Jim, thanks for the advice. What I've found out since is that there were issues with the 2000 and early 2001 A4s, but this has been fixed, although if so, i wonder why they switched to a V8 for this year. I'm now a bit skeptical and still may go back to a C43...there are several starmarked C43s around for the mid-20s...didn't love it but it's practical.