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In the USA you might see a few in late Sept, but most places won't have a decent amount til Oct. Note that the Audi factory completely closes down in August, producing 0 cars while most everyone goes on (a full month!) vacation and the factories retool... also it takes 4 to 6 weeks to ship to USA depending which coast you're closest to. If you don't believe me notice that Audi is not introducing the new A4 at the Detroit auto show, a sure sign it isn't coming out very soon. The USA dealers are clueless on the new model and don't meet til June. Also, they just added 17" wheels, new sport seats, and "celebration" package discounts for the 2001.5 current design model.
On the bright side this delay makes the Europeans guinea pigs for the new design, they have 6 months to tweak things. Audi has done many significant half model year tweaks in the past.
oh, and does it feel good.....1.8t, brillant black, sports, prem, bose, quattro, tip, and eccru.....absolutley fantastic...interior is amazingly beautiful lit at night....cornered great and gripped the streets like crazy..especially in TO..woohoo, snowed again...can't wait to get out again.
question....the 1.8T has a red stripe on its badge....nothing like the others...i think it's the celebration package...one more thing....i didn't request, and believe the lumbar support only came in the 2.8T and s4..but my baby has it...? was that a nice christmas present?
Good luck with your new car. You'll love it more and more every day!
I drove to the Madison dealer yesterday and found that they have less than 7 A4s.
I found that the one in Love Park seemed to be the best. They offer 4.9% above invoice and I can still reduced the price a little bit. Last week, a salesman from Love Park, IL told me they have an year-end sale....
The one in Madison probably an old-fashioned dealer and don't realize people can do researched on the web.
As far as audio, I saw too many complaints about the Bose system on the AudiWorld A4 forum so I went with the stock Symphony system. It's not the best sounding system but I've had no problems with it other than the mid range setting mysteriously resetting itself now and then. But I'm not going to let that tarnish an otherwise great vehicle. The sound isn't bad... just not Alpine quality. Speakers are smaller in the A4s than in Accords and of questionable quality.
As with all cars, there have been a couple minor issues but overall, the car is a class act. Whether or not you want to spend the extra money as opposed to an Accord EX or Jetta is your call. The A4 and Jetta are completely different vehicles, so you'd just have to drive both and see what better suits you. Like you, the A4 was a financial leap for me as well but I certainly don't regret it. Good luck deciding!
My wife and I want the buy a new A4 with virtually no options (except color) or possibly the sports package. What are some prices those who bought in So. Cal paid? And could anyone recommend a good dealer? I'm in San Diego, but I'm willing to travel. Thanks for any help
Also, I have the Bose system and I think it's great. I don't know what the stock system sounds like, and although I am no audiophile, I would definitely get the Bose system. We have a Bose system in the Acura, and I think the Audi's system is much less bassy. I like it much better.
Good luck with whatever decision you make. BTW, I have had the A4 for about 15 months, and have had no problems other than a remote that didn't work when I picked up the car and a small squeak, which was quickly remedied.
And yes, the TL is a great car for the money. It has a wonderful Navigation system and is very comfortable (moreso than when I am a passenger in the A4), but the A4's driver's seat position is more comfortable.
Both are great cars, you can't go wrong with either. They just serve slightly different purposes.
One concern I have is that I read in another topic how someone had difficulty using an infant seat in the back seat of an A4. We would require a forward-facing child seat to be installed, preferrably behind the passenger seat. Although this would be my car for commuting to work, we'd also like to have it equipped for transporting our 2-year old occasionally. When I test drove a 2001 A4 last week, it looked like there was plenty of room back there for a typical child seat. And why would Audi provide the tether strap anchors if a seat wouldn't fit? Anyway, I asked the same question in that other topic, but I never received a reply. Does anybody here have any experience with a child seat in their A4? Can one be used without TOO much difficulty?
I can answer the Bose question, but the baby seat would be better answered on Audiworld. In fact if you go to the search function in Audiworld, I believe there has been alot written about this.
I have the Bose stereo and think it's great. I am certainly not a major audiophile, but I had a Bose system in my Pathfinder, and my husband has it in his TL, and I prefer the Audi's system to all of these. I have never had a problem with the Bose at all. I think most of the problems with the stereo came from the stock stereo, not the Bose.
Also, the people on Audiworld are major audiophiles, and nothing would make them happy, except spending thousands on a new system.
