Need feedback on purchase plans

Does Audi have a CPO program? Perhaps you can snag a certified/previously owned A6 with a couple of years of fault coverage from a dealer?

Yes, there are certified cars and yes they will come with the remainder of the factory warranty. This is in the plan if I go with the Audi.

Have you or your wife actually driven a Honda yet?

Don't get me wrong, they're good cars, reliable as hell. I've always had Japanese cars, and I have yet to be unhappy with one. Still, it's a whole different experience.

Before we bought our A4, my wife was driving an inherited Buick. It was the only car she'd ever had, and had driven it all through college. When we started looking at cars, we looked at Hondas, because she had always wanted one.

(well, that was her second choice, actually. She wanted a Saturn, but I have a strict "no GM products" policy. It's in the prenup. Anyway...)

When she actually drove a Civic, she couldn't stand it. It was "too light", in her words. She didn't like the way it felt on the road. She drove a different model, and had pretty much the same opinion.

Coming from that big ol' Buick, she felt more comfortable in a car that felt more substantial. We looked at VWs first, but we couldn't find a Jetta VR6 automatic. After bouncing around for awhile, she took an Audi for a ride. We bought it the next day.

So, in case you haven't done it yet, actually driving a Honda is the first thing that you should do. It might change your mind about what you're looking for.

The Nissan sedans I've been in seem to ride pretty nicely, and they're (generally speaking) reliable. If you rule out the Honda but still want to look at other options, check one of them out.

You have already answered your own question, once an Audi Driver always an Audi driver, you will always be saying to yourself " I wonder what the A6 would have been like"

Do the right thing :)

Ron

Pronto - you're a smart guy. Yes, I wrote this request after coming home from our test drive. Logically, I was all set to go for the Honda - Cost, Style, Interior finish (prior to this had only seen them at an auto show). The test drive went fine. I'm sure we can be "satisfied" with the Honda's ride for a few years until the economy recovers fully. The 3.0 V6 isn't sluggish, but it sure isn't a Turbo like the 200 we have. It seems to be about 1/2 the weight of our current Audi - but that's not completely bad - is it?

When we bought our '91 Audi, it was similar to your experience. We were all set to buy a Lexus. Drove the Audi and fell in love with the handling. We are going to go look at the A6's this morning - I suspect we'll be hooked by it also.

The reason I plan on buying a car TODAY is that my wife needs to drive on Friday to pick up our daughter from school for her birthday this weekend - then drive her back to school on Sunday. The 200 is simply making me nervous to send the wife on a long drive like this twice in the weekend. (She doesn't like driving my Suburban or else I would send her in that).

I think maybe I should delay this a week or so and rent an Accord for the weekend trip? Yeah, that aught to do it.

Grrrrrr. Reliability - repair costs - reliability...

Logic vs emotion.... why can't they go hand in hand?

No feedback on reliability for the A6 guys? Please convince me that they are more reliable than in the early 90's.

If reliability is your #1 concern, take the Honda.

Myself? I can't stand Hondas. They suck in every imaginable way EXCEPT cost of ownership. Life is too short to drive a car you hate.

Get a good example of the A6, with all the maintenance/repair records. If it means that much to you, buy an extended warranty (even though they often don't return the money spent on them) for peace-of-mind. Drive it until the little niggles show up, then sell. Rinse, lather, repeat. :)

Spider

I have been a Honda driver (actually Honda/Acura) since 1988 and in

Compared to my previous Honda products, I just love the Quattro.

I know this doesn't answer your reliability question. Not that they are the end-all, but, Consumer Reports gives the 2001 a "check" for reliability. But, the 1999's got bad marks for electrical, power equipment, and fuel.

-- Curtis Newton snipped-for-privacy@remove-me.akaMail.com

ICQ: 4899169

I purchased my 2000 A6 2.7T used with a CPO warranty. The extended warranty has paid for itself and I still have18 months to go on it. That siad, 2000 was the first year for the 2.7T and the reliability ratings on it are not as good as later years.

As far as reliability of modern Audis over 90s Audis I can't comment from personal experience. I will not think twice before buying my second Audi. I am firmly convinced they are the among the safest, sportiest, best styled cars on the road today. I can't wait until my wife tells me she is done with her 1999 Accord so we can get her in an A4 Avant. A few months ago we test drove cars for her including the Accord V6, Passat wagon, A4 Avant 1.8T and Volvo S60. I know the prices are all over the map but the one she liked least was the Accord - too much road noise and bad material quality to even be in tha same league with the VW! She liked the A4 hands down over the rest. To this day she insists she is not a discerning car buyer and insists that all cars are just basic transportation. Yet, she wants an Audi and not another Accord.

So, is an Audi as reliable as a Honda? I believe the consensus here is no. Is Audi reliability improving? I believe the reality is generally yes but there are still problems out there. Is the driving experience of an Audi worth the problems? For me, yes. For you?????

Enjoy your purchase.

Aar

I would like to thank everyone for their responses - it was helpful even though biased - which is what I was looking for obviously.

Yesterday we purchased a car - it was NOT the Honda. I had a method to my actions yesterday. At noon, I disappeared from work and took my wife for more test drives - leaving the A6's for last. Little did I realize that she would fall in love with the Kia Sorento suv. Yes, I can hear the laughter all around the globe . My biased intentions were to have her hate the ride and proceed directly to the Audi dealer 3 blocks away. You should have seen her face light up in this thing - something that I have no power over - never had in our 25 years of marriage if you know what I mean.

So, I thank you all once again - I will now slide over to alt.autos.kia and monitor any issues so I can address them as they arise. I will return some day to alt.autos.audi when "I" purchase for "ME" another Audi to replace my Suburban - this I know is inevitable as Ronny stated, "once an Audi Driver always an Audi driver".

Since I doubt anyone here cares to hear anything about ~Kia~, I won't - but there was some logic in this decision. My wife started her own business last year and the vehicle will better accomodate her hauling things to and fro.

Later.

Second person I know who did the "rule out Kia" thing and bought one.

You'll get back to us on the cost of ownership thing I hope.

Shoulda gone with a new or almost new A4. Kia's apparently are built good enough to show in the commercials but that is about all. Too bad you didn't see the new JD Power ratings before you wrote the check.

OTOH, your wife can expense the thing. Silver liing.

But how much homework did you do? The Forester beats the Kia on almost all categories. And you could have gotten the XT, 0-60 in