Why *I* drive an Audi...

[audidudi@mindspring.com (Jeffrey J. Goggin)]

Well, I've received quite a few responses directly and have browsed through
many more indirectly and it looks like there are some common denominators as
to who we are and how we came to drive Audis...

In my case, the two primary factors are 1) they're German and 2) they're
cheap, especially when you take into account the "tweek potential" they
offer.  Truth be told, as much as I like my '89 200q, I doubt that I would
have purchased it had the price been $12,000 instead of the $8,200 I paid
... yet that's about what a similar vintage BMW or Merecedes equivalent
would have cost me at the time.  Audi's depreciation woes of the mid-80's
set the stage for me to drive cars that I wouldn't/couldn't otherwise afford
and I've taken full advantage of it, thank you very much.  Heck, the 1985
Ur-Q I bought in '96 cost me only 20% of what the original owner had paid
for it out-the-door!  Try that with an '85 911 or 308 or...

The reason I brought this up in the first place is because it just dawned on
me the other night that I've got nowhere to go with Audi from here ... NONE
of their cars from '92 forward appeal to me!  All the ones with V6 power are
slugs (sorry, but it's true); the S-series cars are a) out of my price range
and b) more luxury car than performance sedan, which is exactly the opposite
of what I prefer, and even the new A4 doesn't ring many of my bells -- IMHO,
it's too sluggish and too soft.  Besides, with Audi's increasing popularity,
they appear to be holding their value too well and given my limited
financial resources, this is moot regardless.

So here I am, the consumate Audi enthusiast, and yet nothing the company has
offered since 1991 interests me; what's happened?  Is it just me or is it
Audi?  And what do I replace my 200q with should it be stolen (yeah, sure!)
or totalled?  About the only thing that comes to mind is a 1991 200q 20v
and, frankly, even those cars have taken the first few teeny-weeny steps
down the path toward luxo-barge status...

I'm serious about this.  It seems to me that when somebody who owns five
Audis, as I presently do, is looking *backward* and not forward when it
comes to choosing their next car, then something has definitely gone wrong
somewhere, regardless of the many accolades the press has bestowed upon
Audi's latest efforts.  Do the tastes and preferences of people who buy new
Audis -- Audi's actual customers -- differ that markedly from those who buy
used ones?  And while I'm at it, how important is the secondary market to a
car manufacturer, anyway?  Do they even concern themselves with such things
or are they focused solely upon selling new cars?  How valuable an asset is
the installed base of customers?  Do we have any clout, other than voting
with our feet?

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