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Are there any other US-Audi-Cab-Drivers?
Would like to hear some opinions.
http://hometown.aol.de/Steher8083/homepage/cabrio+klein2.jpg
http://hometown.aol.de/Steher8083/Cabrio+Heck.jpg
http://hometown.aol.de/Steher8083/Cabrio+Innen.jpg
M
I was really disappointed in the A4. For a 3.0 liter engine putting out 220 bhp, the car just sagged around like it was wading through knee-deep water. Clearly, they put too much weight on the car and it showed.
The CVT was neat, but failed to provide a satisfying experience even for an automatic tranny (my wife wants an automatic slushbox, even though I've been begging her not to give in to the Dark Side... five simple words, dear: six speed short throw manual).
On the bright side, the leather was nice, on par with my M3's nappa and the car seemed to be very well-behaved, if that's what you're looking for. My main complaint is that it lacked any sense of urgency or snap. It's not fair to compare anything less than an S4 to an M3, but my feeling was that the A4 cabrio is sedate even compared to a 325 cabrio much less the 330. Overall, I came away underwhelmed by the experience.
The final straw was the price. Fully equipped, it was comparably priced to a 330ci cabrio. For a large discount, I think we would have considered the Audi, but at those pricing levels it was a no-brainer. No offense, but the Audi is not a BMW, and asking the same for an A4 as a 330 seems ludicrous to me.
On the other hand, I came away thinking that the Audi probably makes more sense if you're looking for a sedate, well-mannered cruiser at a discount to a Mercedes cabrio. I think the CLKs are marvellous cars: pretty, elegant, well-mannered and superbly predictable luxury convertibles. On that comparison, I think you could come away with a favorable price/value basis and say the A4 cabrio has a better value proposition. Unfortunately, it's just not a compelling driver's car.
if you want a 6 cylinder - it is the Audi or the BMW. and some people won't consider BMW for image reasons and lack of AWD/FWD. the Audi is the only game in town for some folks.
i personally think other car companies should be REQUIRED to copy the Audi interior schemes....:)
The only thing I can add of value is a friend of mine has a Volvo, and has always owned them. He says his cars break down a TON, but he lives right by a volvo mechanic who he has a great personal relationship with, and that makes it workable for him.
Like scipio1, we found it to be nice, but more of a cruiser. Unlike scipio1, that's sorta what we're looking for. The acceleration is adequate; better than my wife's current ride, a VW New Beetle with the 2.0L gas engine with a 5-speed. She was blown away by the construction of the interior, however. Way nicer than anything she's been in before. Evverything felt screwed together well and the switches moved with precision. The lining of the roof was nice; with the top up, it felt like a sedan. The totally automated roof was a nice feature; with the frequent summer t-storms we get, getting the roof up in a hurry can be quite important. Not a huge amount of room in the rear seat .. we have teenagers, and they would probably complain.
The price tag took my wife's breath away. Optioned with leather a couple of other things, it stickered at $38K. Tough to swallow for a 4 cylinder; almost impossible when you can get the same engine in the New Beetle Cabrio for over $10K less. And, you can get the NB with a stick, which is my wife's preference.
Bottom line: nice, but the spouse will want to drive the NB convertible first before making a final decision.
if you're in the $40k price range, and want a cruiser, have you thought about the toyota solara as a cheaper option? Much as it galls me to admit this, we rented a Sebring convertible and for $23,000, I felt it was a superb cruising convertible if you can get over the American nameplate (I couldn't). In fact, I thought it was light-years superior to a Mitsubishi Exclipse Spyder we rented later.
At $38,000, aren't you into the lower end of the price range for an A4 cabrio?
if a 5 speed is what she really wants, with a quick up and down roof, the Miata is the only game in town. no one can make a better manual transmission than the Miata. and it is $18k less than the base A4 convertible!
We've got a New Beetle currently; that's one of the reasons why the NB convert is high on her list. She knows the ergonomics well, and ours has held up pretty well in the 50K miles that we've driven it.
Yes, the TT is faster (180hp vs. 150hp in the NB), but it's not outright speed she's looking for. Her commute is 20 minutes on rural roads, pretty much in a straight line with only 2 stoplights. The A4, with 170hp from the 1.8T, certainly has enough "pop" to satisfy her.
