I'm sure I'm not alone. My lease on my B7 with stick is up in January and I need to make my mind up soon about whether to let go my frustration with Audi about not even offering stick as a custom order option on the B8 avant and just deal with the B8 auto. I love my avant. It's not like I'll be traumatized by an auto avant...but if you like stick then you know it just wont be the same.

Anyone moved from stick to the auto? Good? Bad? Huge letdown? Sigh.

My buyout is about $22k and I only have 27K miles on it. With a comparable B8 Avant in the $45k range, I just can't justify it.

If there was a manual, i'd certainly be tempted...but I pretty much refuse to drive Audi's slushbox. A DSG type would be better, but not the standard tiptronic. Those things absolutely blow a$$ in my opinion.

Sigh is right!

took my 2006 A4 manual in for service, and they gave me a tip loaner, what a pig...
lease is up in mar 09 - what to do?

Lease ended and there wasn't a manual Avant being offered. So I just walked away instead of ordering a new Avant. B6-B7-no B8 :( Decided to wait for the S4 Avant instead. Guess I'll keep walking. Sucks.

BUT at the same time Audi will be generating new clients so the numbers won't show their loyal following leaving. Just my $0.02.

. . .if it is built.

By that I mean "how high is the stack of $100 bills you are willing to pay to get it?"

The answer, I'll bet is, "not very high."

just traded a b7 2.0t 6-speed avant in on a b8 2.0t sedan (premium plus).

i will be very honest, i was very torn about going back to an auto (my allroad was auto, and while i loved it the manual was much more, well, just fun)

however.
(and i admit that the lever is pretty much living in the manu-matic slot)
the b8 is such a staggeringly superior car to drive, be in, and behold than the b7 that i do not miss the clutch at all.
manually shifting the automatic is a dream and the handling and extra torque are truly beyond even my expectations.

do i wish it was the dsg s-tronic in there?
yes, but when the lease is gone in three years there will always be the s4.

seriously - so worth it.
i have zero regrets in any way (other than not being able to swing the prestige) about going back to an auto.

nick.

That's just not how corporations operate.

...costs more, goes slower, gets worse gas mileage... what's not to hate:)

AudiUSA has abandoned their loyal client base by not offering the V6 with manual or an Avant with either a manual or V6. With the tanking economy many of the "newcomers" to the entry-level European luxury segment that accounted for the large amount of 2.0T automatic sales are going to go back to the mainstream cars they used to drive at a fraction of the cost of an A4.

I mean if BMW sales dropped 15% last quarter, you can bet Audi is going to drop twice that and the new A4 is just too damn expensive to be that popular anymore. Particularly when the leases being offered aren't that affordable (which is what these "mainstream" buyers are doing to get into cars they can't otherwise afford).

I wouldn't be surprised to see VAG just abandon the US market entirely and focus on VW. They can't be making that much money with the Audi brand.

I'll probably be getting a B8 sedan in the spring, so at least I can get that in a manual. But if I had kids, I would probably have to go with a BMW wagon (I think you can get that with a stick).

. . .thing preventing you from your quest.

I doubt anyone amongst us would pay for it, was the point. Make no mistake, however, it could be done.

Think of it this way, it is possible to air condition a parking lot. It is, practically speaking, an issue of cost, not "can it be done," or "will someone do it."

Heck, you could probably buy an A4 in another country and have it certified, by yourself, for US duty -- if you ponied up for the certification and all other associated costs that would hold the seller harmless from extraordinary costs.

The merit of the argument is not in that, practically speaking, anyone would do it -- it is just to suggest that it is in no way not doable. The further implication is this: if all the bitchers and moaners (me included in that list) would shut up and instead "put up" there would no longer be a need for such futile posts (mine included) on this subject.

Audis are NOT in demand -- NOT IN PROFITABLE DEMAND -- with manual transmissions. Apparently, purple pearl paint demand is low too: BUT IT IS OFFERED for sale [just NOT in the US] (but. . .if you are willing to pay enough. . . .)

There is every reason to believe that there is a price point at which these things are possible, unless it genuinely is illegal, immoral or fattening!

The demand from an accountant's position is "diminimus."

Move on.

I did.

And, I blame YOU!

Why?

'Cause I've had 27 Audis and all but 5 of them have been manual transmissions -- so I certainly held up my part of the demand equation.

So, again: I blame the rest of you muggs for my inability to get an Audi, THE AUDI I WANT, with a manual transmission.

There, I feel better now.

My advice?

Get over it or get a Bimmer or whatever else it is that does have the option of a manual.

Drive it like you live. . . .

I just feel strongly that the transmission makes the biggest difference in the driving experience, and I would be willing to switch brands to retain my involvement with the car.

Maybe I'll have to fax AoA a copy of my purchase papers if they don't offer the A4 I want with a MT by summer 2010. I do agree that just venting about it won't get anything done. You have to show AoA that they actually lost a sale.

. . .IF enough folks did that and Audi's demand declined substantially and they could determine the cause was lack of this that or another feature (or transmission offering) -- well, you can bet Audi would certify sticks and bring them to market and cash the checks.

. . .as well as their monthly love letters.

Audi is doing well, apparently very well.

Now, I have not taken the trouble to parse this to a really granular level -- but Audi does better every time it gets rid of the manual choice from another model.

It also does better when it adds quattro to a model that previously didn't have it.

Time and tide have demonstrated that Audi, post "unintended acceleration" has been improving its position, its image its perception in the market(s) in which it is promoted.

The US is no exception.

Audi used to be an apologist, so to speak -- "they were VW's who knew somebody" and they were less expensive than the competition.

Audi is now -- world wide -- in the Premium Segment. It may be the low car on the US Premium Segment totem pole, but it is, finally, there.

Audi's new A4 is said (not by me, not by Audi marketing) to be "one of the 10 most important cars of 2009."

No kidding, it was in "all the papers" -- literally within the last 60 days.

Hell, the A4 for 2009 may be the best Audi PERIOD, life to date, in the US. And by that I mean the best Audi for Audi -- you may argue that another Audi is more car or a better car or a faster or quicker or more lux or whatever -- I am talking about the B8 A4 from the perspective of it "being good for Audi."


Ruined? Whatchutalkinbout?

I agree with you totally and tommorrow I will be driving my new B8 and then I will let you know some more.

I have a manual B6 S4, and my lease expires next month. I want to get a B9 A4, especially after doing a day of the AUDI driving experience, but my dealer says no new manual A4s until maybe next March. I was really at a loss, and ended up picking up a short-term (12 months) lease on a manual 2007 328i to tide me over. Hopefully I can get a 2010 A4 with a stick next year...

I would really rather have an A4 avant with a manual, or least S-tronic, but no dice. The compromise with BMW is that you can't get a 335 wagon at all. But you can get a 328 wagon, either RWD or AWD, with a manual transmission.

<center><img src="http://home.comcast.net/~jrdailey/330Cic.jpg"></center><p>
I was looking for a 4-seater convertible. It was down to the Audi A4 and the BMW 330, well only one of those came with a manual transmission. End of story.

-James
Seattle, WA
(Photo is on the ferry to Lopez Island in the San Juans)

That's encouraging. I think I'll have to go have a little session with one and see.

I bet that the "sporty" A5 with 6mt enables them to just make the A4 in auto.

In other words, buyers looking for the sporty experience would normally gravitate to the 2 door offering anyways.

Not saying I agree with this, but I can totally see this playing out in a corporate office somewhere.