2004 Allroad - general thoughts?
 

Greetings everyone! I'm new to this forum, and new to Audi in general. My parents both own one though, and now that my Dad is eyeing a new car I might be in line to "inherit" his 2004 Allroad. It's generally in very good shape - he bought it new, takes great care of his cars, and is a low-mileage driver, so it has barely 100,000 miles on it. It's got the 2.7T engine in it and the automatic transmission.

The thing is, I already have a car that I love -- an '04 Honda Element that's generally in great shape as well. But the Honda in need of a little auto-shop work, whereas the Allroad doesn't currently have any issues (with some suspension work having recently been done -- I'm waiting to get all the work-done specifics from Daddy-o).

So, I thought I'd put this out to all you Audi enthusiasts -- what's your take on the '04(ish) Allroad? Who out there owns one, or did? Common problems? Maintenance issues? How does it hold up in the long run? If I trade in my Honda for the Allroad, am I setting myself up for a short-term gain, long-term loss in terms of maintenance needs and other expenses? (That fancy air suspension makes me especially nervous, though I know Dad's has been serviced at least once by the Audi dealer.)

And how about that automatic transmission? Thoughts on that? I do love manual transmissions, and the Element has one where the Allroad does not. (I've always given Dad just a little bit of gruff for choosing the automatic over the manual when he bought it...)

I know the Allroad performs much, much better than the Element. Of course it does. I have always coveted that bi-turbo engine, where my Element is an anemic 4-cylinder. I get to drive the Allroad on occasion and, oh yes, I could get used to that. But aside from the obvious powertrain gains, I'd love to hear from folks as to your general thoughts / experiences / opinions with the Allroad and everything that comes with it, especially in terms of reliability.

Thanks in advance everyone!!

-Sam