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I'm having a car dilemma! I'm moving to NJ in about a week and need to buy a car since I'm not taking my old crappy beater with me.
I'm looking for a car that can handle NJ winters since I need to get around for work (I have never really driven in the snow...). I was looking into a G8, but that one only comes as an automatic and I definitely want to get a manual tranny. Same for the Malibu. I don't really care about BMW, Toyota, Honda, etc. I was thinking about saving a little more money, buying another beater and then go for either the 370z or the Camaro in a few months, but then again that's too much of a hassle and won't work very well in NJ winters I guess. on the other hand I'd like a car that's fun to drive and doesn't take me a minute to pass a truck with
right now Audi has 0.9% financing available for certified cars, and a 2007 A4 quattro looks really tempting to me! I'm not a DIY guy, I don't really know a whole lot about cars. I hope that having a certified car would give me a certain peace of mind.
So, is there a reason I should NOT go for a certified, used A4 quattro?
Well, Audi parts and service are pretty darn expensive and they don't jhave the best reliability records on the face of the plant. Just keep that in mind.
I've owned 3 Audis of various vintages, and the newer they were the less I liked them. My 1986 Quattro was a great car (especially headed up skiing), went 250,000 miles without major problems, but had huge number of little stupid problems. Switches that went out, a sunroof crank that broke internally (that was fun to fix, let me tell you), intermittent doors. Later ones still had the stupid little problems but developed bigger problems, and the interiors got very plastic-y and cheap, especially for the price of the car. I do tend to buy cars which are a couple years old to get past the astonishing depreciation, though.
I'd lease an Audi (if I were still in a position where leasing made sense) but I wouldn't outright buy one again. I feel the same way about BMWs - I've had several of those, and the older, simpler ones were far better cars than the newer ones. I stopped buying when they went to I-Drive.
Parts are not cheap that's for sure. Get the extended warranty if plan on keeping it a while. I've had min 7 yrs now w/ no problems aside from coil packs going out once. The quirky stuff like switches...nope but the cup holder on the dash has is a stubborn SOB. LOL I'd buy another one when the time came that's for sure as it's been dead reliable. My 1st headlight went out last wk!
Parts are not cheap that's for sure. Get the extended warranty if plan on keeping it a while. I've had min 7 yrs now w/ no problems aside from coil packs going out once. The quirky stuff like switches...nope but the cup holder on the dash has is a stubborn SOB. LOL I'd buy another one when the time came that's for sure as it's been dead reliable. My 1st headlight went out last wk!
I forgot about that damn cup holder! Mine always gets stuck so I just leave it open.
On my B5 chassis my battery expired during -30 temperatures and on that model the battery sits underneath the windshield between the engine and the firewall. I spent 3 hours getting that bastard out in -10 temperatures and i'll never forget that.
Audi's are well engineered cars with good handling and safety. The Quattro is a bonus. I've owned two A4's and they have never let me down and have got me through 7 or 8 tough winters. The A4 has made my life easier for sure. I never have to worry about not being able to get home.
Owning an A4 is like being married to a high maintenance german woman. Impeccable in many ways but a royal ***** in others. More rewarding, yet demanding.
How about some sort of Subaru? Much of the Audi's goodness with less of it's PITA charachteristics.
an STI?
btw, I have driven in the snow, just not a whole lot.
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