The other car the wife really likes is the T-Bird, but I think (and she agrees) that it's pretty large for just two seats. I admit to not having given the Solara or Sebring a lot of thought, to be honest.
I'm hoping to get her into an NB convert next weekend, just to drive it and see what she thinks. It's possible that she'll like the A4 more -- I'm also trying to sell her on the free maintenance that Audi offers, plus the nicer experience overall.
We'll see.
The Mitsu was smaller, less practical, and had a joke of a trunk. For all of it's extra intended "sportiness", the Eclipse didn't seem to do anything as well as the Sebring. I fully admit to having doubts about American car build quality, but the Sebring came the closest out of any American car to getting me to take a chance.
I felt the A4 was very similar to the Sebring, albeit with higher quality and production values. However, I revolted at the thought of paying twice as much for a similar, mild-mannered comfortable cruising convertible. I was willing to fork out for a 330ci or M3 cab at that pricing level, but for the A4 cab, I'd say if you're willing to take the hit on the badge, go with the Sebring.
One quick note: the Camry Solara is also supposed to be quite good, although I've never driven it. Pricier than the Sebring, most reviews say it's about comparable in terms of room, power and comfort, if you absolutely cannot bring yourself to buy a Chrysler.
My wife liked the idea of the Miata a lot more than she ended up liking the car in reality. Her friend bought one when they were in grad school and she thought it was very cute.
My impression is that the Miata was a lot like a Jeep Wrangler. A lot of fun, but scraping by with the absolute minimal amount of techology possible. Throwback vehicles, if you will. As an aviator, it was the feeling I got from going from computerized multi-function displays to stepping into an East-bloc aircraft and seeing analog gauges everywhere.
Michaell, my point was that the TT and NB seem to be very, very different cars, and so I was curious as to why they were the front-runners.
As much as I'd love to beat the drum for the Z4 or Boxster, I'd say that there's a huge practicality trade-off versus a 3-series or A4. Just something to consider, and an argument in favor of the A4/NB vs a TT/Miata/Boxster/Z4...
Still, I'd hardly complain if my wife said we needed a Porsche - although I'd hold out for the 911 Cabrio.
Most of the time, it's just the two of us going places. The kids are almost 15 and 17, and rarely travel with us anymore. If they do, we take my Saturn L300. The wife drives her NB to and from work; occasionally, we use it on the weekends for errands, but not often.
We talked a bit over the weekend about what she's looking for. "Distinctive" was her response, "distinctive, but functional". Her NB certainly covers the first, but sort of fails on the second point.
I think the A4 Cabrio covers both points pretty well. It's not like we'll see too many of them on the roads, it's got enough rear seat room to handle the occasional passenger or our 50 pound dog, and I really, really like the looks.
We'll just have to wait and see.
My impressions are heavily biased by an enthusiast's orientation, but I found the A4 cab to be sluggish and uninspiring. The 3.0 engine just didn't seem powerful enough to overcome the gobs of weight that was clearly added to the car. From that perspective, it clearly wasn't a "driver's" car.
Inside, fit and finish were very good. The CVT transmission makes for a smooth, but soulless, driving experience. For a highway cruiser, it seems like a good entry-lux convertible, which I'd charcterize as sort of an upscale Sebring. (That's not an insult, I found the Sebring to be surprisingly excellent at what it does.)
The way I'd describe my impression is that it fits squarely in between the Sebring and the Mercedes CLK. The A4 doesn't seem to be the value leader (I'd call the Sebring 85% of the car for 50% of the price), but offers a non-American badged lux convertible that won't set you back $60-85,000 like a CLK will.
When I left the dealership, I felt that the A4 3.0 Cab would have been compelling at $33-38,000. At $44-48,000, it's just too much for me to justify for myself.
Fully loaded, the 3.0 would have an MSRP of 45K, but can be had for 42-43K. A 1.8 T will be around 37-38.
M
http://www.vwvortex.com/
(Center of the page under the new Golf)
Note to Audi: Get rid of the A4 Cabrio 3.0L model and replace it with the 250hp 3.2L V6 model and add the DSG gearbox as an option, since a true manual isn't.
The big question is whether or not a RS4 Cabrio is coming next? When does the A4 Coupe debut and will it get the S4/RS4 treatment? If Audi does this they will have finally realized their goal of going model to model with the 3-Series.
