Help me pick a car:

[bignateyk]

All-wheel drive is a must, and i've narrowed it down to these two in terms of comfort and reliability. I am torn between having an SUV in the RAV4 or having more of a luxery sedan in the A4.

They are priced within a few K of each other.

Anyone own either of these vehicles?

Moved from Off Topic
moderator allisolm

 

[aphex]

Are you buying or leasing?

 

[E equals MC2]

RAV4. Practical, functional, PLENTY of room, fun to drive

I'll never drive A4, especially at that ridiculous price. My friend has it and I was appalled at how small it was. Its cabin size is like a Civic, my legs were cramped in the passenger seat (I'm just 6') and backseat was so small too. And with A4, you have to think about ownership costs. It'll be thousands of $$ of difference in parts and labor for Audi than your more practical RAV4.

 

[bignateyk]

buying.

I can get about 7K tradein on my focus, and i'll probably put 3K down, which should put me under my limit of $500 a month.

 

[bignateyk]

Originally posted by: E equals MC2
RAV4. Practical, functional, PLENTY of room, fun to drive

I'll never drive A4, especially at that ridiculous price. My friend has it and I was appalled at how small it was. Its cabin size is like a Civic, my legs were cramped in the passenger seat (I'm just 6') and backseat was so small too. And with A4, you have to think about ownership costs. It'll be thousands of $$ of difference in parts and labor for Audi than your more practical RAV4.

Yeah. It's hard to beat the reliability of a toyota.

 

[vi edit]

Acura RDX?

Seems like a blend of the two. What's your budget?

 

[iamwiz82]

Originally posted by: E equals MC2
RAV4. Practical, functional, PLENTY of room, fun to drive

I'll never drive A4, especially at that ridiculous price. My friend has it and I was appalled at how small it was. Its cabin size is like a Civic, my legs were cramped in the passenger seat (I'm just 6') and backseat was so small too. And with A4, you have to think about ownership costs. It'll be thousands of $$ of difference in parts and labor for Audi than your more practical RAV4.

Uhh.. you call the A4 price outrageous when the RAV4 is within a few $k?

Personally, I'd NEVER pay that much for a RAV4.

 

[ElFenix]

Originally posted by: bignateyk
All-wheel drive is a must, and i've narrowed it down to these two in terms of comfort and reliability. I am torn between having an SUV in the RAV4 or having more of a luxery sedan in the A4.

They are priced within a few K of each other.

Anyone own either of these vehicles?

then why are you asking about a RAV4?

 

[chuckywang]

How about a Subaru Impreza if you're going for AWD?

The wagon is a very practical dependable car.

 

[OhSnap688]

My dad owns an A4, I love it. I love driving it, it's fast. The only downs is, it requires premium gas(the most expensive), and repairs are expensive, but my dad has had his sine 2002 and only one repair really. And it was because of his poor driving

 

[E equals MC2]

Originally posted by: iamwiz82

Originally posted by: E equals MC2
RAV4. Practical, functional, PLENTY of room, fun to drive

I'll never drive A4, especially at that ridiculous price. My friend has it and I was appalled at how small it was. Its cabin size is like a Civic, my legs were cramped in the passenger seat (I'm just 6') and backseat was so small too. And with A4, you have to think about ownership costs. It'll be thousands of $$ of difference in parts and labor for Audi than your more practical RAV4.

Uhh.. you call the A4 price outrageous when the RAV4 is within a few $k?

Personally, I'd NEVER pay that much for a RAV4.

RAV4 is a full blown budget SUV which lands on that price.

A4 is an overpriced wannabe-luxury cramped sedan which I have no idea why it is priced at $30K range. Is it fast? no. Is it reliable? no. Is it truly luxurious? no.

$30K, I'd rather get a nice roomy G35 or TL. My friend just got a '08 TL for $29K. Man that thing's got a kick! 270 horses!

A4: where's all your money going? Just the empty brand name.

 

[Specop 007]

Audi or Subaru.

RAV? No.

 

[jjzelinski]

Call me superficial but GET THE AUDI. If I were a wealthier man that's what I'd drive.

RAV4's are for... someone help me out here...

 

[mugs]

I'd get the RAV4. A4 is a kid car.

 

[aphex]

My only concern with buying the A4, its a V-Dub and V-Dubs don't hold up well over time... Combined with high part costs and shitty dealers, I would stay away from buying one.

If you were leasing, I would have a different opinion, but your in for the long haul, go for something else.

That being said, when the hell did the Rav4 get up to 30k?

 

[bignateyk]

Originally posted by: aphex
My only concern with buying the A4, its a V-Dub and V-Dubs don't hold up well over time... Combined with high part costs and shitty dealers, I would stay away from buying one.

If you were leasing, I would have a different opinion, but your in for the long haul, go for something else.

That being said, when the hell did the Rav4 get up to 30k?

The RAV4 is about 28K loaded with the V6 and most options (auto-start, etc...).

 

[KMc]

I have an A4 on order as we speak. I can't wait for it to get here!

 

[Vette73]

If you want REAL lux in the 30k range then look at the 2008 Caddy CTS, not a A4.

Had a Rav4 before was not a fan. Had to turn the AC off to get it to move with just about anything in it. never towed.

 

[K1052]

Take a look at Subaru. I drove both the A4 and Legacy GT before buying the Subaru.

Audi is nice but unless I don't mind extra trips to the service department and the $$ gone once warranty lapses I'm not going to buy one anytime soon.

 

[radioouman]

I don't do this often, but some kid who had just bought a new A4 (with temp tags) was driving like an idiot near my house on a 4 lane road with a speed limit of 50 mph. I pulled up next to him in my ugly 1994 Dodge Dakota 4x4 with the V8. He was revving it. I didn't do anything of the sort. But when that light turned green, I nailed it, and I had him by a full car length. He was never able to catch up until we got to 60 mph and I let off the gas.

Just go get the Rav4.

 

[Tommouse]

It really is down to what your priorities are. Do you want something more practical, or do you want something a bit more luxurious? Do you want a sportier car or something utilitarian?

If you can't decide which go with the Subaru Legacy Wagon. AWD, lots of space, reliable, sporty(er).

 

[Fenixgoon]

comfort = A4, reliability will be there if you take good care of it - my bro's 02 A4 is holding up great. A4 will be much more fun in every aspect to drive.

slightly more practical, most likely more reliable - RAV4.

personally i'd go with the A4. what vehicles have you test driven?

 

[PricklyPete]

A4 hands down in my opinion. Get the Avant version if you need more room/practicality. Get the 2.0T version if you need better gas mileage. RAV4 is just boring and not that fun to drive. The Audi has a impeccable interior and is fun to drive. In my opinion, the only thing that the RAV4 has over the Audi is reliability...but that would not be enough to keep me interested in the Toyota.

 

[mwmorph]

Rav 4, it's quicker(0-60 in 6.4s means it's in NO lack of power), more reliable by far(no more VW quality/reliability problems), more practical, and really, once it's optioned up, really a pretty nice vehicle and a better daily driver.

 

[alimoalem]

i don't see how these two cars are similar at all...just get something in the middle with the best of both worlds, like others have suggested. i'm not sure how the legacy is but i haven't heard anything bad about it and people here seem to be recommending it a lot