Audi A4 - any experiences?

We've got an A4. Mr Hole says it's the smoothest ride he's ever had <fnar>

Plenty of space for childer and all their associated gubbins, big boot, easy to drive. He loves it.

We looked at the A4 but in the end my H went for the (cheaper) Saab 93. It's brilliant to drive, and has loads of space for baby gubbins. I love it so much more than my horrible mummymobile.

MrKJX has an Audi A4 Avent - he seems to like it (it has more 'face creams' and skin treatments etc than any woman I know!).

I like it cos it's black and has a huge boot to fit all the child hardware in.

What Car only gives it 3 out of 5, link below. Like you said they think the BMW is more fun to drive but my concern would be their reference to offset pedals - I test drove a Peugeot with that fault and it hurt my back after only 15 mins.

https://www.whatcar.com/car-review-summary.aspx?rt=2796

I'd prefer the Avant but unbelievably it's £3 over my contract hire allowance in the engine/trim I want. Don't see that it's got much more over the saloon though as the roof line is very slanted.

Rache - I was looking at the 93 but I have an irrational prejudice against the dashboard ? (and the stupid centre console key start).

Champagne - think it seems to be a bit marmite. The BMW and Mondeo get 5 stars from just about everyone but the BMW is ubiquitous and the Mondeo has the blue oval and I'm a badge snob having driven a Toyota for the last 5 years ? Interesting re the offset pedals - I'm test driving next weekend so will look out for that.

Yep I know what you mean. I had Fords for years: Escort x2, Puma x2 and a Focus but driving German for the last 3 years has turned me into a badge snob. Plus my H is a panel beater and him and all his work colleagues will only buy German or Japanese for their build quality.

If I were in your shoes I'd also be struggling and think my test drive experiences would probably be the thing that made my mind up, or budget constraints! I was torn between the Golf GTi and Audi A3 and ended up leasing the former because I could afford it vs the 1.8 engine in the Audi and it came with so much more as standard.

The central key thingummy - that is a bit annoying, but it's amazing how quickly you get used to it. What does your wife drive? I can't belive I'm the sucker with the MPV when I actually drive the little blighters around very seldom (MrRache does a day of childcare; I do none?).

Mrs Greenback drives a 10 year old Avensis. Low mileage, cheap to run and huge so don't really see the need to replace it as it's worth very little part exchange wise. May as well run it into the ground.

No idea but my boss always has A4's and likes them a lot. MrSun and I were looking at a second hand one but he wanted to erm, SLine is it? One that doesn't look like so much of a grandad car anyway. We decided for the top end of our budget it was a bit of a compromise so went to look at a Lexus. We liked that but still haven't bought anything. Waiting for MrSun to sell his bleedin motorbike.

Lexus IS is on the list but having driven a Toyota for so long, it's much of a muchness (I currently drive a top of the range Avensis and the Lexus is apparently pretty similar in terms of drive and gizmos). Plus there's the Alan Partridge factor ?

Any other alternatives? Don't really like the styling of the Insignia, Passat is dull, Accord is very old man (and my dad used to drive one), C-class isn't on the list, Volvo S60 is high on the emissions.

This is the same problem we're having. We won't buy Ford or Vauxhall and yes, the Lexus is very like the Toyota we currently have but saying that it's a fab car so we don't see that as a bad thing. Lexus are also doing quite a good deal if you're taking any finance, not sure if we would be but it's worth thinking about. I didn't like the sales bloke at Audi, the Lexus guy was fab.

We've had the same run through on different cars and most of them have been taken off the list as being too 'grandadish' in the words of MrSun. He really wanted a BMW at first but they're a bit common and we don't have that sort of money.

Mazda?

I think a Civic is on our list to look at aswell Baron but MrSun isn't keen on the plastic trimmings around the arches etc. I was surprised that the Audi and Lexus didn't have much more room than our current Corolla which is what we're after with a 2 year old.

I think the Audi is the largest in its class, which is a bonus with the baby on the way. My Avensis is cavernous and probably gave me a bit of an unrealistic expectation of boot sizes (the BMW was terrible for space).

