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Comments
-Paul
The '05 A6 had a few issues, but the model has really improved and is now among the top in class. My S6 hasn't had any issues as of yet, and despite the Q5 being a brand new model, it's so much better than anything else in that class right now that I'm willing to take the risk.
I would highly recommend taking a look at the M35x though as an A6 alternative. It's almost as much fun to drive as the 5 series, and is the most reliable car in the mid-lux class.
Congrats on the new ride. While the G35 got the ball rolling, the '06 M put Infiniti on the map, taking down the 5 series in several high profile comparison tests. It's also (as I'm sure you've discovered) a great used by because the depreciation is steep and its so reliable. The next generation M37 and M50 will be extremely formidable, and should be keeping the Germans up at night.
Enjoy and keep us posted.
2013 LX 570 2016 LS 460
I agree with you. I test drove this car several weeks ago and was very impressed - especially for the price of about $42,000. My only disappointment with it is there is no all-wheel drive option.
Thanks!
Yes got them down to 36,200 then add tax and tags. its an 08, new last one. Black on Black (not what i would have picked but hey) awd, R350 gas with some options. pk1, heated seats, sunroof, ipod and a few other things.
In your recent post you wrote:
I now have a 60,000 mercedes
What was the $24,000 discount for? In your recent post you state that you noticed that the vehicle was dinged and scratched as soon as you got home from the dealer. I can't help but wonder how you missed the damage at the time you picked up the vehicle and that perhaps you were able to get a $24,000 discount because of this damage.
I was a Benz driver for 20 years. I purchased a 2003 SL500 and was one of the unlucky ones (my research indicated that upwards of 40% of us were unlucky) who had MAJOR electrical problems.
At one point during my discussions with MB they indicated they would buy back the car.....didn't happen.
The games continued until my lease was up. MBUSA said I had to deal with the dealer. The dealer said MBUSA wasn't cooperative with them. Regional MB personnel wouldn't speak directly to me but said I had to speak to them through the dealership. The bottom line was that they didn't care if they were losing a 20 year exclusive customer.
The complicating factor in my case was that I was purchasing a car that had already been bought back. Debate over the application of Nebraska Lemon Law caused me to not sue but I'm still regretting my decision not to. The arrogance and total lack of concern that MB showed to a committed customer was appalling.
To give you an idea of the level of problems that I experienced, I had my service writer calculate what repairs to my car would have been if not covered by warranty. The total for the first six months I had the car was over $20,000. This was for a car that had 3,800 miles on it.
As I said, good luck with your fight. Mercedes deserves every bad rap they have received in the last 10 years.
Have connected MBUSA and got the same story you got. The dealer needs to handle it. Then was told by MB they would replace the car only then have them say no. Not one person at MB or the dealer level has been helpful.
I know that I will never buy a mercedes again. As soon as I can I want to trade this thing in for another BMW. Even with a Lawyer now involved I feel nothing will happen. MB seems to be to good at producing junk selling to costumers then walking away from it all laughing at us while they take our money.
I've seen more lemon law buyback '03-'05 SLs on eBay than any other car I can remember. Sometimes there were upwards of 10 or 15 sitting there. If your roof actually opened and closed on a regular basis, consider yourself fortunate.
Please repost with paragraphs and SOME white space.
Many years ago, I bought a BMW 320 with light color seats. When I arrived to pick up the car, the seats were filthy....it was obviously a demo car or something else. I refused to take the car. Had I taken the car, they never would have fixed it....it would have been my fault.
Hate to say it...but it's always buyer beware. No matter what the sales droid says, you need to have something in writing signed by a manager (service or sales) if you find anything wrong.
sounds like you are going to have an endless problem with Mercedes. I'm sure there are some dealers that would help, but there are always good and bad dealers. Sounds like you have one of the louses.
I certainly agree, Mark, and said as much in another board.
Since this is your most recent post, and they've become much rarer of late, I'll take this opportunity to wish another long-timer a happy holiday season.
Hope you're enjoying your A4.
