What's happening in '97 for Audi?

[Sean Reifschneider <jafo@tummy.com>]

Greetings...  It's been a long time -- through some misunderstanding with
majordomo, I got bumped from the list and decided that I probably should
be WORKING instad of figuring out new ways to spend money.  :-)  However,
this weekend we stopped by the Audi dealer...

They had this nice looking S4 -- turns out to be a '94 with 26K miles.
Looks like it's in real nice condition -- a real nice car.  They want
$36K for it (which is too close to 911 C4 territory :-).  Nice car, but
it's a bit big.  We're happy with our 90 90q20v, especially in size
(and MPG).

So for $6K less we can get a new A4.  Some of you may have read my driving
impressions of the A4 from this winter.  It's like our 90, only much, much
better.  Better quattro, everything seems much more refined, PLUS it has
TRUNK SPACE.  :-)

However, our dealer here NEVER has any cars.  They've had this Autumn Red
non-quattro for probably 6 months.  They had one red A4q (the one we drove)
but it didn't have leather seats -- something we had to have.  So, if we
want an A4 through this dealer, we have to put down a deposit and order the
car -- 6 to 8 weeks.  That puts us AWFULLY close to when the '97 model
year starts coming out.

That not only means that (a) our car instantly depreciates, but (b) that
we may get more to choose from.  For instance, I'd love my A4 to have the
electric seats that adjust to different drivers depending on what key is
put in the ignition.  Not an option on the A4 -- THIS YEAR.  From what I've
seen of the S2, it looks nice as well...

So, any ideas what Audi is putting out for '97, and when we can expect
to know?  Part of the reason we're looking at the new A4 (besides it
being a great car) is that our '90 is due for some work.  At the least,
A/C recharge, the '90K checkup, finding out why we're loosing so much
oil (about a quart ever K miles -- at least partly leaked onto the
exhaust housing but we've had the gasket replaced and checked), the
brakes MC checked, and new bushings on the suspension.  It'll probably
easily come to $1K to $2K depending on the work required.

We can easily make it until Sept without the service, but unless we order
something within the next couple of weeks I think we should have the service
done.  Of course, once we have the service done, at least 50% of the reason
for purchasing a new A4 goes away (we *ARE* happy with the 90, and it's
VERY paid for :-).

I don't even WANT to ask for suggestions about '94 S4 versus A4.  :-)

Sean
-- 
"We just wanted to give the band a little more thrust than most other bands."
        - Donald Fagen's reply to why they chose the band name 'Steely Dan'
Sean Reifschneider, Inimitably Superfluous <jafo@tummy.com>
URL: <http://www.tummy.com/xvscan>  HP-UX/Linux/FreeBSD X11 scanning software.