My first month as an Avant owner (wicked long)
09-23-1999, 03:12 PM
#1
Guest
Posts: n/a
My first month as an Avant owner (wicked long)
Well, I didn't realize just how useful A4.org and its archives would be until I finally got
my lovely new Avant. I have lots of observations thanks to previous
posters who gave me plenty to watch out for.
The impression that the car makes on me and on passersby is overwhelmingly
positive. This is a tremendous automobile. No longer do I dread my thirty
minute commute each way; instead I think of it as "Audi therapy" -- the
world's finest stress reliever. One of the few disappointments is that I smile, wave, and occasionally flash headlights at every four-ringed car I see, and I've only got one thumbs-up in return (from a Santorin Blue A4 driver (and a nice thumbs-up from a guy in an old Cadillac))
Vital statistics: 99.5 A4 2.8 Avant, Casablanca White, Ecru leather/Blue
Ambiente interior. Bose, sunroof, cold weather package, Tiptronic, 5-spoke
wheels, no sport package or sport seats. With apologies to the
wiggle-stick set, I wanted a softer ride with the higher road clearance and
all-season tires of the standard running gear. Besides, I like the look of
the 5-spoke wheels. Her name is Galadriel, and yes, there's no doubt that
she's a "she." About the name. Everyone, even my friends who _don't_
think it's weird to name a car, says "Huh?" when they hear it. Not one
person, NOT ONE, has said: "Oh, yeah, the noble and beautiful Queen of the
Elves from Rivendell in Tolkien's _Lord of the Rings._" What did you
people read in high school, for goodness sake? (As an aside, those of you
who did read _Lord of the Rings_ will agree that "Sam" is a very good name
for my wife's Camry.) But I digress.
The Early Days.
Autobytel. Don McGill Audi, Houston, Texas. My salesman was/is Dwayne DiMaria, one
of the very few car salesmen I've ever encountered who knew more about the car
than I did. Test drive with my bass-fiddle in car, good-faith
negotiations, good price ($1500 off sticker/$1300 over invoice.) That was
February 15. Shake hands, sign check, prepare to wait 90 days.
Ooops. Avant production delays. 99.5 design changes. White car delays.
Audi builds 1.8T Avants for a while. What's going on in Ingolstadt? 90
days becomes 120 days, becomes 150 days. Finally, while I'm out of town I
get the call that she's on a ship. One Saturday afternoon when I can't
stand it anymore we load up the whole family in Sam Camry and go to the
Port of Houston, which, much to my wife's consternation, seems to be paved
entirely with railroad tracks going in every direction. My wife _hates_
driving over railroad tracks. We found the big VW/Audi terminal and saw a
bunch of enclosed car-carrier trucks being loaded. We saw a lot of TT's
there, by the way. Well, the nice lady at the gate wouldn't let us in
(didn't hurt to ask) but she did say that a couple of ships had just been
unloaded and that they had seventy acres of cars. As we're leaving I see a
non-enclosed car carrier in the parking lot of a local trucking company and
right there on the top is a white 2.8 Avant with 5 spoke wheels. So I'm
pretty sure I'll be getting a call soon, and sure enough, Monday afternoon
during a huge project at work, the call comes. Six months and one week
after the order was placed.
Good things about delivery: Dwayne showed me every feature of the car and
made sure all my questions were answered, even though he had another
customer taking delivery of a car at the same time. My gift, by the way,
was the stainless steel Audi coffee mug and a box of car care supplies,
given to me on the spot.
Bad things about delivery: 1) they didn't tell me until I got there that
they couldn't match my credit union's financing, forcing my wife and me to
sign paperwork that we could have done ahead of time had we known and
making her nearly two hours late to a rehearsal. 2) Although I asked them
not to install the front license plate bracket (many Houston area owners
don't have one) they did anyway. 3) They didn't want to program the
auto-lock feature for free until I faxed them the TSB from tech.vw.com. I
expected better from such a large volume dealer.
