RE: If it WASN'T a Quattro - would you buy one?

["Doyt W. Echelberger" <Doyt@poboxes.com>]

At 09:17 AM 1/1/97 -0500, you wrote:

>
>On Tuesday, December 31, 1996 1:24 PM, Dave
Wright[SMTP:davewrit@execpc.com] wrote:
>> Question for those with Quattros - new & old. If you were buying the same
>> car today, and Quattro wasn't an option - would you still buyy the Audi? I
>> have had 4 and would have to say yes and no, depending on the car and car's
>> availble at the time of purchase. I was wondering as a friend asked me, and
>> I really had to think about it.
>
>Since we're speculating, what about phrasing the question a little
differently...  If other fine German auto manufacturers offered quattro as
an option on their cars, would you still by an Audi quattro?  Any takers on
an M3 quattro?   Just dreaming...
>
>-- 
>Mark Hilbush
>Baltimore, MD
>87 4kq
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O.K., Mark...you grabbed the ball from Dave, and....here we go...

IF another fine German auto manufacturer offered quattro, in 1997, I would
wait at least 3 and more like 5 years before seriously considering almost
any one of them. That would give the company time to debug the car in the
cauldron of real-world customer use. And it would give me the data I would
need to consider purchasing one.

IMHO,first year production models of most car makers can be expected to have
significantly more problems than cars made in following years, because only
the public can test cars to  reveal all their weak points. And since Audi
has the longest quattro test going, among all manufacturers, they have also
made the most adjustments and refinements in the art of merging quattro into
the other features and systems that make up their car. Audi is very safe bet
for your $30,000 + or - US dollars.

On the other hand, if you consider VW to be "another fine German..." then we
may have an actual history of a quattro-like drive offered outside the Audi
logo.  The Quantum and the Passat are probably examples.  The Quantum had a
very brief life, but the Passat seems to be well spoken of among its present
owners, in the USA and abroad. I think that I would seriously consider a
quattro Passat in 1997, given the long history of close association between
the engineering and production divisions of VW/ Audi/Porsche..I would
certainly consider quattro in a Porsche, given the financial resources to
just go out and buy any car I wanted. I would do that today, with enthusiasm.

But that would require me to go out and get a job, rather than  being
retired and doing whatever interests me every day, all year. As you put
it.." Just dreaming..."   (insert video of old gray-haired guy in
top-of-the-line red Porsche, with big smile, cruising around to the grocery
store and the library.)

I smile a lot in my 86 4KcsQ.        Doyt