I also have the 6 CD disk player and also have never had a problem. I now have the car 15 months, and feel I can appropriately give a decent opinion on this system. I would definitely spring for the upgraded system if I were to buy another Audi. I am not big on taking out the dashboard and screwing up the continuity of the lights, etc.
Good luck. Hope to see you in an A4 soon. It is a great car. I still look forward to driving it every day!
We have the 2001 1.8T A4 and we were able to fit one of the bigger (and older) car seats in the rear passenger area behind the driver's seat (it's easier to reach for the person riding shotgun)...but just barely. For example, when we flipped the arm rest up over my son's head, it hits the ceiling and can't fold all the way back. But if you have one of the newer versions that don't have one of those bulky plastic guards in the front, then you'll have plenty of space. On a weekend trip to my parents, we were able to fit my family of four and our luggage easily. Usually we take our '99 Isuzu Trooper but I wanted to use the A4 to see if we could travel in it.
Regarding the baby seat, I'm just gonna take one of our seats with me and actually try to insert it into an A4 on the dealer's lot. Better to try it out with the actual seat than to rely on feedback from people who have different types/sizes of baby seats. I don't expect this to be a problem. It might not be very convenient, but it won't be the primary "family" car, anyway.
I don't know if I had mentioned this before, but I dropped out of the A4 hunt back in Nov 1999 because I found a great deal on a used '99 328i. In fact, it was SUCH a good deal that I believe I can now sell it for the same price I paid. And here in Arizona, we don't have to pay sales tax on cars purchased from a private seller. I'm thinking of selling it because we need to get some money back out of it, and we also need to cut down on expenses where possible. If I sell it, there's no doubt what I would buy in it's place! I could order a 2001 A4 1.8T FWD with 2-4 options on it, and still have some extra $$ leftover from the BMW sale (with a NEW car and warranty!). With 170hp, 4-yr warranty, and the reduced price on the Premium Package, it's looking quite favorable I'll factory order an A4 later this week, in order to get into March production.
What would you think of the white exterior combined with the ecru seats and navy blue dash/carpet? Or do you think the clay dash/carpet would work better in this instance? I purposely didn't ask about the onyx dash/carpet because that's what all the A4's have on our dealer's lot, and I don't know that I want black here in Arizona.
I'm sure if I'm serious about ordering a new A4, my dealer will not have any problems with letting me try out our baby seat in one of the A4's on their lot. I'm guessing it will be tight, but it will still work for occasional commutes.
Cheers
Good luck!
Please let me know if you get any good pricing info there in Texas. I'd be interested in comparing prices!
By the way, are you aware of the new Sports Package for the 1.8T Quattro? Audi raised the price a couple extra hundred dollars, but they are now including 17" rims and tires on it! I don't know if dealers have started to receive these versions yet, but it's mentioned on either KBB.com's or Carpoint's car pricing, as well as carsdirect.com. It was confirmed in audiworld.com. This upgrade is only for the Quattro version of the Sports Package. Looks like the FWD Sports Package still comes with 16" rims, at the same $660/$750 price as before.
As a previous owner of 3 & 5 series, I can understand you jumping on a great deal. 328s are fun to drive but there's just something about the A4s and Audi in general that now has my interest. Except for the BMW front end (always loved the look of BMW front ends), I prefer both the exterior and interior styling of the A4, but of course that's a personal thing. The Audi build quality also seems a little better and the quattro is wonderful.
Equalizer1 mentioned her boss' ecru seats getting dirty fast and I have the same problem. Mine is a melange 1.8T with ecru/onyx ambition interior, which I think is the classiest looking interior but if you wear jeans and dark clothing in general a lot, the ecru leatherette starts to look worn and it's hard to clean. I tried several products and finally found Westley's works the best. I'm from S. Florida so I certainly understand why you don't want black! Personally I love the look of the ecru seats but you may be better off overall with clay. I sure wish all Audis came with leather because it's much easier to take care of.
I have confidence you'll end up with an A4 and know you'll love it. I've had a few little annoying issues with mine but overall it's been rock solid, dependable and like Equalizer1, I look forward to driving it every day.
Let us know what color/interior you order.
Well, I went to the Audi dealer again yesterday, and I believe I will go through with the order, but I haven't placed it, yet. We have a 2-year old son we adopted, and we want to start the ball rolling for another adoption. Getting our money back from the 328i would definitely help us out, because it certainly looks like my few stock investments aren't helping at all! ;-( Another test drive, this time in a sport model, helped remove some of the cold feet involved with this decision. But I still need to make a couple final decisions...