Kevin
In summary: I could have done without the black wood on the interior. Exterior-wise, it is much nicer looking than the non-sport. Other than minor issues, I would get the Sport again. Being a no charge option, it is a "no brainer" IMHO.
IHO, the ride is the key factor on a car. I have changed tires twice, been to Infiniti several times, and found that, in short, the ride of the M35X is sub-par. A vehicle of this price should be fun and safe. This car is fun but hardly safe. I have "changed lanes" by running over pot holes more then once. I commute 125 miles daily and have given this vehicle a workout. It has a great deal of difficulty traveling a straight line.
I feel bad posting this, however, I do not want others to face a similar experience. I am off to Lexus or BMW....a better bet.
What gives? Can I do better than this $899 price on the M35x? And please don't hit me with a bunch of fancy numbers and jargon like "money factor," etc. as all I care about is the bottom line.....what I need to pay each month.
Thanks for any help/advice you guys can offer.
Hint1. Your in the wrong thread, try the Infiniti lease questions one.
The rest you must do for yourself grasshopper!
I'm sure you can do better than $899. Talk to the posters in the M35 prices paid forum, and talk to Mercedes, Audi, BMW, anyone else you might be interested in. If the Infiniti is still your first choice, go back to them and let them know what the competition is offering.
I hope someone else is just as helpful when you need a hand.
a 42K loan at 10.3% for 5 years will cost you 899/month
a 45K loan at 7.37% for 5 years will cost you 899/month
You are better of doing some work...
Self teaching is an amazing experience... try it.
Also this is what (can) happen if you ask for help on internet
ENJOY!!
link title
http://willyyilly.blogspot.com/2008/09/why-you-should-never-ask-help-from.html
You have the cart so far past the horse that it's impossible to answer your questions.
We are helping you by encouraging you to dig deeper. Don't be in a hurry, the answers will come. The journey is the best part.
Actually when I drove in to pick up the shiny new (Ibis white) B8 A4, I had a momentary pang of regret, "what have I done? I love this A6, it has been a joy to drive and at this moment it, apparently, looks pretty much as it did the day I got it and the body style of the 2008 is identical. Why not just keep the thing?"
For a week or so, much as I liked and appreciated the new A4, I still felt that I had not actually moved forward, despite my dealer's assertions that the new A4 was "better" in so many ways than the C6 A6 3.2.
About 2,500 miles into it, I really started to feel the A4 had much to like, more to love and very little to not like.
Note: My Ibis white A4 2.0T quattro is the Prestige version and is optioned with the following: 1. 19" sport package; 2. nav+backup camera w/voice; 3. power rear window shade and manual side shades; 4. Audi Drive Select; and, 5. Wood trim on the dash and doors. I also added Audi chrome tips and Audi maintenance. It was all of $49,000 (almost exactly). My outgoing A6 was $53,286. They have the same lease term and the same lease price per month (almost to the dollar.)
The new 2.0T is -- hold on -- a 4 cylinder turbo engine powered vee-hick-L. It has a 6 speed tiptronic transmission that bears little resemblance to the one in my 2005 A6 3.2, other than having the same name.
The 4 offers up 211HP, the outgoing 6 255HP. The 4 cranks out 258 foot pounds of torque at "idle" (well, practically); the 6 delivers 243 foot pounds at something north of 3,000 RPM.
The wheelbase of both cars is about 1" different, the A6 being the longer in that category. The 4 has been lengthened several clearly noticeable inches, but is still shorter than the A6. The wheels of the 4 are pushed closer to the "head and tail" of the car than on the 6 and the 4 benefits further from a 40/60 f/r torque split and better weight distribution.
The new 4 is much wider than the old 4, but still slightly more narrow than the 6, but when you are driving the 4, the look from behind the wheel is almost the same as it was from behind the wheel of the 6.
The ride of the 4, due, one would imagine, to engineering and wheelbase and width is more like an A6 than it is a B7 A4. Heck, the dash of the 2009 A4 is a carbon copy of the 2005 A6 (which, for me, is a small nit, since I would like to have had SOMETHING that looked a little bit different or newer -- but the '05 A6 interior was so sweet, perhaps Audi restrained itself opting not to mess with what many call "the best interior" period.)
