We are considering purchasing one of the folowing vehicles: A4 1.8T Quattro, A4 1.8T Avant Quatrro, Subaru Legacy. I am partial to the Avant but my wife prefers the A4 sedan, or if wagons must be considered, the Outback. I think one of the Audis will be the final choice. We are expecting our first child and I strongly believe that the wagon will be useful with strollers and other paraphernalia of parenthood.

My wife is 5 feet tall and thus will be sitting 5 years? Thanks in advance

I drove the A4 first and never bothered to test drive the Subaru. 8^) The A4 is a MUCH nicer car for only a few thousand more than the Subaru. I've been very pleased and have never regretted my choice. HTH.

CraigB

I decided against the avant. The sedan trunk has the same floor space as the avant. You only lose the top half of the storage space with the sedan, but with kids you don't want stuff up that high during an accident - sedan is safer for flying objects...Also, take a look at the smart design of the Audi trunk, the hatch opens up extremely wide and the hinges don't project inot the storage space like they do on so many sedans.

In terms of the sedan, money was an issue for me - but once I drove the Audi I was inspired and had to do whatever it took to make up the difference between it and the Subaru. Audi has style, class, nice interior and better AWD system - etc...

What really sold me on it was the stupid comment the Subaru salesman made when I asked him to compare his Legacy limited sedan to the A4. At some point he said in an irritated sort of way "you get what you pay for" - at that, I basically said "thanks, you've made my decision".

Gordon Martin
98.5 2.8QMS (Santorin Blue)

I came out of a '97 Legacy Outback to my 1.8 A4 Avant in September, and seriously considered buying another Outback. While I'm extremely happy with the Audi, the Outback, in terms of practicality, still made a lot of sense, and offered considerably more room, better visibility, and most of the amenities of Audi for about 25% less money. The cargo carrying capability is significantly greater in the Outback, the driving position is equally or more adaptable, and a five foot person can bring herself nearly up to eye level of the SUVs out there.

As much as I love the handling and the looks of the Audi, I'll break ranks here and suggest looking seriously at the Subaru.

Jack Martin

My significant other and I test drove the A4 Avant first and loved it. I previously owned a Subaru AWD GL wagon and a Totota Corolla AWD wagon, and I was planning to get a another Subaru. But after trying the A4, when we test drove the Subaru wagon, we were not impressed. My significant other was so put off by the Subaru that she refused to continue her portion of the test drive and insisted that I drive it back to the dealership!

In comparison to the A4, the Subaru we drove had very rough shifting (5-speed), rough sounding engine, much poorer ride, and vastly inferior interior fit and finish. The A4 really spoiled us.

I think the Subaru is a good, solid, reliable car, but comparatively unrefined in every way. For me, the price difference was definitely worth the upgrade.

I did extensive comparisons of 2000 Legacy against 99.5 A4. You can't make a mistake.
Depends partly on how much you value the "German feel".
Subies are great cars (I also own a 98 Legacy GT wagon), but the new series (in the GT) feels like less of a driver's car than the old series. Also, seats seem marginal especially in base Legacy.
I strongly recommend another serious test drive. I was on the fence for weeks and then had pretty much decided on the Subie because it was cheaper, but I took a Subie wagon out for one last test drive and concluded it was just took much of an econobox for me.
Hope this helps.
Jerry Warner

I was actually on my way to the Subaru dealer having decided to buy either an Outback or 2.5 GT wagon. The Subarus about $26.8 with pretty much everything(SR, good stereo, leather, auto). I liked the power and mindless autoshift, cargo space and legroom a bit more than the Avant, and a longer history of reliability. But I just couldn't warm up to the aesthetics or lack of. Subarus are great cars but their stylists need a tune-up! I got in the Audi and despite a smaller engine with less torque, I just couldn't go back to Subaru. The refinement and quality of the Audi made it a no-contest. The Avant was about $28 with manual, the Bose package, SR and a couple minor extras. No leather available for the 1.8T.

Infant seats are quite bulky - make sure to get the most compact one you can find, especially in the case of the A4. An infant seat on either side seat of the back seat often requires the front seat to be moved up - maybe not an issue if your wife is 5 ft.

If you can, I'd suggest getting the infant seat (or borrow one) and try them out in the A4 and Subaru. Good luck.

Tom
1.8TQMS Silver/Ecru (3 kids 5 and under).

what you say is true, but for that difference it better be. That being said if the cost difference meant that I would spend my life eating beans I would drive a Subi, it is good, basic transportation. For that matter the wife does, it is much nicer than her '87 Accord was.

The A4 Avant has hooks on the back of the rear seats for carseats with tethers.