The ecru/onyx (Ambition) interior seems to be the most popular A4 interior choice at our Audi dealer. I think it would look quite sporty with the white exterior, but as I said in a previous post, I'm still leaning away from the black dash, doors, steering wheel, trim, etc. I think it might be a little too much black for my taste (and for this heat), and it would also show dust easily here. But.., it's still a strong consideration.
My wife has now objected to the ecru/blue (Ambiente) combination; and if there was any question before, it's out of the picture now! I also discovered yesterday that the "clay" (Advance) is not an option with leatherette. (I'm fairly certain I would like leatherette more than cloth.) And as you would suspect, onyx leatherette (the other Ambition option) is out of the question here in Arizona!
That leaves me with two other options besides ecru/onyx (Ambition) for the interior: "opal gray" (Ambiente) or "ecru/brownstone" (Advance). Hence, I am debating between one color combination from each of the three Atmospheres. Based on feedback from you and equalizer1, it sounds like the opal gray interior might be the best choice for reducing cleaning effort and maintaining a newer look for a longer period of time. Unfortunately, this option doesn't provide that classy two-tone interior that the ecru seats provide. I'm wondering if it might be too boring? The ecru/brownstone looks promising, but it also contains some light colored (ecru) carpeting; it has the "hard to keep clean" ecru seats; and it likely wouldn't look as sporty as the ecru/onyx when mated to the white exterior. Still, it is probably the most appealing choice to me, but I almost hope I can be talked into liking the opal gray interior in the long run! Our dealer had one opal gray interior, but with the cloth sports seats. Upon initial inspection, it didn't do much for me. But it might grow on me. I'm wondering if it might look better to me when equipped with the 'normal' leatherette seats?
Being so indecisive about this, I sure wish us A4 1.8T buyers had all the interior options that Audi provides for the A6! ;-) It almost (but not quite) tempts me to wait another 6-9 months and spend more money on the new 2002 A4.
Since I am debating one color combination from each of the three "atmospheres", does anyone have any strong opinions on the different 1.8T aluminum trim designs that come with these atmospheres? Or any opinions on how good the aluminum trim looks with the black, brownstone, or gray dash?
Feel free to post any additional opinions -- I'm always interested in reading them!
I didn't think I'd like so much black either but now it looks incredibly rich with the brushed aluminum trim, and in the major heat of S. Florida the black dash, etc is no problem. I bought 2 sets of those fabric fold-up window shades and in extreme heat/sun I use them front and rear, providing good protection and they're quick to use. Dust wasn't been a big problem or inconvenience, but then I'm anal about keeping my car clean and wipe the dash area down frequently out of habit.
I guess the best thing to do is pick the interior you think you'd be happy with and if your dealer has one on the lot, drive it around and see how it affects your senses. Could you live with it for the next several years or maybe get tired of it in a few months? Do you get a "bland" feeling when driving, or do your surroundings provoke some excitement? I wouldn't let the fact that you'd have to invest a little more effort to keep the ecru seats clean deter you from considering them. They look great and if you clean them with Westley's on a regular basis, they'll be fine. I know I said the gray interior may the best decision for you but I think better advice would be to choose whatever makes you excited to drive your car every day and just deal with the minor inconveniences. Some people love black cars and just accept the extra effort involved in keeping them clean.
Unless you go with a different brake pad, the biggest battle you'll have will be keeping the rims clean. The brakes on the A4 are excellent but the rims sure get filthy... fast! As you no doubt already know, German cars are famous for brake dust building up very quickly with stock pads. My previous BMWs had the same problem. If you like clean rims you'll be wiping them down daily, and with 10 spokes on the sport rims it can take a while. I wipe mine down daily or every other day, and use a wheel cleaner a couple times a month.
Take care and I'll be curious to see what your final decision will be.
The Passat is a V6, with +20 HP and +40 torque. It's longer in both length and wheelbase, and bigger inside.
The Audi has alloy wheels and CD player standard. The leatherette seems nicer than Passat cloth (but I might think otherwise in summertime). Mileage would be better, and it has a better warranty for the shorter-term owner like me.
The cars are priced nearly the same for the Tiptronic I would want.
I've driven the Passat but not the Audi yet. Some seem to think the Audi's steering is tighter, which I like. (My Wagon's steering quality has degraded significantly over 45,000 miles. And I eat tires, but that's true with all my cars because of the nature of my commute.) I THINK I like the B5.5 Passat's looks better.