I'd tell you how reliable ours is, if I wasn't so scared of invoking the law of sod. Doh!

We had one and loved it. We had the equivalent beemer before and much preferred the Audi: more spacious, and just generally nicer. It was beautifully reliable and seemed to never need filling up (huge tank + low consumption). And it's one of VERY few cars which I find looks interesting.

Sadly it was a company car so we no longer have it. We replaced it with a Zafira which isn't as nice, but is frankly much more practical (huuuge boot + seats for gdparents/friends)

Was it a BMW 3 or 5 on your list?

We looked at Audi's, but the A4 was too small for MRJMP(6ft4) so the person behind would have had zero room. A6 was quite basic spec - I had a Q7 & wanted to go for an estate rather than a 4x4. So went back to a BMW

No actual experience of it here, but Mr Mal is an ex mechanic and says our next car is definitely going to be an A4. He has worked for several prestige companies and said Audi is the best he has worked on.

We saw his friend last week who now works for Audi and he said that the build quality is far better in the ones before the facelift model (2005 I think?) but I see you are going for contract hire so it would be a new one. just thought I'd mention it though.

We have the A4, Avant S Line Special Edition, on an 07 plate. Had it from new, is a company car and its awesome to drive and loads of space and comfortable. I love it. It has a slight acceleration lag and we have had a couple of instances of 'limp home' mode booting in whilst on the motorway, it has been in 4 times to get thsi fixed but they are baffled. Its an occasional occurance but a bit odd!

I would buy one if I had the money and wanted an estate car

3 series, Mrs JMP. Budget won't stretch to the 5.

The contract hire allowance will pay to a 2.0 TDi Executive SE Saloon and that's the max, so no silly Xmas tree lights on the front. That has all the bits I need anyway.

We've had an A6 for 3 years and have found there have been a few small but annoying niggles. The customer service from the local dealership was utter toilet (though I know this could be a local issue).

Before that we had a 3 series coupe and it was a lot of fun, though there were a few niggly issues with build quality (but excellent customer service).

Due to replace company car as soon as we get the forms but as MrH now works from home we're seriously considering downsizing to something Golf-sized. Though this might be foolish with small child.

My H has an Audi A4 and loves it. It's lovely to drive.

Have you considered a Mazda6? I have had 2 over the last 6 years and loved them. I was going for an Avensis but I had trouble seeing over the dash weirdly!

I've just changed to a mazda CX-7, but do stil really like the 6. Just a thought.

Does your company provide a list on cars or can you say choose from a £350 PM budget?

Could you not go for an A5 coupe, as I guess you would be doing more motorway trips to London & in a few months get MrsBGB a family car if her one needs replacing - rather than you getting the family car & then being faced with buying a newer one & then may end up looking at smaller cars than the one she currently has, IYKWIM?

It's a list of cars within a certain contract hire price including servicing. Basically it'll cover just about any car to £24k ish (dependent on the usual things such as resale value, mileage etc.) I'm factoring in the possibility that Mrs GB's older car could die off and with the baby coming, money will be too tight to replace at a similar size.

In my experience, this question really means Audi or BMW.

The Saab is basically a Vectra but with an engine from a van and Lexus is just a toyed up Toyota. And not very good. The interior space in tiny, really small in the Lexus.

The A4 would be my choice over the BMW as the overall package offers more. Things to note are the slight offset of the pedals which suits some and not others and a small flat spot annoyingly at pull off torque. You will only really notice it in first gear but its there and its annoying.

As with all Audi's it nosey and wants to understeer but this is ultimately preferable to death dealing oversteer on a day to day basis. Reliability and build quality are a red herring and should not really be a factor as they are all much of a muchness.

The BMW is still a sound choice but the 3 series is now dated and the latest model was never one of the best. The styling on the A4 is quite nice although I think it only really stands out at S-Line and above.

I had an S5 recently for a few days and it was quite fun but definately not family orientated and anything other than the 3.0 TDI would be manifestly underpowered. The 2.7 2wd is only just quicker than coastal erosion and one to be avoided.

HTH

Thanks Lannie, that's really helpful.