M
M
The dealership can not figure it out. It's been there three times for this issue and is only about 5 months old.
Has anyone experienced this? Or have any solutions?
Audi A4 in the Sedans Board
Audi A4 Owners: Problems and Solutions (Maintenance and Repair Board)
Audi A4 Owners' Club
MrShiftright
Host
Do you recommend the car as a whole?
I own a '03 A4 2.5 TDI Cabrio and 2 weeks ago it began to snow for the first time this year here in Munich/Germany. I don't have a garage, too, but from my experience that's not a big problem for this car. The top is very well isolated and with those heated seats the car becomes warm in a few minutes.
With Quattro you will even have a better "winter-car" than most other sedans, coupés etc.
I recommend this car very strong, because it's fun to drive, it's a real eye-catcher (here in Germany Audi's reputation and image seems to be much better), and the costs are moderate.
Here are a few pics:
http://www.carpassion.com/de/usergarage.php?no=339
Good luck with your decision and sorry for my bad english ;-)
Thanks
Kathleen
I have a 2004 A4 Cabriolet with 7000 miles, and don't have any complaints, except for the top (Only THE reason we bought a convertible!) It only happens when the car is in my driveway that has a slight incline. When the car is level, the top performs flawlessly. I took it to the dealer (twice), and of course, they could not duplicate the problem. They even put the front end on a rack to produce an incline, but everything worked. I brought it home, and the first time I tried it on the driveway, it stopped! I took it to a level ground, and it works.
On another topic, I guess most of you know by now that the in dash 6 CD changer doesn't shuffle between CD's. It only shuffles tracks on a single CD. That was mentioned on the A4 board, and also verified by my dealer. Why, then, do they have that as a CD menu option?
Doroy
My sister was thinking of buying a new 2004 Audi Cabriolet AWD this year. She's not too much into performance and what not but would like a car that's relatively fast and not sluggish. I was looking at the Cabriolet's weight and it is over 4000 pounds with an AWD. I wanted some feedback on current Cabriolet owners as to how the car performs driving wise. Thanks.
FWD will get the job done but awd is only an extra $1650, that's 1.4% more on a $45k convertible.
2001 BMW 330ci/E46, 2008 BMW 335i conv/E93
M
Come on over to the Future Models board and post your questions in the 2005 Audi A4 topic. Markincincinati can help you there.
M
It isn't always purchase price you have to consider.... don't forget about the resale.. $12K depreciation to own a used Saab for two years.. You could probably own a new BMW or Audi as cheaply.
regards,
kyfdx
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I'm on the market for a new car and have fallen for the 2005 Audi A4 Cab 1.8T CVT with the following options:
- premium package
- audio package
- lighting package
- 17" alloy wheels
- heated front seats
- color - l. silver metallic
List price is $41.3K, and the dealer has quoted me $38.4 (plus taxes, title & dealer fees), claiming that it is their invoice cost.
Does anyone know if this is a good deal, especially with the 2005.5/2006's coming out in ~3 months?
Thanks!
My first impression is that this is a great car. I'm more of an electronics/gadget enthusiast than a horse power enthusiast, so I'm not the one to write eloquently about how it handles. It does feel like a substantial car and has quick pickup.
On the electronics, this car is very cool. All the functions are conrolled off of one display. The user interface is a little cumbersome with a dial and 4 buttons surrounding it -- if you're used to just turning a knob to adjust music tone, forget it, you've got several clicks and menus.
Aside from that, this thing is tremendous.
Navigation is intuitive, the display is terrific, it's fast, it zooms in and out very fast. It's a big step up from systems that are a couple years old.
The stereo (premium bose with sirius) is outstanding. The sound is great. And a feature that wasn't even in the book when I bought it is that in addition to a 6-cd changer, it comes equipped with 2 SD slots. SD cards cost about $100 for 1GB cards which can store a couple hundred mp3 files each. With the 2 cards you have quite library of music you can put into the car, complete with playlists, off of your computer. The screen can be used to move around your songs, display track info, etc.
There is also a phone button. Apparently the car is not yet equipped with bluetooth though, but I imagine that will be a similarly well-done feature when it is.
All in all, very pleased after a day of driving!