I am now in the process of trying to sell my current car, and getting an A4. I went to my dealer (Princeton Audi) on Friday, and he had two Y2K 2.8 models, and a few S4's. By the way, the S4 that was in the showroom was really nice. It had the Alcantara seats and was fully loaded. MSRP was $41,000.

My dealer said most of the A4's he ordered were completely loaded except for sport seats and sports packages (except on the 1.8's). He also said that most of them were coming in with the Xenon lights and about 75% were coming in with the Navigation System. He said everyone was asking for those two options. When I asked about the side airbags, he said not one person asked for them, so he did not order any cars with them. He said that he found over the years that people will pay for options like Xenons before a safety feature, thinking that they may never use the safety feature, but will be using the Xenons or upgraded stereo every day.

So here's how it looks. He has a few unclaimed Silver 2.8's coming in with Tiptronic, Convenience Package, Sport Steering wheel, Bose, Leather, Quattro, Cold Weather Package, Xenons and Navigation, or just Xenons alone.

1. Did anyone else order the Navigation system. Do you all think it's worth it, and if you have an earlier model, would you have ordered it, if it were available?

2. Still unsure of the interior color. He had two silvers on the lot, one with the opal gray interior, and one with the black interior (both with wood). I liked them both, but started to go more for the black interior, as it really offset the silver nicely. I am afraid with moving to either Florida or Texas, that the black interior might be too hot, although I have read from other people on this forum from those states that have black interiors.

3. For those of you that have either the opal gray or black interiors, can you please give me the pros and cons of each. I felt that maybe the gray interior was a little monotone with the silver exterior, although it did brighten up the interior. This is my final dilemma. My husband hasn't seen either, but he said it's my decision, as it will be my car primarily, and I can't decide.

I will probably sell my car within the next few weeks, as it's in a few newspapers, and will have to make a decision fairly quickly. Any help you can give me would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for your advice in advance.

You haven't said whether you're in a rush for the car or not. If you're not, why don't you cruise a couple of Audi dealerships?? Try to find the larger dealerships and make sure you see every color combination there is (exterior/interior). Granted, most of the A4's you see will be 99's or 99.5's, but, in most cases the color combo's haven't changed that much. You are limiting yourself, if you don't check out the other color combinations. You might be in for a very pleasant surprise. There are colors other than silver (nothing against it). In the event that you see a color/combo that you like, you can either order the car/have the dealer try to locate the car for you. The options i have in my 1.8t are sport suspension, sunroof, tip and quattro. I highly recommend the xenon headlights (not available on 99.5's). If you're going to spend 30 thousand (ballpark), leave no stones unturned, make sure you see everything that's out there before making your decision. You'll sleep better at night.


Al
99.5 1.8tqtsc

Current car is Hibiscus red with Onyx interior and black is not too hot in my opinion. Dash does get hot in sun but not a problem as seats (leather) are fine. MY2K on order is silver with onyx interior. The lighter color just seems to drab with the silver exterior.

I passed on the xenon but did order the sideguard airbags which I hope I never have the opportunity to use. I didn't want the xenon as they stand out too much in the night traffic and I like to blend in.

As for the Nav system, sounds like a fun toy but hardly a necessity. I think it will be more useful when they offer the full display with the map etc.

Whatever you get, you will enjoy it I'm sure. Oh yes, make sure you get quattro.

I have a '99.5 2.8QM in silver with the opal grey interior in leather. I wanted the onyx for the same reason you like it; contrast with the exterior. However, because of timing issues, the only available silver car equipped exactly as I wanted had the opal grey. Now that I've had the car for a few months, I have no regrets. Yes, a black interior probably would look very good, but I have found I have no objections to the grey/silver combination.

I just got a Silver with black leahter A4 2.8 about 3 weeks ago. My thinking was that the lighter exterior color was more important. The leather does get a bit hot but with tinted windows and a sunshade I don't think it's because if the color. Go for it. It looks GREAT.

I was pretty set on ordering a volcano black/opal grey A4. I took my wife up to a dealers lot to show her all the color combo's. After 3.5 hours of looking (the dealer assigned to us gave up and went home) we decided on hibiscus red, ecru/cabernet interior. Everytime i look at our A4 aptly named "Bullwinkle", I smile and say to my wife "Tish that's a really great color you picked out". I never thought i would own a red car. You never know. If you haven't committed, maybe you'd like the name of a great NJ dealer. E-me if you have any other questions/thoughts.........


Al
99.5 1.8qtsc

Very true about looking at different color combinations. Last year when I first went to the Audi dealership, they had a Melange with Cabernet (I think) interior. It looked great. I would have never picked it out myself, but if I were in the market right then and there, I would have purchased it.

What dealer are you talking about in NJ? Bernardsville? I hear they're great. Fortunately, or unfortunately, I work with a guy who is best friends with the owner of Princeton Audi, so I will be getting a good deal. I'm not overly impressed with the staff, though. I thought Flemington Audi was much nicer. He owns Flemington Audi as well, but it's a little far for me to go for service, and I would be getting the same deal.

I think I'm going to have to kidnap my husband for day away from golfing to go looking with me. He has no patience to look at cars for 3-1/2 hours though. He loved the Audi so much, he wouldn't care if I came home with a purple car!

I keep one of those treated cloths for dusting in the glove box. When I'm at a stop light and the light catches the dust, I just grab the cloth and run it over the dash. No more dust.

I've had a 99.5 silver/opal grey A4 2.8QM for 2,300 wonderful miles. I could have also gotten the onyx interior, but opted for the grey because it made the wood trim really show up, lightened up the interior as a whole and wouldn't show the dirt as much. The onyx car at the dealership already showed a layer of dust on the dash and crap on the carpet!

I got the quattro (live in Colorado), leather, sunroof, sport wheel (no choice), Bose, trip computer and all weather. Although the Bose isn't perfect, it sounds awfully nice and I didn't want to mess with aftermarket. The trip computer and the sport wheel are worthless (IMHO).

If you spend half as much time checking out the A4 behind the wheel as you do on various A4 boards, you'll get just the car you want.:)

Will Rogers

I had a 99.5 Silver with black interior, now I have a 99.5 Silver with gray interior... I prefer the gray now with the wood.. AT first I thought the black was better, for the same reasons you mentioned, however now that I have the gray I am converted..

The gray looks fantastic with the wood, brightens the interior (the black is somewhat drab).. and most importatly, you won't notice every speck of dirt and dust!!! With black, you'll want to vacuum your car every 2 days!

Brian

nt

Yup, my guy (Jim Foster) works out of Audi of Bernardsville. My commute to A of B is 1 hour. My intention was to find a dealership that i would be comfortable with (both buying/service). You'll never know how "good" your deal is, if you don't shop around. You'll never know how "good" your selection is by not shopping around. Shop around, you're not insulting anyone.


Al
1.8tqtsc

I have Hibiscus Red w/ Cabernet/Ecru in leather and I love it, the combination is striking and the interior is bright, cheery, and very classy. I just sold a Europa Blue (dark blue)98 A4 2.8 w/ Onyx interior which I owned for about 2 years. I bought it off the lot and made a mistake by not waiting for the perfect color combo. Silver/Onyx is very nice, very traditionally German, but Onyx shows dust very easily and is pretty boring IMO. You should see all the color combinations, especially those interiors that are 2 or 3 toned, before you buy. Good luck.

99.5 2.8 Avant qmss