On June 1st, I had a fender bender in my '88 Honda Accord. Rather than repair the radiator & front bodywork, I took the opportunity to get a new car. I donated the Honda to charity, and relied on my '98 Honda VFR motorcycle, bicycle, friends, and public transit for transportation.

Flash to today. It's been a long four months, and I ended it by taking a BART ride to Diablo Audi in Concord. Ernst Goesch met me at the station and I drove my new '00 A4 back to the dealer. There I closed the deal, which was made pleasant by the CarOrder.com subsidy.

I have only driven 75 miles so far, but I am utterly impressed and amazed at the engineering and comfort of the A4. It was a long wait, and well worth it.

A couple comments - first, lighting. This is my first Audi, and upon turning on the headlights, the dash lighting is AWESOME! I can see the point of people that the all-red was better. But I don't mind the bits of white. They just seem unbalanced since the center console (i.e. radio, AC) is all red. Oh well.

One of the pleasant surprises for me was the wheels. I was bummed about the new sport wheels after the pictures were posted and people on the forum were complaining. All I have to say is, they are AWESOME. I loved them instantly upon sight. Of course rims are a matter of personal taste, but do not fret '00 Sport owners, the rims are sharp.

Speaking of wheels, I washed the car after the day's drive and there was a lot of brake dust down there. I waxed the wheels to avoid it in the future, which was arduous as predicted (30 minutes). But the car is looking REAL SHARP now. I am getting a special feeling just writing about it. ;) Don't worry folks, the wait is worth it!!

tk2x - San Francisco
'00 A4 1.8T QMSX Santorin/OnyxLE

(been waiting for that sig line)