The new A4, were there not already an A5 model, could probably be called an A5 it is so different from the outgoing A4 and so close to the current (2008 MY) A6.
The new tiptronic transmission is the smoothest transmission I have ever driven and the paddle shifters on the steering wheel cause "instantaneous" shifts when flicked.
The torque combined with the smoothness of the engine (vibration free, no kidding) makes you wonder if someone didn't insert a larger engine under the hood -- this is quicker than my 1995 S6 turbo manual shifter, quicker than my V8 A6's, quicker even than my 2003 2.7T manual transmission allroad and quicker than my chipped 1.8T TT (6 speed manual.)
It is, however, not as quick as the last available S4 model with that gutsy 4.2 V8.
It is, oddly, quicker and more responsive than the same A4 equipped with the lovely 3.2 V6 Audi offers as an up-price down-grade (performance and mileage wise, that is) version. It also weighs less than the 3.2, so there is even more of that nimbleness Audis are often famous for especially the "S" versions.
The tires are 255 x 35 x 19" MAX performance Dunlops and they are sticky, sticky, sticky -- coupled with the sport seats, sport suspension and Audi Drive Select this car goes with even more aplomb than a snake in a rat hole (as my wife says.)
The B&O sound system blows the A6's Bose system away. Finally an in dash 6 disc CD changer, too.
In any case, you can find out, elsewhere about the power and performance and something one step above Entry Level Luxury that Audi has imbued this new A4 with -- suffice it to say, I am still fond of my 2005 A6, but the 2009 A4 (at least optioned as I have mine) is the next step up.
Here is what I miss: the headlights articulate UP and DOWN based on road speed, but they do not articulate LEFT and RIGHT based on steering wheel position; I miss folding outside rear view mirrors, but love their built in turn signals and blind spot warning feature; I also miss the halo of light that the interior of the A6 was bathed in after dark -- but many people don't even seem to know they have it.
The Audi Drive Select, no hype, is literally like getting four personalities available one at a time in a single car -- from Comfort to Dynamic and 24 combinations you can dial in through the MMI. This is an amazing innovation. If this car had torque Vectoring and a slightly different tuned exhaust note under part throttle, it would render the A6 C6 3.2 "outclassed" and "over priced."
Remember, I still have nothing but love for my '05 A6 -- this new A4 is just plain wonderful though.
Did I mention it has but 4 cylinders? And, all things considered, it ain't very thirsty.
:shades:
Don't be a stranger.
One question:
"..all things considered, it ain't very thirsty. "
So - compared to past Audis & [ roughly ]
the same driving, what MPG does this Turbo 4 deliver?
Thanks,
- Ray
[ non-turbo V8 driver ]
My gut and the Audi computer says 25-30mpg's -- I have just turned 4,000 miles and I only use Premium fuel.
I also love putting the system in sport mode and playing on the twisties -- and I typically am able to drive with traffic on our freeways above 75mph.
Winter, too, may reduce mileage.
My past experience: Audis break in @ 5,000 and 10,000 miles and both their performance and efficiency improves at those milestones.
This engine is the best "economy" motor I have ever had the pleasure to drive and feed.
I cannot find turbo lag -- none.
The new A4 2.0T is definitely a better car than the old A6 3.2. The new 3.0T engine though finally solves the A6's power problem and puts the advantage back in the C6 camp, (though of course it still gives up some sportiness to the A4). The new 3.0T also makes the 4.2 pointless, just as the 2.7T, especially in S-line guise, did to the old 4.2.
Having said that, the 3.2 sounds better under part throttle than the 2.0T -- although both cars are more isolated from all sounds than my A6 was.
There is more tuning that can be done to the 2.0T (factory tuning), too. But it seems there is little interest in improving the 3.2's numbers -- so the thing is, apparently, Audi has decided that a 2.0T and a 3.0T is your best overall value and performance choice.
The die hards still can have the naturally aspirated versions and they cost more so, for the time being, it would appear everybody wins.
