Finally placed my order today for an '02 6-speed 2.7T, and now begins the multi-month wait.

I've got a '97 A4 1.8T (bought it new), and decided it was time to get a car with a real back seat (no, the new A4 still doesn't qualify as having a "real" back seat, in my opinion). Although I love my A4, and it has been a very good car for me, I'm looking forward to an additional 100 HP, the sport package, more room, and certain creature comforts, such as heated seats, a CD player, and leather. For a while, I thought an S4 would be nice, but eventually decided I might as well have a grownup-sized car with the same engine and still very good performance.

I'm buying the car from Sunset in Portland, OR, which is where I bought my A4. I'm expecting a delivery sometime around April. So the trusty A4 gets to spend one more winter playing in the mountain snows (it does this often, and does it very well). I'm slightly concerned about the loss of ground clearance I'll have with the sport package, but this is just a slight concern.

I'm very glad to see this A6 board is alive and well (and well-behaved), and I expect to spend a decent amount of time here. I was one of the very early participants in JET's A4 pages, which begat A4.org, which eventually begat audiworld.com. It's nice to see the same type of community still going strong a number of years later. I think these sorts of enthusiast sites are absolutely the best thing about the Internet.

Full disclosure of the upcoming toy:
'02 A6 2.7T
6-speed manual
Silver with Ebony interior
Sport package
Preferred luxury (sunroof & leather)
Heated seats

Why are you going to wait so long? While the 6sp cars are relatively rare they aren't nonexistent. Of the 3 dealers in my home area, all 3 had well equipped examples to test drive, and the guy who got me the car found the exact one I wanted in one week (got it from another dealer). It seems, though, that a lot of guys on the board are waiting for their cars to be custom ordered & shipped from Germany.

Here in the wonderful Pacific NW, we've got a strong demand for Audis, yet very few dealers. Oregon has two; one in Portland (one of the largest volume dealers in the country, probably because they're the only ones), and one in Bend, which is on the other side of the Cascades. The next closest ones are in Seattle, and there are three there. My local dealership is a good one (as is the one in Bend, in my opinion).

None of these dealerships have the 6-speeds sitting around. The dealerships only order Tips for their normal stock.

Also, I didn't want to pay for a bunch of extra options I don't need, so to get just what I wanted, I had to order it that way. Particularly, I didn't want to pay for Premium pkg., Bose, Convenience, Nav, sun shades, ski sack, or rear air bags.

I don't mind waiting a bit. It lets me use the "old" car for another winter of mountain jaunts, and gives me more time to sock away cash for when the car arrives.