1997 A6 Quattro Wagon

[Mike Arman]

>Reply-To: "saucykate" <saucykate at hvc.rr.com>

>Subject: 1997 A6 Quattro Wagon
>
>I am on the verge of buying a very low mileage, 97 A6 Quattro Wagon from an=
> independent dealer.
>
>Do any of you Audi experts have any experience with this particular car? I =
>currently drive a 4 wheel drive vehicle, but have no experience with all wh=
>eel drive. I've read some horror stories about the 98 V70AWD Volvo wagon, w=
>hich is my other possible purchase. Is it  true that one must change all fo=
>ur tires on this type of car if one tire goes bad? I've never heard that be=
>fore and was wondering if it's just particular to that vehicle, or is it th=
>at way with all the all-wheel drive cars?


Perfect example of greedy, ignorant dealer syndome. Total BS. All four tire
sizes do have to be the same (i.e. no 15" on front, 13" on back, or R & L),
but no, you emphatically do NOT have to change the other three if one goes
bad.



>
>Also, if any of you own this particular model, would you advise for or agai=
>nst buying it? How about up-keep? Are they finicky, in the shop a lot, etc?=
> I drove it and it seemed solid and nice. I love the look of the car and it=
> seems to suit my needs. It has less than 60,000 miles and a clean carfax.


The car will grow on you - after you've had it for a while, you'll drive
something else and then you'll realize just how good the Audi is. My 1986
5000 is smoother, quieter, more solid and more stable than my wife's 2002
Mazda 626. (And no, she is NOT happy about that!)



>
>Personally, I feel the Volvo is a bit stodgy and feels heavy to drive. I al=
>so noted a very subtle vibration when driving it. I found out through doing=
> some reaseach on the net, that this could be caused by problems with tires=
> that do no match.

Possibly - non-matching tread patterns sometimes do that, and it happens on
other makes than Audi as well.

The vibration may come from something else, though - since this car is
coming from an independent dealer (a dealer who knows less than nothing
abut Audis, as opposed to an authorized Audi dealer, who knows exactly
nothing about them), I'd find out what it was, and probably have getting it
fixed as a condition of the sale.

If there is anything left of the Audi-assured warranty (probably not),
that's worth having.

These are really good, very satisfying cars, but the dealers seem to be
rather unimpressive (also a problem with other makes). Find a good
independent Audi shop, and your service problems will be much less
expensive than at a dealer.

 Beatiful car, in any case, however.
>
>I'd appreciate all feedback on this particular Audi and on the Audi thing i=
>n general. I've owned German cars before (humble Volkswagens, however) and =
>always liked them.
>
>Thanks so much,
>
>Kate



Best Regards,

Mike Arman