Re: a list of broken things on my a6

[oleg@veritas.com (Oleg Kiselev)]

From: four.rings@MCIONE.com
>Maybe your car is just a random bad example, Oleg? Maybe the '98 A6 is
>too new and is not yet sorted out 

this is probably true.  as far as i know we got one of the earliest
available vehicles in northern california.  one friend who got his a6 about
a month after us had one serious computer problem with his car and had the
same popping/creaking noise in the dash as we found in our a6.  but another
friend who just got her  a6 does not have any problems like that in her
car.  so it's very likely that audi fixes these things in the production
line as soon as they find them, but it doesn't make our life any easier...

>Did you have a chance to look at an V70AWD Cross Country? I saw it in
>person for the first time this morning at a local dealer, the car oozes
>class! And I thought it was an ugly Outbackish wagon-SUV mongrel. 
>It also has an enormous cargo capacity AND is available with a manual
>transmission. 
>Methinks that at $38k sticker it's quite a buy.

we had seen them around town and will probably try to drive it this week
(as long as we can find a nearby volvo dealer other than putnam -- we had
gotten enough unpleasant treatment from several putnam dealerships, so we
avoid them).  at $38k the v70awd is about the same price as rx300, so it's
in the same relative class and is definitely something to consider.
however, we have test-driven volvos several times in the past several years
and they always seemed to lack any sort of "fun" in their drive feel (which
is in a sharp contrast to the audi, which we loved from the very first test
drive of the '97 a4) and the steering is stiffer on the volvo which is a
concern for me.  i have carpal tunnel syndrome in both wrists, so a number
of otherwise appealing cars are out of the question for me (this cuts out
most of the lower priced cars and all of the bmw line-up).

-- 
Oleg Kiselev                                        oleg at veritas dot com
VERITAS Software
(650)335-8586