This weekend I took my first drive in audi's flagship. The particular car I drove was a 97 4.2 Quattro with 53000 miles on it. All I can say is that I LOVE this car. It has great power, a beautiful interior, and a reasonable price. The dealer was asking 35000 for it. The car has no dents or flaws that I saw. The dealer was willing to lease it to me for 500/mo., zero down for 3 years. Or I could do the same deal for a 97 E320. What should i do if anything? Thanks!

Jesse
98 C43
94 Range Rover

Seeing that you have a C43, skip the performance of the Audi and buy the better car, the E320.

Hey...I have to defend the Audi. Having owned and enjoyed an 86 5000 Turbo Quattro, I really came to appreciate their quality and engineering genius.

The quattros were real driver's cars, with locking differentials and ABS, but no automatic trannys. They adapted well to tuning and easy hp gains were but a chip away!

The newer models for Audi are even better, and their efforts at creating a world-spec car and engine platform have improved the breed, which is more than can be said for most other manufacturers who've tried the same thing. The only cautionary note I've heard about the A8 was that there are only a few specially certified shops in the country that can repair their aluminum body, which means longer downtime.

I think Audi can finally hold their heads high amongst the other German makes.

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Dean Albrecht
94 E500
99 ML320

www.need2speed.web.com

My vote goes to the A8...from the cars that you own, you seem to "need" a large, spacious sedan. An E320 would be pretty much around the same size as the C43. w/ the addition of the A8, you get a large spacious sedan, a nice mid-size sports sedan, and a nice off-roader. Just my opinion.

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1995 Mercedes-Benz E420 (W124 - Black Pearl/Black)

As a former Audi owner and fan of the marque I'd say go for the A8. At $35K with 53000 miles sounds like an excellent deal. Besides the car is really state of the art, aluminum body, gorgeous interior, quattro all wheel drive, etc... One important thing, at 53000 miles the free maintenance deal is over but the warranty should go for 5 years 100k miles I think.See if you can have the dealer throw in some kind of aditional warranty. Audi's are excellent cars but parts are incredibly expensive, much more than MB so buyer beware. Never use a shop other than an authorized dealership for service and repairs. My 1985 5000S had 180000 miles on it when I sold it and I never had any major problems with it because it was dealer maintained all its life.
Good luck.
Joe Brasileiro
1980 450SEL
1987 Jaguar XJ6

I'm going to look at the car again this Saturday. While I'm there I'll drive an E320 to compare. This time i'll make sure both of them have service records and a clean title. BTW, how expensive are both cars to maintain? I've never even driven an E320 so i'm anxious to do so but I have a feeling that the Audi will be my favorite. Thanks for all the replys.

JesseC43,
The A8 will be more expensive to maintain.
Totally different vehicles, it would be more fair to compare the A8 with an S-class say an S430. The E320 should cost about the same as your C43 to maintain if not less. By the way is this an authorized dealer where you saw the cars? If you liked the A8, it might be worth looking a bit more at the Audi dealers in your area, I am sure they will have some just coming back from lease.
Good luck,
Joe Brasileiro

Because Mercedes hold their value well and Audis don't both cars are roughly the same price. This was not an authorized dealer but a dealership that buys cars after their lease is up and tries to either sell them or lease them again. They have a short warranty period on all their cars with the option to purchase a factory warranty. I was very impressed with the type of cars they had. Bimwads, Porsches, Jags, 2 Ferraris, 2 vipers, and several lexuses. The dealer says they will replace anything wrong or worn out on all of the cars before they leave the lot. This Audi needed wiper blades and front brakes. The brakes felt fine to me but they say they are worn out. I'll write back when i drive Both cars this Saturday.

You just said it all in your first sentence of your last reply. In three to four years the E320 will still be holding better its value while the Audi would be digging for its grave.

An Audi V8 is just a Volkswagen with an oversize engine (sorry Audi and VW fans). Just compare the service and treatment you get a each dealership. Mercedes-Benz dealers "usually" are very courteous and offer serious and friendly advise. All Audi dealers I have visited treat you like a jerk with money to spare.

I sincerely believe the cars reflect the marque and the dealer standars. Go for the E320.

A. Rosich
'95 E320T
'98 S320

I am sorry but I must disagree with your opinion regarding Audi. I am a die hard MBZ owner and fan but must point out that nowadays Audi is probably closer to MBZ quality and engineering than even BMW. The Audi A8 is probably one of the most advanced designs in the world, aluminum space frame structure, light yet stronger than a regular steel unibody, quattro all wheel drive, available in Europe as the S8 with almost 400hp and a 6 speed manual or the incredible V8 twin turbo TDI with 250hp and tons of torque at avg 30MPG, the specs go on and on. If I had to choose between a 2001 S class and an A8, I would probably go for the A8. The new A8L is even more striking. The problem with resale is true only in the US. In Europe Audi outsells MBZ by a large margin and all their models hold up their values better than MBZ or BMW. It is a mistake to think of Audi as just a VW with a V8 in the same way it is wrong to say that new Mercedes are glorified Chryslers. VW's are VW's, Audi's are Audi's, in fact the VW Passat started life as the A4. A lot of VW's new designs are evolutions of original Audi projects. I agree that old Audi's are indeed inferior in some aspects when compared to older MB's, my opinion about old and new MB's is quite clearly stated in a post named "new mb's", but Audi has come a long way in refining their designs and engineering to match and surpass MB's in quite a few aspects.
Thank you and regards,
Joe Brasileiro
1980 450SEL
1987 Jaguar XJ6

I have a 97 E320, and I love my car. I would never trade it for an Audi A8. Have you guys noticed that all the Audi's seem to look the same from the front?

Chuck

I will offer no opinions here about one car over the other.

I just want to reflect on something here. For years and years in automotive conversations I would talk about a particular car being a good car, and another being a not so good car. All those years, and still today, my number one parameter when guaging a car, has been dependability and longevity. I would carry on conversations and be totally flabbergasted at some of the cars that people would call great. In my mind I couldn't understand how someone might call a VW or an Audi great!

I guess it shows how slow I am on the uptake, but I FINALLY figured out that to most people, a car being troublefree or longlived has nothing to do with their judgement of a car. To most people, if it drives better, looks better, feels better, etc., etc., it's better.

So I'm the one that has been naive for so many years.

Enjoy your new ride whatever it turns out to be,

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Larry Bible
'01 C Class, Six Speed
'84 Euro 240D, 523K miles
'88 300E 5 Speed
'81 300D Daughter's Car
Over 800,000 miles in
Mercedes automobiles