Does anyone have any salient points that would be helpful in this decision? Or is it really aesthetics and feel?
Thanks!!
You must test drive the A4 before you make any type of decision. I also thought I was going to get the Passat, and then drove them back to back, and there was no contest.
My brother bought the Passat without first driving the Audi, and after driving my A4, he regrets not getting the Audi.
The Passat is a nice car, but the Audi is a sportier and more tossable car. It depends on what you are looking for.
COTMC
I absolutely agree with everything DRC4 has expressed. I have an all onyx interior, and it is not difficult to keep clean at all. I would imagine an onyx/ecru combination (especially in the leatherette), would be easier to keep clean than leather. My husband uses simple green on his ecru TL leather, and it easily gets out all stains. As far as dust on the onyx dash, there is virtually none. I very rarely have to take the feather duster I keep in my glove compartment out to dust it. I thought I'd have a big problem. Even in the summer here in the NE, which can get pretty hot(not as hot as Arizona), the dash and steering wheel never felt hot.
As DRC4 said, the only real maintenance item, which is a pain in the butt, is the brake dust, which you would have in any color. Also, the onyx carpeting will show sand a little more (which is easily rectified with a quick car vac), but on the other hand, the lighter carpeting will show dirt easier. Six of one..........
Good luck. Go with one makes you the happiest. There are upsides and downsides with each color combination, but none are very time consuming. Like DRC4 said, getting a black exterior is the most time consuming maintenance item I can see.
I also like the interior of the A4 more than the Passat. Also note that you can factory order an A4 equipped exactly the way you want it. A VW dealer told me I could NOT special order a Passat.
You will also generally get better treatment with Audi service centers than the typical VW service centers, but your mileage may vary. The 2yr bumper-to-bumper warranty on new VWs concerns me, whereas the improved 4yr 50K bumper-bumper Audi warranty, with free maintenance during that entire interval, is a much better warranty.
The Passat is the choice if you need to routinely carry more than 1 other passenger at a time. The back seat of the A4 is tight, whereas the Passat does quite well as transportation for a family of four; with more storage capacity in the trunk. I like the rear shade feature of the Passat, and I wish it was a factory option on the A4.
I forgot to mention, as a follow-up to equalizer1's earlier post, that I am now planning to order the Bose stereo upgrade. I listened to both stereos at my local dealer last week (they had an A4 2.8Q with Bose), and I could detect a little better clarity and dispersion with the Bose system. I understand the arguments that it isn't worth the ~$600 cost, but I'm willing to pay it if it makes any noticeable sound quality difference at a mid-volume listening level. To me, it does make that difference. I wish it was less expensive, but I've decided I really want the better clarity, at least for the type of music I listen to.
I also contacted a 2nd dealer 100 miles away from me, and they have a car nearly identical to the one I was planning to order. I wanted white, but they have a melange. Otherwise, the options are identical to what I wanted: FWD, 5-spd, Bose, Sports, and Premium. Even though it has metallic paint, and it also has the higher-priced Premium Package instead of the cheaper Celebration Package (same equipment, however), they are offering it to me for the same price I would get if I factory ordered a new white model with the Celebration Package. ($25,340)
Although I was planning on ordering with white, I also like the melange color. They are almost a toss-up, as far as I am concerned. I was planning to order the white exterior mostly because I didn't want to pay $400 more for melange.
I know that melange has ecru seats, but I don't know if the dash is onyx or brownstone.
Anyway, this definitely makes things more interesting!! I wasn't anticipating taking delivery anytime soon, but now I have to give it some strong consideration. If my co-worker doesn't really want my BMW afterall, I should be able to sell it slightly higher now than if I wait until April/May.
It was fate that my dealer had this particular car on the lot, which was special ordered for a foreign customer who wanted the navigation then changed his mind. Because of this I got an unbelievable deal of $150 over invoice after some fancy negotiating. Strange how things can work out. Sounds like the melange A4 at the other dealer may be a decent deal, though I'm wondering why you wouldn't want Quattro, which not only significantly improves residual value/resale...moreso than any other feature on the A4s...but also has a tremendous effect on the numbers used in figuring the loan or lease (especially a lease). But then I realize some people don't really need it, which is why Audi provides a choice.
