Don't think of it as an $8,500 car, because right now, it's not. You need to spend $5,000 in...
 

... order to restore it to being an $8,500 car. At least that's how I looked at it.

Re: UPDATE - Bam Transmission let go...help
 

About 12 hours before the transmission went out; we got as 4 inch rain overnight. The back passenger window was open a crack and about 1/2 an inch of water ended up on floor board of the rear passenger seat. I mopped it up with a few towels, but it was fairly wet. It was just about 3 miles after I started out before it went out.

I understand from research that there might be a transmission computer module under the front passenger seat on an A6. Is that true?

Could that have gone gotten wet and shorted out and made the tranny quit. The car went into fail safe mode. But the tranny definately did not work.

Re: part yo car out and sell me stuff :o
 

Well the A6 is back home. My mechanic determined that the CPU for the transmission got wet and shorted out. The car then went into fail-safe mode which kept the tranny from engaging (no movement at all).

The trannny CPU ($965), which sits under the front passenger seat in a well, was replaced for $1400. That included drying out the carpet that appearantly got wet during a rain event the night before. I am not sure how the rain got in. They wrapped the CPU in plastic and sealed it in a bag so it should be safe now. At least it wasn't the tranny itself. $4000 saved.

The CPU was hard to find used. They claim this happens regularly and the CPUs are a hot commodity.