So off my daughter and I went in our beautiful new Audi, and it was
spectacular. The Tiptronic felt sluggish at first, but soon I could tell
it was learning and improving. All was roses until my first (and only) big
problem, and it was a good one. A little rain came up, and I was thinking
"All right! Quattro!", and then the windshield wipers wouldn't work. I
fiddled with the stalk and finally they started up and sprayed all of the
washer fluid on the headlights until the reservoir ran dry. (cute little
animated graphic for that.) I refilled the bottle with Audi Memorial
Hospital alcohol fluid, and next morning, same thing happened, except the
wipers stopped in the middle of the windshield.
Back to Don McGill I go, pick up my free rental Corolla, and leave
Galadriel for 24 hours. It turned out to be a broken 3-pin connector on
the wiper relay. The Corolla was a perfectly competent if Spartan little
car, but I was glad to be rid of all that gray plastic! When Galadriel
returned home, I offered to let my wife move her into the garage. My wife,
bless her loving heart, promptly hit the lawnmower handle with the
passenger-side door mirror, leaving two deep scratches. (still the only
ones after a month!) My wife is horrified and is far more upset than I am.
She refuses to drive Galadriel _at all_ now. I bought touch-up paint and
fine sandpaper and after a couple weeks of painting and sanding it looks
pretty good. Funny -- if Galadriel were a '99, she'd have the shorter
passenger mirror which wouldn't have been hit.
OK, here are the nuts and bolts:
Engine: I agree, < 2000 rpm is pretty useless, but what a difference 3000+
makes! Nice sound, too, and sooo smooooth. And getting better and stronger after 1000 miles.
Transmission: Steering wheel controls are cool. 5th gear comes way too
early in relaxed driving (use D4 or Tiptronic around town). Shifting with
the accelerator is easy once your foot learns that you have to push down
faster and farther than it seems you should. The floor-mounted kickdown
switch kicks down two gears regardless of Tiptronic setting. In everyday
city driving this is by far the smoothest shifting automatic I've ever
seen. This thing is geared TALL, probably for 100-mph Autobahn cruising.
Cruise control: I expected to hate the controls, but they work fine and are
easy to use. I like the 1-mph incremental feature (and the extremely
accurate speedo)
Interior lighting: I love illuminated controls, and these are great, as is
the red lighting. I also love the recessed rear reading lights -- my daughter
can read at night in the car without it messing up the rear view mirror. The individual footwell lights that only come on when the appropriate door is opened are another cool feature.
Radio: I like it. I re-adjust the bass and treble for almost every
different radio station or CD but I consider that a feature, not a problem.
I imagine I could blow the speakers with loud enough volume levels, but
I'm pretty careful about it. One GALA clarification: FM2 with power-on
gives you a setting menu which includes GALA 0 to GALA 5. Using "2" with
power-on shows GALA at work. GALA 5 means a maximum of 5 dB increase at
high speeds (approximately 1 dB for each 10-12 mph), lower numbers are
correspondingly smaller increases. It's only noticeable when you slow down
suddenly: I'd like to see a wider range. It's really about a 20 dB
increase in interior noise from idle to 70 mph, according to _Road &
Track_.
Miscellany:
Windshield distortion: It's there but barely noticeable. Most of the time
I don't even see it.
Squeaking armrest: Only if I push on it. While driving it never squeaks.
Seat track rocking: It's there but no more than any other car. Much less
than my Honda; I usually don't even notice it.
Speed fluctuation: Yes, at 50 mph in 5th gear, which is about 1800 rpm.
I'm going to ask about it at first service but I'm certainly not going to
take it in just for that.
Oil consumption: What oil consumption? The oil level hasn't changed, and
it's still clear, after 1300 miles.
Brake dust: I could certainly live without it but I've been able to wash
her every weekend so far and I'm keeping up with it. I was expecting it to
be much worse.
Window switch location: Not a problem at all. I honestly don't see why people complain.
Just use the ring finger on your left hand.
Great cargo net!
A Starbucks coffee-bag closer will keep the seat belt from retracting and
messing up your locking-retractor child-seat adjustment every time.
Seats are way comfortable, no belt or blue-jean stains yet.
A 500 ml water bottle fits perfectly in the dash cup holder without
overstressing it or rattling. "Deja Blue" brand bottles match the
Ambiente interior and Goo Gone will remove labels.
Automatic A/C works perfectly even in 100+ weather.
