I'll second that. Audi makes interesting products that look good. The company's interior design and materials usage is second to none. No question they make a fabulous product, cosmetically speaking.

But exterior fit and finish? Reliability? Overall build quality? Give me a break. I've test-driven A4s and A6s and was distinctly underwhelmed by these key areas. They have a long way to go to approach the Japanese, particularly Lexus/Toyota.

I've said this before and I'll say it again: I might lease an Audi, BMW or Mercedes for a year or two if I fell in love with one on a test drive. But I'd never buy one outright if I planned to keep it past warranty; "money pit" was a term that should've been coined for the original 1980s Quattro. They're not much better today. And although I might appreciate a service manager calling me "sir" and offering me quiche as he raped me for a $3000 direct-injection repair bill 49 months into owning one of the new V6s, I think I'd rather stick with the overall reliability of the Japanese brands.

I'm very pro-Japanese automotively speaking, based on experience. Can you tell?

 

I woudn't get an A4 for the performance. The new 3.2 is decent but it's not going to hang with a G. Everyone comments on how bad Audi's reliability is but my GF has an 04 A4 and I have an 05 S4 and neither one has been in the shop. I can't say the same for the previous 2 G's I've owned. Styling goes to infiniti but the interior quality and fit and finish suck compared to Audi. That said I'm not sure I'd pay $45,000 for a loaded A4 when I can get G35x for 5 G's less. Sh$t for $46000 you can get a new 05 S4 (not 05.5 with fish mouth grill). If you lease with the crazy money factors Audi is using(.00065) the payments might be close to a G. I like my GF's A4 but It didn't give me the warm and fuzzys like my 03 G did.

 

My 96 Audi Quattro manual handled very nicely, when it was not in the dealer's shop. It spent a lot of quality time there relaxing and waiting for parts or someone to work on it. These were mostly electrical and alarm issues. It didn't start for twenty minutes the second day I had it. The dealer repair shop was not very good (they have since changed hands-literally and figuratively). I was thrilled to be able to get rid of it before the end of the lease-repair costs would have been high after warranty. A friend had an AllRoad Quattro that had the electronic suspension fail. It took one month to fix-Yikes!

The interior of my A4 was nice, I just didn't get to see it much. Personally, I don't like the new grille, but that is just me.

No more Audis for me, unless something changes a lot.

 

I know that "Consumer Reports" puts out a special car buyer's edition around spring time...you might still be able to find it at your local newsstand or book store. They take feedback from readers based on several factors, and it's really handy. I used it when I got my A4 that I mentioned earlier -- that's why I ended up leasing that car and not buying it since it was right around middle of the pack as far as reliability.

I think you might also be able to download reliability reports from the "Consumer Reports" website. I can't remember how much they charge, but I think it was a tiered structure that was something like $10 for the first report, and then a lower amount for each subsequent report.

Good luck with it! BTW, even though I had problems with my A4, I really liked that car and when it came time to part ways, I was pretty bummed.

Thomas

 

audi's are pretty ****ty looking and reliability is worthless

/ end of thread