Audi vs Luxobarge

[Mike Arman <armanmik@n-jcenter.com>]

Note with amusement Caddy STS vs Audi thread which seems to be developing here.

(Never drove an STS - too new!)

My business partner (age 77) has an 89 Eldo with 105K on it. He maintains it
fairly well, gives it whatever it needs, good tires, regular oil changes,
etc. I drove it 175 miles on Interstate some months ago - now remember,
we're trying an apples-to-apples comparison here, not 97 STS vs 87 5KS - and
yes, the Caddy is OK in a VERY straight line - but even lane changes make
for queasiness! What a slug that car is! Marshmallow ride - trying to make
it turn is like trying to make love on a waterbed - sort of like wrestling
with jello.

Now compare 89 Eldo (value about $8,000) to 86 5K (value about $3,500,
maybe). Guess what (and I know I'm preaching to the choir here) - the Audi
(mine) is 10,000 percent better! It's not as quiet (tire noise), but I,
repeat _I_ am in control, not just along for the soggy ride. The Audi shows
41,000 miles, but the odometer died before I got the car - probably 75,000
or so on the chassis and suspension.

There is NO comparison!!!!! And his Eldo is not a particularly bad example
for this age and miles.

Now, lets project a little - it is now year 2005, and we're going to compare
an eight year old 1997 Caddy STS with 97,000 miles on it to an eight year
old A-6, same miles. I suspect the results will be the same as the
comparison we did back in 1997: The Caddy is a calamity - handles like a
Vespa in the rain driven by a drunk, steers like a wheelbarrow with a flat
tire - and that quirky, wierd Audi still tracks straight as an arrow, and
handles, too.

Remember that there are two very different car-building philosophies here:
GM's idea is make it last for 100K, then get 'em to trade it in on a new one
(kleenex theory - use it once, throw it away - result of affluence and easy
credit) vs. European theory of make it last forever, and they'll buy another
one because this one was good to them - result of rebuilding war-torn
Europe, and they didn't HAVE enough left to throw stuff away that was still
perfectly good, or could be made so for a few pounds/marks/francs, etc.
(Yeah, I know that was 50 years ago, but old ideas die hard.)

Department of unsolicited sociological opinions signing off now -

Best Regards,

Mike Arman