Steering: This car goes where you point it. Period. The faster you turn
the more impressive it is. Unfortunately it's not as forgiving of
inattention as other cars, and that, I think, accounts for some of the
complaints of "wandering". You have to steer _exactly_ where you want to
go, not just in the general direction, as you can with many Japanese and
American vehicles.
Visibility: I'm still getting used to the forest of pillars and headrests. No problems with the rear-view mirror once I reversed the night setting.
Anyway, that's all that comes to mind and more than most can stand to read. I'm proud to join the Houston area A4 owners. I find myself "accidentally" leaving things in the car so I can go "visit" during the work day and spending a lot of time gazing dreamily at the parking lot. I'll close with this helpful tip for married A4 drivers:
Never compare your wife to your car, even if you mean it in the most complimentary way!
my lovely new Avant. I have lots of observations thanks to previous
posters who gave me plenty to watch out for.
The impression that the car makes on me and on passersby is overwhelmingly
positive. This is a tremendous automobile. No longer do I dread my thirty
minute commute each way; instead I think of it as "Audi therapy" -- the
world's finest stress reliever. One of the few disappointments is that I smile, wave, and occasionally flash headlights at every four-ringed car I see, and I've only got one thumbs-up in return (from a Santorin Blue A4 driver (and a nice thumbs-up from a guy in an old Cadillac))
Vital statistics: 99.5 A4 2.8 Avant, Casablanca White, Ecru leather/Blue
Ambiente interior. Bose, sunroof, cold weather package, Tiptronic, 5-spoke
wheels, no sport package or sport seats. With apologies to the
wiggle-stick set, I wanted a softer ride with the higher road clearance and
all-season tires of the standard running gear. Besides, I like the look of
the 5-spoke wheels. Her name is Galadriel, and yes, there's no doubt that
she's a "she." About the name. Everyone, even my friends who _don't_
think it's weird to name a car, says "Huh?" when they hear it. Not one
person, NOT ONE, has said: "Oh, yeah, the noble and beautiful Queen of the
Elves from Rivendell in Tolkien's _Lord of the Rings._" What did you
people read in high school, for goodness sake? (As an aside, those of you
who did read _Lord of the Rings_ will agree that "Sam" is a very good name
for my wife's Camry.) But I digress.
The Early Days.
Autobytel. Don McGill Audi, Houston, Texas. My salesman was/is Dwayne DiMaria, one
of the very few car salesmen I've ever encountered who knew more about the car
than I did. Test drive with my bass-fiddle in car, good-faith
negotiations, good price ($1500 off sticker/$1300 over invoice.) That was
February 15. Shake hands, sign check, prepare to wait 90 days.
Ooops. Avant production delays. 99.5 design changes. White car delays.
Audi builds 1.8T Avants for a while. What's going on in Ingolstadt? 90
days becomes 120 days, becomes 150 days. Finally, while I'm out of town I
get the call that she's on a ship. One Saturday afternoon when I can't
stand it anymore we load up the whole family in Sam Camry and go to the
Port of Houston, which, much to my wife's consternation, seems to be paved
entirely with railroad tracks going in every direction. My wife _hates_
driving over railroad tracks. We found the big VW/Audi terminal and saw a
bunch of enclosed car-carrier trucks being loaded. We saw a lot of TT's
there, by the way. Well, the nice lady at the gate wouldn't let us in
(didn't hurt to ask) but she did say that a couple of ships had just been
unloaded and that they had seventy acres of cars. As we're leaving I see a
non-enclosed car carrier in the parking lot of a local trucking company and
right there on the top is a white 2.8 Avant with 5 spoke wheels. So I'm
pretty sure I'll be getting a call soon, and sure enough, Monday afternoon
during a huge project at work, the call comes. Six months and one week
after the order was placed.
Good things about delivery: Dwayne showed me every feature of the car and
made sure all my questions were answered, even though he had another
customer taking delivery of a car at the same time. My gift, by the way,
was the stainless steel Audi coffee mug and a box of car care supplies,
given to me on the spot.
