richardtb

I am deciding whether to purchase a 2.8 a4 avant,
wait for the 2001 year model, or purchase the bmw
323it (sport wagon). I am describing the pros and
cons below, and hoping someone might help in my
decision.

First of all, I have been having a hard time finding the 2.8 avant because I insist to have
manual transmission and I do not want a sunroof.
(If anyone knows of a dealership that carries such
a car, please let me know!) So, in order to get the car, I may have wait for a month or so to special order it. (I am not planning to put a
deposit on a car before I have an agreement on a
price.)

Alternatively, I could special order the bmw 323it, so here are my pros and cons.

In general, the avant is a much better car except
that I found a huge difference in the backseats.
I sat in both (I am six foot tall), and I would
feel embarassed to have to ask someone of my size
or taller to sit in the backseat of the avant. To my great surprise, I found sitting the backseat of
the bmw to be quite confortable. I cannot understand that because when I read the specifications of both cars,and there should not be any difference between the two (in terms of size). Maybe someone can explain this to me. The major argument against the BMW is that -- compared to the AUDI -- I feel like I am going to have to pay for such a cara price much closer to MSRP, which makes the BMW ka worse bargain than the AUDI, which is already a
better overall bargain. (Please let me know if I
am incorrect here, on the MSRP issue.)

Here are other pros and cons.

-I thought the visibility in the BMW was better
(because of the placement of the windows and better mirrors).
-I thought the BMW was quieter overall (see however below).
-I was more confortable in the BMW when driving
over bumps of the road.
-BMW has better gas mileage and larger gas tank.
-the backseat on the BMW folded more nicely.

-The AUDI has better accelaration, especially
at highway speeds. The engine was also less noisy.
-I liked the way the AUDI handled better.
-I found the driver set on the AUDI to be more confortable.
-AUDI is much better looking (inside and outside).

Please do not tell me about the advantages of
4-wheel drive (vs ESP in the BMW). I have read previous posts about this issue.

Thanks in advance for any advice, clarifications,
suggestions,...

treerun

I **just** bought a Y2K A4 Avant 2.8, with all the bells and whistles. My Soob got to be a little long in the tooth (sluggish) and I was tired of getting wasted by SUVs headed up to Tahoe every weekend. I started my search on Friday morning and had EXACTLY the car I wanted by 7pm that same night. If your close to California (I'm assuming you're in the US) I happen to know of a couple of dealers that have the car you want WITH the convenience package (includes the sunroof) 5-speed stick, etc. Sen me a note offline and I can clue you in.

Dealers are making nice deals on Y2K A4's right now because people are starting to say "maybe I'll wait until August". Personally my Soob was one of the best cars I've ever driven, but at 82K miles it's retail value was starting to drop exponentially, so it was time to trade up. In any case if what you want is a SUV, then get the B'mer (UG) but if you want a vehicle that corners and accelerates in the top percentiles get the A4. Let's not even begin to talk about those gasoline prices here in the US.

richardtb

Thanks for the reply. I am looking for the model
WITHOUT a sunroof. All the ones I can find have the sunroof. What do you mean by the retail value
is dropping? I.e., how close to invoice or MSRP
are you talking about? Incidentally, there is a
big difference in gas mileage between the bmw and
the audi: 29 vs 25 (highway).

treerun

The dealer gave my girlfriend US$2500 off MSRP on her 2000 A4 2.8Q I got 2k of my Avant (purchased 6 days apart).

As far as mileage is concerned I think you'll be lucky to get even 12 miles out of the BMW hulking beast. Really looks like a mall-mobile to me, the increased HP is needed to compensate for a 2-1/2 tons of vehicle, it's weights 1300 lbs more than the A4 Avant!!!!

Check the link below for a direct comparison.<ul><li><a href="http://autos.yahoo.com/shop/compare?d=a&id=6662&id=6641">http://autos.yahoo.com/shop/compare?d=a&id=6662&id=6641</a</li></ul>

Cris

don't think Richardtb was looking @ the X5

treerun

And you ARE CORRECT Sir!

treerun

http://autos.yahoo.com/shop/compare?d=a&id=6662&id=7020<ul><li><a href="http://autos.yahoo.com/shop/compare?d=a&id=6662&id=7020">http://autos.yahoo.com/shop/compare?d=a&id=6662&id=7020</a</li></ul>