pegdrag

I'm in the mulling it over phase of picking up a new daily driver. I need 4 seats for very occasional use.

My specific questions are about reliability and build quality. I know Audi's had a long stretch where they had horrible build quality. I have also read that the Mercedes quality on the "C" series of cars is poor.

I'm thinking about/looking at:

1) Mercedes C63. Love the engine.
2) Audi RS5 - 4 wheel drive is impressive. We have rare snow here, so might be a better choice.
3) I thought about adding a 997, but that's an older car at that price point.

Thoughts, suggestions?

tomc_mets

The hunt for your car is a great part of the overall experience IMO. Drive all three, and get the one that fits best with your budget & driving style. For me it was a 997.2S based on price, availability of CPO, desired color scheme & (to be honest) the fact that Porsches are rare in our 'hood while MBs & Audi are more common. Have fun picking & I'd post to fora of the other brands as you'll get Porsche-biased advice & opinions here (& rightly so! :-) )...T

P.s. Don't discount the vestigial backseats on a 911 for when you need to do errands. It can't carry as much as the wife's truck, but the 911 is a heck of a lot more fun to drove to/from Costco!

timothymoffat

F40.

TMc993

I have several friends who own(ed) several variants of Audi from the A3 to the SUV thingy. All agree that an Audi is a great car to own....Until the warranty runs out. Then the cost of ownership tends to increase significantly as niggling, but expensive little things tend to go wrong with the cars.

I realize that Volvo isn't in the same "WOW!" class as Mercedes and Audi, but my wife has owned an S60T and two S80s over the past twelve years and we've gotten exceptional service out of each one. Other than normal service items like oil and filters, our only expenditure was tires.

SleepRM3

Deleted

pirahna

I would go with a 4 door M3.

badabing

I've used an Audi S5 as a daily driver for about 3 years and 50K miles.

Typically I drive about 60 miles a day, 6 days a week, combo of city and highway.

The car is comfortable, sporty, stylish, and reliable.

The RS5 turns up the notch on the performance.

My only real complaint is there are more than a few intermittent rattles and buzzes in the interior which is a pet peeve of mine.

Other than that, it's a great overall DD that's not too flashy.

As far as warranty, they only started for model year 2013 so pretty much anyone you pick up is going to have a good chunk of the new car warranty remaining and you can always add on CPO.

Also, try and get one that the PO already paid for Audi's prepaid scheduled maintenance, AudiCare or AudiCare plus.

mpruden

I've had pedestrian Audis in the immediate family for the past 17 years or so starting with a '97 A4. All total, 1 A3, 3 A4s, 2 A6s. (I've also had a bunch of their VW cousins - currently a Jetta TDI Sportwagen as the Family Truckster).

Aside from ball joints, and some gearbox clunking in one of the 145k mile A4s, they've been bulletproof.

Just my experience. I've heard horror stories, just never experienced them myself. I'd definitely recommend that RS5. Wow, what a beautiful car.

Mark Harris

My wife wanted a Volvo 13 years ago and we still have that S80 in storage. We drive it about 4k miles a year simply because she won't let me sell it. Frankly it's worth more to us to keep than dump. I'm sharing this because the car has no enthusiast draw and would have never been a DD consideration of mine but when I look back at the maintenance and repair records this thing is in a class of its own. Beyond oil and gas over 13 years and 100k miles we spent $400 on an alternator. And FWIW the thing is great out on the open road. Even today it is a very comfortable and settles in nicely at 75-80 mph.

TRINITONY

E55/63

993/907

MINI S?

mathfuzzy

If you want all wheel drive, otherwise, just a regular 435. The rear seats are much more usable than A5 / S5. Plus Dinan is now making go-fast parts and software for the N55 engine.

I'm loving mine as a good, capable, sporty DD.

mcipseric

I have been very happy with my Cayenne Diesel.

soundbehindyou

Audi - have had many and still do, however the control arm bushings or ball joints? tend to wear. Nice handling vehicles

pegdrag

Some very useful and helpful posts so far, thanks. I'd not considered the Volvos, probably not a Mini S...we have one and its wonderful, but I'd like something a bit larger.