Audi on a budget...?

[Kent McLean]

Nick Urban wrote:
> I'm thinking about buying my first Audi.

> I'm looking for something practical, elegant, and fun, preferably with
> a manual transmission for less than $6000. I figure my best bet would
> be to find a well cared for A4 or S6 from the 90s.

It depends what you are looking for. Since you didn't mention it, and
since you left out the A6, I'll assume you may be looking to enhance the
basic car. The S6 can take lots of mods, up to RS2 spec (Ka-Ching!).
The A4 1.8T can also take mods. The A4 V6, not so much.

Some will argue that the S6 is the iconic Audi - famed, bullet-proof
I-5, easily taking bigger turbos. The size is adult sized, with space
for 5. But it can be a real sleeper.

The A4 is a beautiful body, but it is smaller than the S6. You can mod
the A4, but it won't be in quite the same league as the S6. A modified
S6 is probably going to last longer than a modified A4, just because
the little 4-cylinder will be stressed more.

The key is electrics. The S6 has it's issues, but the A4 has more
electronics -- HVAC, the little LCD driver display that is known to
go bad, radios go wonky. etc. You can fit a DIN head unit in the S6,
but will be hard pressed to replace the A4 audio with a clean install.

I like my A4, but I wish it were a little bigger. My biggest complaint,
aside from the bad LCD driver info display, is the seat bottom cushions
are too short. I can't quite get comfortable in them. I replaced the
standard seats with the sport seats from an S4, but they still aren't
as comfortable as you'll find in the S6.

-- 
Kent McLean
1999 A4 Avant, V6 Tiptronic
1990 200 Avant mit V8 conversion
gone: too many to count, including my first, "Bad Puppy"