Casey's A4 Avant
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2003 Audi A4 Avant 3.0 Quattro
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The Miata and the local dealership had been wearing on my nerves so
I started paying more attention to the car market again. I thought
a Land Rover Discovery would be fun, but there aren't public areas
for offroading in Texas so probably not all that fun.
For a while I thought a truck would be nice and I drove several Chevys,
including the SS,
but while I love the idea of a truck I didn't actually want to drive
one. I decided that what I wanted was a freeway cruiser
because we spend a
lot of
time
driving
to Houston
and
occasionally
take road
trips.
I drove a Nissan Murano but the seats were uncomfortable and the sales
manager was a sleazeball that I will forever associate with the Murano.
One weekend in Austin we stopped at Volvo and drove several different
S60s. I really liked that, but again the seats weren't quite as comfortable
as I'd hoped. Volvos also seemed rather expensive. I had been reading
about Audis quite a bit in Motor Trend and Car and Driver. One of the
magazines had a 1 year update and while they didn't like the Continuously
Variable Transmission (CVT) in their A4, several writers commented
on the A4's freeway prowess. Exactly what I wanted to hear.
On July 12, 2003 Chris and I were trying to decide what to do with
our Saturday and I suggested we go test drive Audis. We also needed
to run some errands in Houston so we'd do that too. We thought about
driving the Miata but decided that if we didn't take it we couldn't
sell it on the spur of the moment, plus it wouldn't hold our errands (a common problem).
We packed up the Vette and headed to town, with Audi being our first
stop. We hooked up with a salesman right away and were soon driving
an A4 3.0. It had some nice features and rode really well, but felt
heavy, so we tried a 1.8 T. It had a peppy engine and drove really
well, but didn't have the trim level we liked. We were just there to
test drive things, but we talked to the salesman about what we'd want
if we were purchasing and decided that we liked the 3.0, with no CVT.
That only leaves Quattro models, which were out of our price range.
Then we decided to drive a 3.0 Quattro just for kicks. They had a red
Avant out front with the required engine and transmission (5 speed
Tiptronic) so we took that for a ride. And to make a long story (about
6 hours!) short, we ended up purchasing the Avant, even though we left
the Miata at home. We took the Miata to them as a trade on Monday,
July 14.
My Avant is a wonderful bright red with grey leather interior and
genuine wood trim inserts. It's a small wagon, so there's no third
row of seats
(thank goodness), just lots of useful storage. The rear seats split
60/40 and fold down flat so it really has a lot of storage space. I've
always thought small wagons are cute and this is no exception; all
it needs is window tint to complete the look.
I love the details on it like a full size spare with matching rim, a reflective triangle to set out when changing tires, a power plug in the cargo area, and an overhead light that brightens gradually when the ignition is switched off. I also love the options like a 12 way power seat with Super Lumbar, the garage door opener in the visor, and the stereo controls on the steering wheel.
6 Month, 6000 Mile Update
I hit 6 thousand miles yesterday on the way to Austin (but was up to 6145 by the end of the day). I am still thrilled with the car, and while there are a few things that bug me, overall I love it. My favorite features include the trip timer (I get a kick out of timing my drive home--or seeing how much time running errands actually takes), the steering wheel stereo controls, the one touch feature on ALL windows, the red bezel lights, the paint color, the interior lights that fade on and off, and the dimming mirrors. Some of the minor annoyances include the partition rubbing against the front seats when the back seats are folded down (it's VERY noisy), that the lumbar isn't part of the seat memory, and the recirculated air feature turns off when I shut off the car. The car feels very heavy, which I both like and dislike. I like it because it feels so solid and safe, but it also feels hard to stop. It isn't, but you find yourself surprised that it stopped as fast as it did.
We've used the car for moving furniture (including a tv cabinet and a La-Z-Boy recliner), hauling our Christmas tree, an air compressor, a tool cabinet, and hauling people. I get a lot of compliments on it; sometimes on the color, sometimes on the fact that it's a wagon (no one has ever said "ewww, a wagon" - well, except for yet another sleazy Nissan salesman - what it is with Nissan?), and sometimes on the fact that I have a wagon instead of an SUV. I don't know how we'd own a house if we didn't have it; we've bought quite a bit for the house that wouldn't have gone in the Miata, Corvette, or even the former family car, the Mustang.
The car has an incredibly smooth ride and is very quiet. It's hard not to speed; 75 feels slow and 55 is tortuous (thankfully we don't have many 55 zones in Texas). The stereo system is fine, and while it doesn't have as much bass as I'd like, it does have a nice clean sound. The 6 disc changer took some getting the hang of, but now I love it and can manage it while driving (I couldn't at first). I had a lot of problems being blinded in the Miata by headlights; thanks to the auto-dimming mirrors in the Audi I haven't had a problem even once (of course I sit quite a bit higher in it). ATMs and Drive-throughs are much easier now too.
Let's talk about the coolest feature of the car: all wheel drive. It rains a LOT where I live and our other cars have rear wheel drive. In fact the only car I've ever driven regularly without rear wheel drive was my Mom's Astro minivan. The Mustang and the Miata both lose rear traction in the rain quiet a bit; the Mustang is downright dangerous to drive in the rain, what with the old school brakes, no power steering, and rear wheel drive. The Audi handles like a dream in the wet. You can't even tell it's raining most of the time. On the way back from Austin yesterday there was a lot of standing water on the road. Our other cars would have slid around in the puddles and the Mustang would have hydroplaned. The Audi just felt like it slowed a bit, sort of like I was driving through pudding all of a sudden. It wasn't a fun drive because the roads were so wet, but it wasn't nearly as frightening as it could have been.
All in all, I am very satisfied with the Audi and would recommend giving one a test drive to anyone in the market. I'd also recommend thinking about a wagon! I get 19 mpg in town and 24 on the highway. It's comfortable, carries people and cargo just fine and yet is easy to park thanks to the size.
2.12.04 One thing I forgot to mention is a great perk exactly because you don't notice it. You can adjust the volume control so that no matter how loud your stereo is when you shut off the car, it starts at a predetermined level every time you turn the car on. For example, say I'm cranking along at volume setting ten, which is pretty loud because it's raining or whatever, when I next turn the car on the volume setting is only at 4 so I don't scare the snot out of myself. I love that! And I can choose the setting, so it could start at volume 2 or 5 or anything (I'm making those numbers up to illustrate my point). Cool!!!
9.14.04 Had a loaner car from Saturday through Thursday, and Audi TT Coupe. It was really cute, but I missed my power seats, my convenient cup holder, and most of all, my steering wheel stereo controls. They are just so useful.