New A6 Avant ...

[Taka Mizutani]

Scott-
When you say that Infiniti and Lexus have surpassed Audi- I would
disagree in terms of interior durability- lately, I've seen some Lexus
LS430s, Infiniti G35s and other cars come in as trades- 3-4 years old,
and they look like hell- power windows and seats are slow, button
legends on the radio worn out, plastics looking aged, bits of trim
looking really worn out.

The only car I've seen this to be a major issue with in the Audi
lineup is the C5 A6- the rubberized coating put on most of the
switchgear and buttons really doesn't wear well when it's abused- the
cars that are kept in excellent condition seem to not have any issues,
but I'm seeing a lot of neglected cars and lease return cars that look
pretty bad, with the rubberized coating peeling off of the headlight
switch, the window switches and the radio.

Porsche and VW have the same issue with this coating- look at a '97-00
Boxster/996 or some VWs (New Beetle) and the door handles all have
peeling issues. The '02 996 is much much better, no issues in the cars
I've seen (15 or so).

Taka