Audi A4 Avant vs Merc B-class vs Volvo V50 vs BMW X3

**red_wagen** · February 8th, 2006 01:03 PM

Post pics of the B class.
Volvo, meh.
Audi is nice in and out BUT I hear a lot of reliability issues here in the States.
The X3 I actually got to drive at a BMW driving event and it did not feel like an SUV! We pushed it to the limit in an autocross track and it took whatever we dished at it. From what you posted re power compared to the others, assuming price is not a limiting factor, it looks like a no-brainer. X3.
Btw how much are these cars selling there? Just curious...

**niky** · February 8th, 2006 01:12 PM

Mahal. There's just around 600,000 pesos separating the base X5 from the top of the line X3. X3s range from 3.5-4.2 million. X5s range from 4.8 - 9 million (for the V8s). Diesel X5s cost around 5 million, and are probably the best buy.

Regarding reliability, to be fair to Audi, there are a lot of minor reliability issues with new BMWs, too. Mostly with regard to electronic systems.

**red_wagen** · February 8th, 2006 01:49 PM

Originally Posted by niky

Mahal. There's just around 600,000 pesos separating the base X5 from the top of the line X3. X3s range from 3.5-4.2 million. X5s range from 4.8 - 9 million (for the V8s). Diesel X5s cost around 5 million, and are probably the best buy.

Regarding reliability, to be fair to Audi, there are a lot of minor reliability issues with new BMWs, too. Mostly with regard to electronic systems.

Wow! That's a lot of money!

Yes, it's true BMWs have their share of problems but what I've been hearing are that Audis have more reliability and quality issues. At least here in the States anyway. Here's an example. When I was looking at cars, I test drove the A4 3.0 Quattro and we hadn't even left the dealers lot yet when the car developed this grinding sound. We later found out the AC compressor was the culprit. After that it just turned me off to Audis. I think they're nice cars and imho the best looking dashboard in the auto industry but...

**niky** · February 8th, 2006 01:58 PM

Taxes Taxes Taxes. If you go grey market, you could probably get them for a little less (grey market H2s can go for "just" 5 million or less), but then you have absolutely no service support.

Sad... a reputation for poor reliability is what hurt VW in the US, you'd think their Audi division would have learned from it.

**onie** · February 8th, 2006 02:03 PM

I've had 3 Audis. Never had a problem. Wife wants the new Q7

**onie** · February 8th, 2006 02:04 PM

B7 S-Line

**ryan** · February 9th, 2006 12:07 AM

Originally Posted by red_wagen

Post pics of the B class.
Volvo, meh.
Audi is nice in and out BUT I hear a lot of reliability issues here in the States.
The X3 I actually got to drive at a BMW driving event and it did not feel like an SUV! We pushed it to the limit in an autocross track and it took whatever we dished at it. From what you posted re power compared to the others, assuming price is not a limiting factor, it looks like a no-brainer. X3.
Btw how much are these cars selling there? Just curious...

Here's a pic of the B-class but this one is the Brabus version.

If I remember correctly, here are the prices...

Audi A4 Avant (2.0L 130hp) - 2.95M
Mercedes B200 (2.0L 136hp) - 2.75M
Volvo S40 (2.4L 170hp) - 2.3 or 2.4M
BMW X3 (2.5L 190hp) - 3.6M (preowned is about 3 to 3.2M)

**red_wagen** · February 9th, 2006 12:35 AM

Onie, nice ride bro :inlove:
Ryan, based on those prices I guess Volvo will give oyu the most bang for the buck. And it's not bad looking. The Audi as I said before looks

but, well you know. How's the warranty of these cars there? Do they offer free maintenance too?

**onie** · February 9th, 2006 01:29 AM

Originally Posted by red_wagen

Onie, nice ride bro :inlove:
Ryan, based on those prices I guess Volvo will give oyu the most bang for the buck. And it's not bad looking. The Audi as I said before looks

but, well you know. How's the warranty of these cars there? Do they offer free maintenance too?

Thanks
Ryan
You just have to chip the Audi to get more power. There are lots of Audi aftermarket tuners. But keep in mind that turbos do not perform very well in warm weather. As far as warranty, they have to prove that whatever aftermarket stuff you have in the car was the cause of a malfunction.Some dealers are chip friendly, some would flash your cars ecu to revert it back to stock. I know you can get a chip now that you can switch back to stock and chipped. That way when you visit the dealership for service you just switch it back to stock. Don't be swayed about the things you hear about Audi/VW.Not once that my Audis broke down or would not start. European cars in general tend to have electronic/electrical issues.
European cars we've had the last couple years.
1999 VW GTI - 2 minor problems in 2.5 years/Radio & Driver Side Window
2000 VW Passat Wagon - 1 problem after 3 years/Vacuum Hose replaced
2001 Audi A4 - 0 problem 2 years
2002 Mercedes C230K - Too many problems to list in 2 years
2003 Audi A4 - 0 problem 2 years
2005 Audi A6 - 0 problem 7 months and still going strong

**ryan** · February 9th, 2006 12:27 PM

Yah that's what some people do I heard. But for A4's here, they just offer a non-turbo 2.0L or 1.8T engines (sedan only).

I asked their sales rep before why they still aren't carrying the 2.0 Turbo engines and they said it was because of the poor fuel quality here which made me scratch my head. I mean if new exotic cars can, why not "mass" cars like Audis.