My Audi A4Q was my first luxury car. Upgraded from my Civic. Thought I finally deserved something a bit nicer. That was about six years ago. The Quattro (all wheel drive) works wonder in the snowy weather. German Engineering. The car was a better deal then the BMW's and also a better balance between a sport car and a comfortable car. The BMW's fit and finish and creature comfort was not as good as the Audi's. Although they do drive much better. They are the altimate driving machines. So, what's the problem? How about ball bearings front and back, brake pad noise, and other minor but annoying problems? Top off with the fact that my dealer, while nice people, were always having problem scheduling repairs. They have to wait for a part, they are very busy, always take forever to get anything repaired.

The final blow came Summer time, a few weeks ago. I realized tha my AC is not working anymore. Took it in. They said the condenser is broken. It is a $100 part. However it is behind the dash board and would take about $2000 to fix it because of the labor required. While I was comtemplated to pay for the repair, since I am spoil now, how can I live without AC, they told me that they would not be able to schedule the repair until end of August. That is the end of Summer. What were they thinking?

Turned out I was not alone on this. At least one person I know that has a same model different model year Audi has similar horrible experience. Two other person have the same AC/condenser problem and expense with European cars. So one week of intense test drives, BMW's, Mercedes, and I found a great deal on a Lexus GS300. Bye Bye Audi. No more German cars for a while.