I just returned from a trip with my A4. I purchased this 2003 3L about a month ago. We drove from Portland OR to Los Angeles and back. Total mileage was around 2500 and change. Some positive comments: We managed to pack all of our stuff into the trunk and leave the cabin free. This is quite a trick since my wife's luggage protocol is somewhat like Hannibal preparing to cross the Alps. My God I love the creature comforts. At my age (AARP) I have owned quite a few different cars and I have to say that the climate controls and effectiveness of this A4 are incredible compared to any other car. The worst of the bunch was my 911 (now gone) which, despite claims to German engineering excellence, took a combination of control ***** and levers to provide air conditioning or, worse yet, an asthmatic wheeze for a defroster. Cruise control was easy, consistent, and exact. Having come from the stone age re: music, the six CD changer was a real blessing on the stretches between Yreka and Shasta (dull), and Sacramento and the Grapevine on I-5 (really boring). Most of the freeway miles were at 75-80 MPH except for the LA basin (for obvious reasons). I drove a parts delivery truck for Burbank Ford in the summer of '72 and I had forgotten just how far apart the cities in the LA/OC can really be. With the exception of the I-5 crawl in midtown, the traffic was about what I expected. Mileage for the trip was 24.2, which I have to figure was good considering the speed and the number of mountain passes. The only downside to the trip was the number of winged insects that we managed to splat. During a night stretch just north of Sacramento I swear that driving was similar to flying through an organic hailstorm.

Great car. Had a lot of fun with this long "get acquainted" drive.

 

How many miles on it?

Its definitely a nice ride, glad to hear you agree after a nice long trip.

 

22K when I bought it. Just broken in, I'd say.

 

I too share your pain of the bugs...

last week I drove to a wedding (200 mi or so each way), my first long-ish trip with the car... I had washed the car the night before and the amount of bugs I picked up on the windshield and the front bumper astonished me... I'll now be keeping a can of glass cleaner in the trunk.

-w
(2004 3.0QM)