99 A6 avant impression

["Osman Parvez" <oparvez1@nycap.rr.com>]

Hi folks,
    Bumped into a former co-worker last night and got the skinny on the new
A6 Avant. She reports that the new rear seats (3rd row) are worse than the
previous generation. By this, I took it to mean that customers that came in
driving 98 and older A6 wagons were not impressed by the new rear seats.
Apparently the primary reason is that the new rear seats do not fold flat
and they are cumbersome to remove. 
   
     I was really surprised by this report when I heard it. First off, all
I did was to ask how the new A6 Avant was doing. She went off on this
tirade on the rear seats in response. 

Secondly, I recalled reading a substantial amount of literature
specifically about the new 3rd row rear seat design and how it was a
improvement. Unfortunately I haven't actually seen it in person, but
initial reactions from potential customers has not been favorable. Of
course some of this literature was discussing how the new third row seat
could now be ordered as a stand-alone option or at a later date from the
parts department. 



Osman Parvez
Albany, NY
89 200q, TAP Chip, 173K (daily driver)
85 Mr2, 77K (in storage)
92 Miata, auto, 6K, For Sale (Mom's) 
91 Cannondale 3.0 (always reliable)