Bad things about delivery: 1) they didn't tell me until I got there that
they couldn't match my credit union's financing, forcing my wife and me to
sign paperwork that we could have done ahead of time had we known and
making her nearly two hours late to a rehearsal. 2) Although I asked them
not to install the front license plate bracket (many Houston area owners
don't have one) they did anyway. 3) They didn't want to program the
auto-lock feature for free until I faxed them the TSB from tech.vw.com. I
expected better from such a large volume dealer.
So off my daughter and I went in our beautiful new Audi, and it was
spectacular. The Tiptronic felt sluggish at first, but soon I could tell
it was learning and improving. All was roses until my first (and only) big
problem, and it was a good one. A little rain came up, and I was thinking
"All right! Quattro!", and then the windshield wipers wouldn't work. I
fiddled with the stalk and finally they started up and sprayed all of the
washer fluid on the headlights until the reservoir ran dry. (cute little
animated graphic for that.) I refilled the bottle with Audi Memorial
Hospital alcohol fluid, and next morning, same thing happened, except the
wipers stopped in the middle of the windshield.
Back to Don McGill I go, pick up my free rental Corolla, and leave
Galadriel for 24 hours. It turned out to be a broken 3-pin connector on
the wiper relay. The Corolla was a perfectly competent if Spartan little
car, but I was glad to be rid of all that gray plastic! When Galadriel
returned home, I offered to let my wife move her into the garage. My wife,
bless her loving heart, promptly hit the lawnmower handle with the
passenger-side door mirror, leaving two deep scratches. (still the only
ones after a month!) My wife is horrified and is far more upset than I am.
She refuses to drive Galadriel _at all_ now. I bought touch-up paint and
fine sandpaper and after a couple weeks of painting and sanding it looks
pretty good. Funny -- if Galadriel were a '99, she'd have the shorter
passenger mirror which wouldn't have been hit.
OK, here are the nuts and bolts:
Engine: I agree, < 2000 rpm is pretty useless, but what a difference 3000+
makes! Nice sound, too, and sooo smooooth. And getting better and stronger after 1000 miles.
Transmission: Steering wheel controls are cool. 5th gear comes way too
early in relaxed driving (use D4 or Tiptronic around town). Shifting with
the accelerator is easy once your foot learns that you have to push down
faster and farther than it seems you should. The floor-mounted kickdown
switch kicks down two gears regardless of Tiptronic setting. In everyday
city driving this is by far the smoothest shifting automatic I've ever
seen. This thing is geared TALL, probably for 100-mph Autobahn cruising.
Cruise control: I expected to hate the controls, but they work fine and are
easy to use. I like the 1-mph incremental feature (and the extremely
accurate speedo)
Interior lighting: I love illuminated controls, and these are great, as is
the red lighting. I also love the recessed rear reading lights -- my daughter
can read at night in the car without it messing up the rear view mirror. The individual footwell lights that only come on when the appropriate door is opened are another cool feature.
Radio: I like it. I re-adjust the bass and treble for almost every
different radio station or CD but I consider that a feature, not a problem.
I imagine I could blow the speakers with loud enough volume levels, but
I'm pretty careful about it. One GALA clarification: FM2 with power-on
gives you a setting menu which includes GALA 0 to GALA 5. Using "2" with
power-on shows GALA at work. GALA 5 means a maximum of 5 dB increase at
high speeds (approximately 1 dB for each 10-12 mph), lower numbers are
correspondingly smaller increases. It's only noticeable when you slow down
suddenly: I'd like to see a wider range. It's really about a 20 dB
increase in interior noise from idle to 70 mph, according to _Road &
Track_.
Miscellany:
Windshield distortion: It's there but barely noticeable. Most of the time
I don't even see it.
Squeaking armrest: Only if I push on it. While driving it never squeaks.
Seat track rocking: It's there but no more than any other car. Much less
than my Honda; I usually don't even notice it.
Speed fluctuation: Yes, at 50 mph in 5th gear, which is about 1800 rpm.
I'm going to ask about it at first service but I'm certainly not going to
take it in just for that.
Oil consumption: What oil consumption? The oil level hasn't changed, and
it's still clear, after 1300 miles.
Brake dust: I could certainly live without it but I've been able to wash
her every weekend so far and I'm keeping up with it. I was expecting it to
be much worse.
Window switch location: Not a problem at all. I honestly don't see why people complain.
Just use the ring finger on your left hand.