Again, the bottom line is whatever makes you feel great about your purchase with no regrets. BTW, Equalizer1 was a big help and influence on my decision to get an A4. I haven't regretted it! Mine goes in for its 10K mi free service tomorrow and hate to be without it for even a day...although they always give me a new A6 to drive (trying to get me to trade up!) and I can handle that. Last time they gave me an A6 twin turbo and I hated to return it.
Good luck and whatever you decide on, I hope your dealer treats you as well as mine treats me.
You and I obviously are on the same wavelength. When I read your posts, it seems you take the words directly out of my mouth.
As you and I had discussed a few months ago, I really wanted the Melange, and my husband wanted the silver. We went back and forth on this for a while, until he won. I still sometimes wish I had the Melange, but the silver has grown on me. I think there are more interesting interior color combinations that you can have with the Melange, as opposed to the Silver. Oh well......
I'm glad I helped you in your decision. It really helps when you are in love with your car. Then being a walking commercial makes it easy and honest to let others know the advantages of a certain product.
COTMC
I truly don't think you'll ever regret getting the Bose, even at the $600 price. Most of the premium stereos on other cars are around that price. As I said in a previous post, I think besides the sound, that the fact that I would have had to have the dashboard ripped out to get an upgraded aftermarket system, made the Bose choice a no-brainer.
Again, good luck with the car. I love the Melange, and it sounds like you got the perfect combinations all around at a great price.
Like you said, with 4 yrs. fully paid maintenance, how can you go wrong?
I have no doubt the Bose system is audibly better than the stock Symphony system. The problem I have is door rattles from speaker response that I haven't had a chance to fix yet. The speakers are fine, it's just inner door elements rattling. Do you have any rattles resulting from your Bose? Maybe Audi takes a little more care in assembly with the Bose system.
I took my car in today for its 10K mi service and the A6 was unavailable so they gave me a new Jetta. Nice car. It was interesting to find the sunroof doesn't exhibit any air noise, unlike the noticeable noise in my car. It's dead quiet. If it can be achieved on a Jetta, why can't Audi do it on a $31K A4??? One of those little life annoyances that makes you say, "hmmmm."
Take care.
I think a large part of the answer is that I live in an area where I won't see the benefits as much as most people. I live outside of Phoenix, AZ, in an area that never sees any snow and very rarely experiences any rainfall. Secondly, the roads here are very straight, flat, and boring. Almost every single street is on a straight North/South or East/West grid allignment.
Thirdly, I value all the straight ahead accleration I can achieve, without doing aftermarket mods to the car or engine. The FWD version is 250 lbs lighter, and this makes it a little faster.
Also, we have an SUV with AWD, and so we have some added traction with our "family" vehicle, in case we need to drive in unfriendly road conditions. Our AWD SUV would almost always be the vehicle of choice for any family road trips. This A4 would be mostly my own personal transport to/from work and around town.
Finally, I have a goal of staying close to $25K on this purchase. Even though I may see all the investment returned to me if I sell the car in 3 years, I would prefer to keep the extra $1750 in my own possession.
If I lived up north, or even if I lived on the West Coast where they have some interesting highways, I would likely give very strong consideration to buying the Quattro. I just can't see enough benefits for my particular situation.
If you think I should consider additional reasons for purchasing Quattro, I'd be interested in reading them. However, I'm not sure my mind can be changed at this point. My tentative purchase deal of $25,340 for a new 2001 Melange 1.8T with ecru/clay leatherette interior, Premium Package, Sports Package, and Bose is almost too tempting to pass up. Having found out it has the ecru seats and clay dash/carpet makes it even more tempting.
By the way, I finally received a 2001 A4 brochure! My previous homework was outdated. The Advance atmosphere ecru leatherette seat option provides both a clay dash and a clay carpet. The 2000 brochure stated the Advance atmosphere with ecru seats provided a brownstone dash and an ecru carpet. I'm definitely happy with the changes for 2001!
There are plenty of people on this forum if you go back a bit, who live in warm weather climates that have FWD A4's and are very happy with them. Quattro really shines in the rain, and if doesn't rain often in your neck of the woods, the FWD should be just fine.
Good luck!
"My sunroof started doing the same thing a couple of months ago. Here's what got rid of it for me. There's some sort of fuzzy material all around the sunroof. This fuzzy stuff had gotten compressed over time and became a lot more solid. I took a toothbrush and brushed it out again all the way around...Squeak is GONE!"
It might be helpful.