Since Audis are built by Volkswagen - I was wondering if anyone has considered a TDI Premium - which gets 30/40 on diesel and goes in the low $30s. Has anyone test driven one and perhaps came close to buying one (instead of the A6). Just curious in the positives and negatives.

 

Audi dealers are able to service and repair the products they sell ...

 

Volkswagen AG owns Audi AG (or 99.55% of it) since 1966. Audi's are NOT build by Volkswagen. There is some part sharing going on (same as BMW and PSA Peugeot Citroën or Mercedes-Benz and Renault-Nissan), but the cars are independently developed and build by Audi in their own R&D centers and factories.

The 2012 Passat currently on sale in the US has no relationship to the A6 whatsoever. It might have similar dimensions, but it lacks all of the advanced technology and luxury features of the A6 and the cars share no parts or architecture.

All that said, the new Passat is a great car - but it does not hold up when compared to an A6, they serve very different markets (the Passat is meant to target the Camry/Accord/Fusion/Malibu buyers).

Rumor has it that Audi is going to bring a 3 liter Diesel to the A6 lineup in the US (http://www.autoblog.com/2011/10/04/2...uattro-review/).

 

After I wrote the above message I went to test drive one - yes, it does not compare to the A6 in any way, shape or form. I was just curious and I got a quick answer!

 

I was seriously considering trading my '10 A6 for a new TDI SEL after the holidays. I figured I could probably end up pocketing $3-4k of cash on a straight trade, and getting a car as big as my A6, that got 30-40mpg and had many of the same luxury features as my A6, albeit with 160 less HP, no quattro and less cachet.

I emailed a couple local dealers to see what kind of trade value they might offer on the A6 and if they were willing to deal on the new TDI's. One dealer said they had no TDI's on the lot and would contact me when their next allotment came in "next week" - 3 to 4 wks passed and I never heard back from them. The other dealer would only offer to deal if I "came in".

Although I didn't test drive one, I spent a lot of time researching them online and sat in one (a mid-level 2.5 SE with nav) at an auto show - the interior seemed very blanned, although it probably was due to the light-beige interior (I think if it had been a black interior with the "sport seats" offered in the SEL trim, it would have been much more appealing). While I think VW did a great job with the new Passat and has priced it right, I'd be hesitant to buy any first model year car.

For the aforementioned reasons (not to mention our first good snowfall of the season which reminded me of the benefits of quattro), and given the lackluster response from both VW dealers, I decided to sit tight and enjoy my A6 for a few more years until Audi brings a TDI version to the U.S.

 

The A6 does use the same Platform as pretty much every other Audi, the Bentley Continental, and the upcoming Porsche Cajun

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkswa...p_MLB_platform

 

The only VW with a somewhat decent interior is the Touareg and its priced like an Audi.