I think it would surprise many of you to know how many people who read this board...<p>1) remember the Audi 5000 as a comfy back seat on the way to grammar school, not as an ugly car<br>2) have reserved the words, "this will be my first car," for the day when enthusiast boards are done creating threads like the one below<br>3) aren't as worried about the cost of the A4<p>I mention #3 not to express envy, distress, or a long-tempered hatred of people with first cars lacking hubcaps, but instead to remind people that the $600 so many have spent on a Wetterauer chip is the same $600 seperating $2000 over invoice from $1400 over invoice. Lastly, anyone else surprised that a board so dedicated to four-wheel-drive doesn't suggest a set of four-wheel-drive alternatives to a new car buyer (if the A4 might not be the best car for that buyer). I can barely see where the, "I once drove an underpowered noisy little slug of a car and it was a learning experience," argument comes from, but I will never understand the argument that begins, "I had to drive a dangerous little deathtrap of a Camaro in the snow when I was in high school, and I think the less safe a car is in the snow the more likely it is to further natural selection..."<p>Cameron<br>Once: a forgiving, good-in-the-snow A4 automatic quattro<br>Now: a slightly less luxurious A4 manual quattro

Although I never thought the 5000 was ugly, I definitely agree on the other points here and in many of your other posts.<p>Keep up the good work (thinkin' with yer noggin').<br>Kurt<p>

when people complain about how much the A4 costs and what a stretch it's going to be, I always want to yell, "Then you can't really afford it and you shouldn't get it!" Not because I'm mean, but because if you over-extend just to get the car, then you can't afford the insurance, increased reg/property tax, options, tires (think what 4 SP8000s cost!), and maintenance after warranty. And that's not a comfortable way to live your life. Make a realistic car-buying budget, taking into account all the other goodies you have/want in your life, and stick to it.<p>Meanwhile, people like me who over-spend on our cars do so willingly and with full knowledge that we are wasting money. But damn it, we are addicted and can't help ourselves! To drive a car worth driving these days, $30 large is pretty much the price of admission. Not nice, but true.

<br>NT

I didn't get anything other than #1, too. Maybe it's just that Cameron's sentences are too elaborate even for someone with a college degree. For instance:<p>I think it would surprise many of you to know how many people who read this board aren't as worried about the cost of the A4<p>English is my 4th language, but the above sentence is a comperative ("AS worried") - comparing to *what*?<p>The #2 statement I don't get at all - yes, when I was 13 (1981) I said "this will be my car one day", so he makes sense up to the comma in the sentence, but then he lost me.<p>I am equally lost in the $600 is the same $600 between $1400 and $2000. Yes I can do math, but what is the point of it? I paid probably more than needed, but I knew that, so what? <p>Hopelessly lost by Cameron's post, not for the first time for that matter,<br>- Stan<br>

j