Re: Audi Price Cuts

[rdh@genrad.com (Robert D. Houk)]

   ...
   I think you mean reliability and not quality in the above statement.
   But even with that modification, the recent stampede to buy trucks
   shows reliablity _and_ quality take a back-seat to image.  Trucks and
   SUVs are notoriously bad in almost every objective measure, e.g.
   comfort, performance, reliability, yet people are buying them like

Comfort is certainly a qualitative term; my Pathfinder was considerably
more "comfortable" than my UrQ, in most measures (e.g., climate control,
ease of in/egress, etc;), with the Audi winning hands down on the longer
trips (great seats! and more "even" A/C [The Pathfinder seemed to cool
down quicker, but had more obvious cycling of the A/C, just like my
Mitsubishi...]. Performance similarly means a great many different things.
For example, with the Audi I have to shovel out the snow-plow-trails
to get the car on the road, with the Pathfinder I just bull-dozed my way
through them (laughing maniacally). And, as I alluded to previously, the
Pathfinder is happy to go places that I wouldn't dream of taking the Audi,
even *if it could* make it there. As to reliability, yes, I will concede
(Hope! Dream! Pray!) that today's Audi is "as reliable as yesterday's
Mitsubishi",  (based on claims made in this group, and experiences of the
two people I *know* who have '90's vintage Audis) which is why I would
briefly consider buying a new one today, if only they had a replacement
for the UrQ.

Oh well, time to try to accomplish actual "work" today.

					-RDH