Just priced a replacement for my 2004 allroad; 2007 A6 Avant (unfortunately no more allroad). Lease is 50% more than my allroad AND no more free scheduled mainenance. At that price, E350 4matic is looking better and better. Come on Audi!!

Weren't there plans that a returning Audi customer still would get free maintenance?

I believe you still can pre-pay it at time of purchase for something like $500. If that's a showstopper on a car that costs 100x as much, I'd scratch my head.

Maintenance shouldn't be a factor between those two as neither offer it for free. BMW is now the sole luxury brand with the program.

Too bad Mercedes quality and reliability is now horrific enough to make Audi quality and reliability (which has improved significantly over the past few years but is still far from Toyota and Lexus) look like Toyota and lexus quality and reliability by comparison.

Of course, schnellmb (2006 C350 or C55AMG) and S. Tominovich (2004, 2005 or 2006 E55 AMG) have had absolutely no problems with their mid 2000s Benzes.

Unfortunately, their mid 2000s MB experiences are extrordinarily unusual and are in no way typical of what you can expect from a 2000+ Mercedes, sadly.

Either they're one of the extrordinarily scarce lucky few people who got excellent mid 2000s Benzes from the factory in Stuttgart, Germany.

Or, they will start having a massive chock full of problems as they put more miles on their cars.

I would love for the former to be the case for both schnellmb and S. Tominovich. Unfortunately, I would have to bet on the latter as that bet is almost immeasurably safer.

A well-optioned A6 3.2 with air suspension costs about $53K retail. The E350 (with standard air suspension) costs $58K. Of course, very few people and no dealers take the time to order the air suspension on the A6, so the perceived price difference on the dealer lot is probably close to $7K. Strangely, the E350 still has the older 5-speed auto transmission and leather is completely optional.

A loaded E350 Wagon is $62k.
A similar A6 Avant is $57k (not including Air suspension).
When you have 4 matic on the E-Class it is not compatible with the 7 speed transmission.
Because of the front suspension set up (Double Wishbone and not Multi link like the A6) it can only use the 5 speed Tranny.
A6 has 18" wheels, and the MB 17".
You can also get the S-Line package now for 07 with...19" wheels!!!

Mercedes cars may have more problems, but everything I hear indicates that they take care of their customers 110% including giving them a new car if necessary.

Something to consider.

I'd own an E or S series (but prefer my A6), but never a C series. LOTS of cross polination with Chrysler has taken place with that line.

Yeah, Audis have cross polination with VW (especially on the low end), but would you rather own a VW or a Chrysler?

I have a peasant 06 MB 230 (new) that has been problem free. The professionalism of the dealership and mark has been pleasant.

I think Benz, has made some strides. Last glance at CU's big car issue didn't have Audis standing too well for reliability.

Zee 02 A6 Avant has done well unlike its brother, my 03 A6 3.0q which was subpar in terms of service. I am rather disappointed with some dealers performance, & Audi's depreciation, but alas I still like their cars.

The C has had 0 problems, and was delivered perfectly, unlike both A6s, and has been fine.

Buy an S class, and an A8 and do a comparo for yourself...and drive em for fun. 8 ^ )

Cheers.

CrossFire = old SLK. Some of Chryslers sedans uses the e-class suspension setup, etc. As of now, MB doesn't borrow from the Chrysler parts bin.

As I said, back then when, the new Audi head guy (from South Africa originally) said that free maintenance would also be offered for returning Audi customers. I guess that one went down the drain...

I don't think the cross pollination argument pulls too well with Audi & VW as to Benz and DC.

Yes, Audi's reliability according CR is not too good, except for the A4, which is recommended by CR due to average or better than average reliability-in case you didn't know.

If you look at CR, Mercedes has a lot more models (seven or eight) on their worst reliability list than Audi (which has two or three-S4/RS 4-counted as one model, A8/A8L-also counted as one model and possibly the TT).

I should also mention that the A6 matches the class leading Lexus GS in owner satisfation.

The A4 has above average or excellent owner satisfation. I'm pretty sure it is excellent. The TT and S4/RS 4 have average or better than avaerage owner satisfation according to CR. The dreaded A8/A8L have better than average owner satisfation according to CR.

One or two Benzes have above average owner satisfation. All other Benzes have average or worse than average owner satisfaction. Not a single Benz has class leading owner satisfation that mathces Lexus and Toyota.

Your Mercedes experience was the typical Mercedes experience in 1999 and prior. Sadly, that is no longer the case. The typical Mercedes experience in the 21st century so far has been worse or much worse than the typical Audi experience always has been.

FWIW, CR surveys 800,000+ vehicle owners a year, according to their advertisements. JD Power and Associates and Strategic Vision combined: half that or less.

When any of CR stats are different from any of JD Power and SV stats (which is most likely, if not definitely, no more than 25% of the time), CR is right and the other two are wrong 99,000 times out of 100,000. Those numbers are just a guess-but probably very, very close.

FTR (for the record), CR surveys are far more typical of what to expect from overall ownership experience than any online forum, be it AudiWorld, MBWorld, etcetera. That is, provided that CR differs from these online forums for what a vehicle owners overall ownership experience is (which is most likely, if not definitely, a maximum of 25-30% of the time).

I used to be one of the many people that thinks that CR is full of garbage when it comes to vehicles. With age comes wisdom, as the old saying goes. Therefore, I now realize that CR is the exact opposite of being full of garbage when it comes to vehicles.

MB has made some strides in quality, including sending hit quality squads into suppliers and changing suppliers.

MB also makes alot more models than Audi....so you'll see more ratings.

I'm happy with Benz so far. I think Audi has some good attributes, and so does BMW.

I think Toyota isn't that great--I had bad cats on my 4Runner and it stunk and had to pull reports readily available on the web to get them changed. I wasn't impressed with Lexus when I went to trade in my 4Runner on an IS. Benz had great sales attitude and the service has been great.

I give you credit Tim, you have you be a car analyst.

8 ^)

I also believe than CU produces Consumers Digest.