I wish the 3.2 had been goosed in HP and Torque, but super or turbo charging perhaps allows us all to do more with less.
Bless anyone who buys the 3.2 -- personally, however, I don't see the merit in getting the new A4 as a 3.2 when the 2.0T has all that torque way down low in the rev range.
I agree. I'm not sure what Audi's plans are in terms of an A4 3.0T, but if they decide not do one because it would hurt the S4, they would probably be better off killing off the 3.2 and offering the 3.0TDi as the middle engine choice.
Of course the issue that can be legitmately brought up is that it is quite easy to pump up the A4 2.0T's price above $50K -- but due to the way low down torque of the turbo motor, the A4 is still performance competitive with the 328xi (in fact it is able to out perform the 328xi.) So, what does the 3.2 compete with? It is only able to pull well from idle due to a shorter final drive ratio (than the 2.0T -- which of course further decreases its economy.)
You can easily equip a 335xi for under $50K, too and in that instance neither the 2.0T or the 3.2 are able to keep up if straight line acceleration means anything to you. Then there is the upcoming 3.0T S4 which if priced closer to the 335xi would make a persuasive argument.
But the S4, no doubt, will be a wonderful and superior performer but at thousands more than the 335xi.
I remember the old days where there were two or three models in the lines of each of the German maker's cars that were brought to the US. There was a 2.8A6 and up the ladder a 2.7TA6 and a 4.2A6 (and there was even an S6 avant) -- BMW had its comparable 5 series models and things seem so clear.
The S4 is no M3, that is saved for the RS4, but then what purpose in the lineup does the 3.2 actually serve. I just config'd a 2009 A6 and once again there are two versions of the 6 the 3.2 and the 3.0T and then there's the apparently redundant (but way more $$$$) 4.2. I don't get it -- why bother with a lineup that doesn't progress in performance as you take the next dollar step up?
At least BMW's approach makes sense.
Oh, to heck with it, the 2.0T A4 is a great car, better than the 328xi in terms of performance, size, features and lux. But the poor 3.2 seems so out of touch.
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I configed an '09 A6... what happened to all the options? It seems like you have your choice of Premium/Premium Plus/Prestige and that's basically it. Where's the sport suspension option and everything else?
Last week she had the normal 100,000 mile service done. The car was running well and she just wanted to keep to the factory maintenance schedule. Everything went smoothly except that on an A6 the entire front bumper and front end have to come off to get access to the water pump and the front end idler assemblies and timing chain. A minor oil leak from the one of the four (!) cams necessitated a new cam seal. Naturally, the crank seal was also done. What did this "normal" service cost? $2000!. The mechanics all said to us that they had seen frequent timing component failure as early as 105,000 miles. Does Audi pay for the 100,000 mile service on a CPO vehicle? If Audi wouldn't pay this service under the CPO plan, why buy a CPO Audi?
That Audi would install a four cam engine with a fragile timing set-up as their standard duty A6 sedan engine is, frankly, nuts. Apparently the design of the MB and BMW timing components and far fewer camshafts, is much better and allow for up to 300,000 miles of service before the valves hit the head.
As a side note, the well regarded indy mechanic who did the work commented that the aftermarket cam and crank seals that he originally ordered from the local imported auto parts store, were far inferior to the OEM dealer seals he eventually used. He commented also that Audi calls for mechanics to set the service interval light to come on at different intervals depending on the type of lube oil (synthetic or dino) installed. I am surprised. In my experience, other manufacturers don't make that distinction.
Audi doesn't pay for any scheduled maintenance for a CPO vehicle. They only cover warranty repairs. Anything considered a "wear" item will not be covered. This is the same across the board. If you expect BMW to pay for your services at 100K, you're dreaming. If an Audi is still under Audicare when its purchased, that will be in effect until the normal warranty is up.
The last gen C5 A6 was an expensive car to maintain. Sure it's a lot nicer to drive than a Camry, but that's the downside. An E or 5 of similar vintage is likely to be just as pricey to keep running.
If you use the top grade synthetic oil, you can go buy when the computer says its time to come in for a change. If you use the normal stuff, you have to come in every 10.