Thats kind of harsh, lets keep this civil guys.

Between the new TT, R8, A8, and the new A5... Audi is on fire. While many have good experiences with Audi, there are still enough people out there who are unlucky with the problematic cars that make me uncomfortable to step into an A4.

 

1. it takes about 5 frustrating minutes to klunkily enter in a destination with the clumsy Audi NAV dial on my friend's new A8 vs. about 10 seconds on my touchscreen Lexus NAV.

2. my friends have a lot of electrical nightmares with their Audis that you'd never see with a Lexus - like electric windows getting stuck in the down position! Another friend had to Lemon Law their brand new TT because the entire electronic dash went haywire. Audi's consistently pitiful rankings in the JD Powers/Consumer Reports surveys speak for themselves.

3. as for my intelligence, let's just say i easily pay cash for all my cars.

enjoy your Audi, but please stop trying to defend the indefensible.

 

2 Audi's and over 8 VW's. All had severe issues with them. But...that does mean I do not like them though the only German car I would contemplate of purchasing again is a Porsche and not one of the slower NA models. Audi makes some nice cars right now-problem is noblody knows about it and most people care less about Audi the same as Volvo.

 

Not choosing sides here, but I'm unclear as to what cash has to do with intelligence...

 

Your wife's Lexus is a LS 430, its NOT going to be fun, it was not designed to be fun.
Sorry but I find Lexus and Acura Nav to be the easiest to use and reviewers have stated the same. Audi simply slapped a **** in there b/c BMW has a ****.

Clearly, you own the car, you will figure it out and love it.

 

Please read that quote. Keep it civil.

 

I see that I am going to have to defend myself on every point here...
It's alright to have your bias, but to label every German car "German junk" is just as ignorant as some people calling Japanese cars "Jap Crap".

1. If you don't like the dial then use the voice command, which I find very useful when the car is moving.

2. I'm not going to deny the some people do have problems with their Audi's (the vast majority being the older generations). But I have friends with Toyota/Lexus products that have made several unscheduled trips to the dealer to fix various mechanical issues. Luckily I haven't had to take the my wife's in. Contrary to you belief that Audi's do consistenly poorly in CR, they have seen the most drastic improvement in standings/rankings of any brand in existence and I predict that given a few years they will be at or very near the top of the rankings.
http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/...ort-list_x.htm

Audi's reliability ranking rose 15 spots in the last year alone.

3. Paying cash for your cars irrelevent. It just means that you possess money and has nothing to do with intelligence.

I will enjoy my Audi thank you very much and quit making ignorant comments.

 

Sorry 1SICKLEX, but I couldn't just let his comment earlier about "German junk" just slide. I will try and refrain myself from calling gekko an idiot from now on.

 

It has absolutely nothing to do with intelligence, his statement about paying for cash for his cars just adds another statement onto his growing list of ignorant statements and gives us a little bit of insight into how he thinks.

 

Sometimes people have trouble adapting to new technology. I've never spent an annoying amount of time programming the nav on my family's still trouble free A8, but that is obviously just my personal experience.

Quite little in my experience...

 

See, I really love Audi's, I think they design the best looking cars nowadays, challenged only by Alfa Romeo's, however it is true that their reliability isn't great. Everyone that I know that either owned or owns an Audi, swears never to get one again.

As far as controls go, it's a shame that Audi incorporated a system similar to BMW's I-drive. It's nothing but a useless gadget, and many people including myself prefer traditional controls. IMO Lexus and Acura are making the best controls that are the easiest to comprehend. As far as the level of intellegence associated with using these systems, it's nonesense. I know someone who owns a multimillion dollar corporation and happens to be a BMW fan, but he refuses to upgrade from his 2001 740 because the new 7 has I-drive. And voice commands? That's just lame.

Ultimately, whether you agree with me or disagree with me, most people seem to have quite low opinion on Audis. And I have sales numbers to prove that.

That being said, I drool everytime I see A8L, and if it wasn't german, it would be the #1 candidate for my next car.

 

What's lame about voice recognition systems? What wrong with the A8L being German? Germany has a very illustrious engineering record. Some of my friends say the same thing about the new LS, except their excuse is that it's Japanese. I try to explain to them the ridiculousness of this mentality but some people can't get over their biases.

 

Looks: Yes, Audi produces some handsome and distinctive designs. Their interiors are widely regarded as the best-executed in the business.

Performance: Yes, despite the lackluster entry-level models (and let's face it, every manufacturer has 'em), they've got some cars with really impressive acceleration, handling, and braking numbers.

Reliability: No matter what the numbers say, they do have an uphill climb regarding market perceptions. It will take several years of rock-solid production to make a dent in that.

Customer Service: Interestingly, no one commented on my previous post in this thread about how Audi lost my $120K to Lexus because of a rude salesman. To be taken seriously in this country the entire experience has to be superior, not just the product. Maybe I had an unusually bad experience, but I'll never find out otherwise because Audi lost their one chance to win me over.

 

True, but it depends on what you mean by "bias". For instance, I've been driving and trying out new cars for almost 40 years now...I've had a Virginia license since 1968 and a U.S. Government license since 1975. And after roughly a million miles behind the wheel, personally owning several dozen new and used cars, helping hundereds of people get THEIR new and used cars, and reviewing untold hundereds of new vehicles, you DO learn something. And I have learned, quite strongly, that computers and electronics do some things in cars VERY well, such as engine management systems with fuel injection, ignition, and turbo controls, anti-lock brakes, and traction/stability systems....and don't in others; things like video dash displays, joysticks, and hard-to-decipher programs while you are trying to drive and keep your eyes on the road.

Now...does that mean that I am "biased"? You be the judge on that one.....I won't rate myself. And does that mean that others can't disagree with me? No.....doug999 and genearch both have no problem with I-Drive and similiar systems. But I myself have found these systems to be overly difficult, distracting, and a possible safety issue, and I just DON'T want them in any car that I own or have to drive on a regular basis, period.

Same with airplanes, although, as a licensed pilot, my experience is less with them than with cars. I found that, in general, analog flight instruments were easier to read and decipher at a glance, especially in turbulence, than digital ones. But in fairness, for several reasons, I never had much experience with video-type aircraft.

 

Voice commands are as lame as they get. First of all, they never work right, and espcially for people that speak with an accent like myself, they are just about useless. I don't have patience for them, and I would it just feels weird trying to talk to your car.