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  #1  
Old 05-21-2002, 03:59 AM
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Ok now what about MB vs Audi ?

The BMW vs MB had such a response I had to try this one. I know that Audi has not had the best of reputations in the 80's and nothing much befor that so the past is not much of an issue. I was wondering if anyone had any opinions on the current ones. I personally love thier styling and the interiors ,as I have said befor, are something MB should begin looking into these days. Imagine a Audi like interior with MB everything else, that would be an amazing car! The only thing I see with Audi is that the leather doesnt seem to last that long. I was thinking that this may be due to the excesive use of seat heaters or just plain abuse or both. I would personally take an S8 over an S55 one because of the interior and guage layout and two its the ultimate stealth speeder IMHO. And if you have to drive in snow, not to worry as of course it has quattro. I know Audi is not thought of as being in the same league as MB but they have come a long way in the past years, and they dont carry that "racer" image sometimes associated with BMW

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  #2  
Old 05-21-2002, 12:32 PM
resqguy
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I think the jury is still out on their longevity, only time will tell. I test drove an A4 3.0. I must say that I fell in love with the steering wheel mounted buttons for the Tiptronic transmission.

Their prices have inched up there.
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Old 05-21-2002, 03:40 PM
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I think it's like comparing apples with cinnamon toast.

I owned a 4000 quattro in the mid-80s. Loved the car, loved the four-wheel drive. I reworked the suspension some after the newness wore off and made it tighter. It took some work, but if I was precise and didn't make big mistakes, it could outrun 3-series BMWs of similar vintage. Barely. It died after 125k miles from an electrical fire which started behind the instrument cluster. It was a great car to be driving over Wolf Creek Pass in Colorado during an early fall snowstorm.

One thing I appreciated a great deal was that dealer assistance was tremendous. I bought the car from the then-Porsche/Audi dealer in Santa Monica (can't remember the name). Every time I had a mechanical issue, even past the warranty period, the problem was taken care of - most often for free. The best example was that a valet person in my building in downtown LA broke something in the transmission and the tranny clicked in reverse. Even though it was just past the warranty period, the service manager wrote it up in such a way that I got a brand-spanking new transmission (and clutch, throwout bearing, etc.) for nothing. Not even a labor charge.

I might consider owning one again if the opportunity presented itself. I love the handling feel of four-wheel drive.
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Old 05-21-2002, 04:03 PM
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I like all the 4 door audis (pretty much)
next thread MB v. Porsche
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Old 05-21-2002, 06:32 PM
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One of the VPs at work just got an A6. I had been trying to convince him to get an E-Class but the A6 saved him almost 10 grand. He seems happy so far, and says the only thing he doesn't like is the look of the rear end.
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Old 05-22-2002, 01:25 AM
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Being an owner of a VW Passat and having been in some new Audis, I can tell you that they have what Mercedes seems to of lost, and that is that solid thud and feel to their doors. Personally I am not impressed with all the technoid "toys" they are putting the the new Benzes, well for that matter all the new BMWs, and even Audis. All this electronic stuff could be put into any car. That doesn't make that car a better built or engineered car. It's just a car with more electronics to fail in the long run. By long run I mean 10-15 years or more down the road.
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Old 05-22-2002, 02:02 AM
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Unhappy

I worked in a Porsche/VW/Audi shop for three years in the early 80's. Being the only non family member working there I got all of the Audis. I remember dropping the front sway bar, pulling the axles then jacking up the engine to do the front brakes. To those of you in the know rear brakes on a XKE were easier to do. We probably had only twenty customers with Audis but saw three of them with massive electrical problems. On the other hand when teching for SCCA ProRally the Quattros were stupid fast.
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Old 05-22-2002, 12:55 PM
Matt Crooke
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Re: Ok now what about MB vs Audi ?

Quote:
Originally posted by BAd124
The BMW vs MB had such a response I had to try this one. I know that Audi has not had the best of reputations in the 80's
?? The Quattro, gotta be in the top 5 cars of the 80's surely.....even if they did rust away!!!
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  #9  
Old 05-23-2002, 12:26 AM
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Right, thats a good point and I dont disagree I just meant that Audi got a bad rap for the whole unintended acceleration bit. Which by the way was never proven but did signifigantly kill sales
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Old 06-03-2002, 09:26 AM
KPG
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My brother is an automotive engineer in Germany, and according to him Audi is in the lead at the moment in terms of engineering, build quality, fit and finish. BMW is a close second. MB is lagging in 3rd place - for what it's worth,
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  #11  
Old 06-03-2002, 10:44 AM
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What does your brother say about the future outlook for MB in regard to quality? Does MB admit to the problem?
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  #12  
Old 06-03-2002, 03:29 PM
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Volkswagen/Audi have the cream of the talent pool right now.


How else can you explain the new Mercedes-Benz models.

You've got people working there that don't understand the old values and traditions that built the marque.

I bet on lunch break the personnel talk about sports.

If I were in a position of power at Daimler-Benz or if there even is that division of DaimlerChrapsler and I heard employees of the company talking about sports or something else stupid like that on their breaks, I would fire them!!!!

You can tell a lot about a person by their favourite topic of conversation....
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Old 06-03-2002, 03:37 PM
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damn...u'd be one harsh boss!!!
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  #14  
Old 06-03-2002, 04:37 PM
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My dad ran a previous model A6 2.6 for three years and 97,000 miles. It NEVER missed a beat. Nothing went wrong. It had a service at the dealer every 10k miles. And the service was about half the price of what I pay for my C-Class. I think--as does my old man--that it was the best car he has ever owned.

Last summer I did 2,300 miles in three days in a new model A6 2.5TDi Quattro Sport (what a mouthful) and that was a superb car. It showed about 20k miles when we left. The interior was very comfortable. The steering was a bit numb. But it was a great distance machine. Ans it had a big fuel tank: 18.5 gallons. Why doesn't MB fit a big tank? A bigger tank used to be an optional extra on the W124.

I borrowed a TT the other day. It was 2 years old and showed 50k miles. I know the regular driver really looks after it. I was shocked by the state of the interior. The leather was fine, but the plastic was marked and the trim rattled terribly.
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Old 06-03-2002, 06:43 PM
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My father had an Audi (100 something series) in the mid 70s'. I remember driving it as hard as it would go one evening and when I got home I told him there was something knocking - I had blown up the engine after which time he got rid of it. It was an alright little car and would have been better if it had not lost that engine. I was about 17 at the time and I liked the dealership because we get to go up there and check out the new Porsche 911 turbo (they were a Porschei dealer too).

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