RE: A4 build quality

[Bob Davis <bob@segNET.COM>]

>
>How has the reliability and frequency of "little annoying things" been on
>your vehicle?  I currently own a GTI-VR6 which is annoying me to no end with
>a continous stream of "little things" that simply should not occur on a
>vehicle with 29k miles (including a leaking head gasket).  My concern is
>that VW and Audi are well, you know, related and that some of the bad blood
>may exist in the Audi as well.    


Hey Don, 
I recognize you off of the GTI list.
Anyway, I've got a '97 GTi VR6, and I've had numerous Audis at my disposal
over the years (Mom has an A6q now).  This I can tell you -- the build
quality on Audis is better than on VW's (the Mexican built ones especially).

Sure, little things go wrong from time to time, but you don't get that
annoying rattle in the back (speaker wires?), the broken welds, the squeaky
inside panels, etc. that we have come to know all to well in out beloved
(fast!) VR6's.  

Audis drive like they're carved out of a single piece of iron (unless the
suspension is beat).  VW's (at least ours) don't.  They're not in the same
class.  The GTi is a hot-rod -- light body, big motor, all of the
performance tricks -- but it's built on an economy car chassis (granted, an
exceptional one, but still...).  The A4 was designed from the ground up to
be what it is (same for all Audis).  There's an advantage to that.

I love my GTi, but when the lease is up there's going to be a silver A4
1.8t quattro in my driveway (maybe even sooner).  

BTW, a friend of mine owns a VAG dealership near Stuttgart -- he's of the
same opinion.  "Audis sind einfach besser."

Oh, and I didn't cross-post this to the GTi list.  We'll keep it our own
little secret.

Bob Davis
bob@seg.net