poor oil quality, so lube maintenance is highly critical on these engines.
I'd love to get a 4.2, but may go for a 3.2, based on reliability & maintenance costs.

Good oil and regular oil changes are very important. Just looked at a 120K C5 RS6 and the guides showed almost no wear. Then I've seen a 100K motor with a lot of wear. Between the two you could tell that the higher mileage motor was cleaner and the owner said he did frequent oil changes 7~8K with Redline 5w-40. The 100K owner was a believer in Mobil 1 0W-40 (BTW, does not meet the Audi specs for the RS6), and the insides of the cam areas had some sludge buildup in the corners, he claimed 5K oil changes.

Post on the C6 forum...I've been a long time owner of an 06 A6 4.2 and everything has been working great for me. We've had folks go over 200K miles and then others who've had failures...I personally feel that things like plastic parts will eventually wear and if it's not one thing that causes a failure, it'll be something else. Remember, the most important rule when buying a used car...you are buying the owner as much as you are buying the car.

FWIW, my C6 was purchased from the original owner who I met at his house, he was a family man, had a house on a lake and had simply bought a newer model A6 and wanted to get the older one out of the garage. He had maintenance records from day 1 and although there were a couple of issues with the car...it was all well taken care of.