corradoMR2

After the recent publishing of the JD Power Dependability study of 3-year old vehicles, do you really want to consider a PREMIUM automobile manufacturer that is not at or near the top? What good is a car if it doesn't do its functions reliably? To put things into perspective, Ford, Chevy, Ram (Trucks), Kia, and Hyundai are better and this is NOT unique to this year, but year after year. I guess people still value Audi and BMW's performance attributes while accepting the higher risk of something breaking.

portishead

I'm not sure what "other things" are, but Audi interior is superior to Lexus.

I've had my Lexus for less than 2 years, so hard to say yet, as my A3 never had anything go wrong until 5 years, and even then it was just a thermostat. I will give credit to Lexus for reliability, but I never had any abnormal problems with the A3. Reliability is very nice, but not everyone wants to drive a vanilla toyota.

Obviously the majority is going to prefer the CT, and I understand that. My CT is very nice and I quite like it, but Audi makes some really great vehicles. Also I will say DSG is the best transmission on the planet.

LexusNN

iTrader: (5)

I disagree. First off, Lexus is not a vanilla Toyota. Most Lexus owners would understand that. And if anything, Audi has a vanilla Volkswagen interior. Here is the s line, very sporty and good looking but the same as a Vw. If you want a sporty interior then this would be a good option. If you want a combination of sportiness and luxury then Lexus would be a good option.

eyecon7

iTrader: (2)

The Audi is probably going to be in the shop more then you drive it. Just saying, Lol! Both cars are nice thou!

portishead

I wasn't comparing Lexus to Toyota, just saying reliability isn't EVERYTHING. I think the CT interior is quite nice, but Audi is a step above IMO. The S-Line interior you showed is really awesome. I love it.

You can compare the engines of VW and Audi, but the interiors are vastly different. VW is for the most part crap and not on the same level. Just like I wouldn't dare compare Toyota interior to Lexus.

No offense, but why do you even post stuff like this? You bring nothing to the conversation.

zallez

i dunno about interior, that can very subjective. i do like both interiors. the only thing i will say, when you start adding up Audi packages, it can pretty pricey.

now, i do think that reliability is large part of why people buy a car. or, they will learn about it the hard way. example. my wife purchased an 2003 Audi A4-V6. it only had about 10k, when she bought it, in 2003-2004. my wife gave the car to my father in law, about 2 years ago. around this time, we had to change the timing belt and water pump. which was over $1k! that is without the other stuff, we had to replace. think about it for a second, a timing belt? An earlies 90's toyota corolla has been putting timing chain for about 20 years. the car only has about 115k miles on it. well, we just found out, that its burning the oil. my wife and my father in law change oil on time and never really passed 3000 rpm. i think, that is pretty crappy.

now, naturally, spend your money however you want. the only thing i would say, after warranty is up, i don't think you should be surprised for the cost of ownership for VW/AUDI.

portishead

to be fair anecdotal evidence is about as useful as an opinion. Also a lot has changed in 10 years since your dad bought his car. Also I'm not sure how you never exceed 3k rpm. And while 1k after 7 years of ownership certainly isn't great, when you spend 30-40k for a car, that's really not that bad in retrospect. 10 bucks a month. And yes, turbo's will burn some oil. I'm not sure I want to get another turbo to be honest.

zallez

i get your point. but, paying 1k for parts was just the TIP of the iceberg. my wife spent way more money than that. that is why, we got rid of car. when you buy parts for these cars, you have to go to Audi dealer. so, it cost more money. for lexus, parts are interchangeable (some of course) with toyota. you can go to pep boys or autozone and buy lexus/toyoyta parts. more choices, cheaper prices for parts. and i know about your local junkyard/pick your parts, but that is a risk as well. so, not everybody wants to purchase parts from there either. now, i understand, if you spend about $30k-40k for car, might seem a little picky. but, my point is, if spend $30-40k for a lexus, will i get the same bad-luck? i don't think so. im sorry, but if i spend that much for a car, i don't want start paying massive of money, because i reached 90k miles. kind of low expectations.

and for the record, it was not a turbo. was v6 model. naturally aspirated.

chandlervt

Audi reliability is definitely below Lexus. Sure there will be people who will say "But I drove XYZ miles never had issue" . Some people want the car to be perfect , some will not even bother at few sounds here and there. So its hard to say from anecdotal evidence. You just have to go by reports as one would assume they have surveyed some users. Having said that A3 TDI vs CT200h is a no-brainer. You have to go with CT200h even with all things being equal in terms of price and mileage. A3 TDI is 140 hp while CT is 134 , 0-60 in A3 is 8.9 and CT is 9.8. Once you go above 6 seconds in 0-60 I don't think 1 second makes an difference. You are definitely not going to leave everyone behind at the light in either of them. Torque is higher in A3 but not as much to make pick it over CT. Also if you are one of those people (like me) who likes to trade-in in few years, you will have more residual value with Lexus than Audi. If you want driving pleasure with economy, go buy a Mini cooper (although its reliability is patchy. I used to own a S version. Buy a regular with automatic transmission and you will be fine). If you want reliability with good economy get CT. I would buy a BMW 3 series before I get an Audi A3 or A4.

portishead

If you like the CT that's fine, I like mine too, but let's not get crazy and start recommending mini coopers and bmw's.

If I could have any car I'd get the A6 avant. I saw them everywhere in Germany I was so jealous.

chandlervt

The choice is between A3 TDI and CT200h. A6 is in a totally different category. Although I agree Mini cooper is different but it does get 36mpg highway and I have driven the S version. It easily achieves that. So if someone is looking for a fun car with mpg and is OK with some reliability issues, I would definitely recommend Mini over Audi A3 any day. Plus Mini has a great community too. I am sure you have your reasons not to recommend it. Would love to know them (apart from reliability).