Great cargo net!
A Starbucks coffee-bag closer will keep the seat belt from retracting and
messing up your locking-retractor child-seat adjustment every time.
Seats are way comfortable, no belt or blue-jean stains yet.
A 500 ml water bottle fits perfectly in the dash cup holder without
overstressing it or rattling. "Deja Blue" brand bottles match the
Ambiente interior and Goo Gone will remove labels.
Automatic A/C works perfectly even in 100+ weather.
Steering: This car goes where you point it. Period. The faster you turn
the more impressive it is. Unfortunately it's not as forgiving of
inattention as other cars, and that, I think, accounts for some of the
complaints of "wandering". You have to steer _exactly_ where you want to
go, not just in the general direction, as you can with many Japanese and
American vehicles.
Visibility: I'm still getting used to the forest of pillars and headrests. No problems with the rear-view mirror once I reversed the night setting.
Anyway, that's all that comes to mind and more than most can stand to read. I'm proud to join the Houston area A4 owners. I find myself "accidentally" leaving things in the car so I can go "visit" during the work day and spending a lot of time gazing dreamily at the parking lot. I'll close with this helpful tip for married A4 drivers:
Never compare your wife to your car, even if you mean it in the most complimentary way!
09-23-1999, 05:38 PM
#3
Guest
Posts: n/a
Um, actually Galadriel was the queen of the elves of Lothlorien (sp?), love the
Sam Gamgee, I mean Camry reference...very appropriate. As for the window controls, some folks out there have only 9 fingers, but I doubt Frodo could reach the pedals anyway. Your car sounds great, enjoy.
Regards,
Rodney (Tolkien nut)
'99 A4 1.8tqms
Regards,
Rodney (Tolkien nut)
'99 A4 1.8tqms
09-24-1999, 04:38 AM
#6
Guest
Posts: n/a
46K and smiling
i think I was one of the earlier Avant owners here in Houston, welcome to our little club 
my 98.5 QMS,everything but sport seats/tip, black,onyx...is now 17 months old and has 46k
on it...i have seen 2 2.8's, and 2 1.8t's here, but to date they have been Tips (I guess I just have to be the odd one out ) but I love this and will keep it till AoA brings the S4 Avant over. The car is never lost in the sea of Volvo wagons, and I still get admiring comments at the pump. Congrats on the new addition to the garage, i know SamCamry is pretty jealous.
my 98.5 QMS,everything but sport seats/tip, black,onyx...is now 17 months old and has 46k
on it...i have seen 2 2.8's, and 2 1.8t's here, but to date they have been Tips (I guess I just have to be the odd one out
) but I love this and will keep it till AoA brings the S4 Avant over. The car is never lost in the sea of Volvo wagons, and I still get admiring comments at the pump. Congrats on the new addition to the garage, i know SamCamry is pretty jealous.
Trending Topics
09-24-1999, 07:12 AM
#8
Guest
Posts: n/a
My wife is from Houston and names her cars,
maybe it's a local thing. Check these out:
78 Chevy P/U "Buford"
80 Chevy Citation "Gertrude"
84 Mitsubishi "Mimi"
99.5 A4 Avant 2.8 QM "Alli"
I just smile and nod...
BTW My fav was Golum, "What has it in it's pocketssss?"
78 Chevy P/U "Buford"
80 Chevy Citation "Gertrude"
84 Mitsubishi "Mimi"
99.5 A4 Avant 2.8 QM "Alli"
I just smile and nod...
BTW My fav was Golum, "What has it in it's pocketssss?"
09-24-1999, 11:37 AM
#9
Guest
Posts: n/a
Re: 46K and smiling
Oh, I remember you, Dr. Mark. It would be nice to see an Avant yin/yang with our cars together, wouldn't it? I've seen one other (pearl) white 98 Avant, and that's all, though I've seen a few others, including a white 1.8T, at Don McGill. Forget the S4 Avant, dream about the RS4!
Sam Camry is properly deferential. Camries are very good cars, and one doesn't often find a car that's THAT much better. Galadriel *is* THAT much better!
Sam Camry is properly deferential. Camries are very good cars, and one doesn't often find a car that's THAT much better. Galadriel *is* THAT much better!
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