I expressly joined this forum to do some research on A5's and B6 S4's and wasn't really planning on posting, but I figured who better to ask this question than you guys. So here is the deal.

I moved to London 2 years ago and now I am 2 weeks from blowing this dreary, grey, cold, expensive, but strangely awesome taco stand and going back to ugly, spread-out, sweltering, but strangely awesome (for me anyway) Houston TX.

Now anybody that knows Houston knows you need a car to survive, so I'll be buying a car as soon as I get back and I have fallen in love with this little beauty.

2008 Audi A5 3.2FSI $28995 with 68k on the odo







http://www.cars.com/go/search/detail...&&aff=national

I am so enamored with the look of the A5 inside and out that I am willing to overlook several things, the middling (compared to the G37 and 335i) performance, the automatic transmission (this would be the first time I've ever willingly put down money for a slushbox) and most importantly the crap load of miles on the odo.

But Christ just look at that thing! It's like a siren, like that hot crazy chick that you should probably stay away from but you just can't get her out of your head. I am up at 1:30am in London posting on a message board for the first time ever looking for advice from strangers, and willing to break almost every principle I have about cars (1. when in doubt powah! 2. a man should row his own) to get this thing.

Honestly I had about given up on the dream of an A5 because I couldn't find one under $32k (my absolute ceiling is $30k) and even when i found one right at $32k to tempt me, it was in like New York or some other far flung place. which is why I started to think, maybe I should just go with a B6 for around $20k and drive that for a couple years then try for an S5 or something in a couple years. But here stares me a gorgeous but possibly beat to hell underneath it all, priced right in my wheelhouse with every option except a 6MT Audi A5, 5 freaking miles from my parents house.

What say you my new friends. If you had the money (which I do, barely) and the inclination (which I do, more than what is healthy maybe). Is the fact that some oil company leased this thing for an executive who drove it from Houston to Dallas on a daily basis (I don't know that this is true, dealer had no input on why the miles were high, but how else do you put on 22k a year?!) enough for me to walk away?

Just a couple more things:
-Of course I will get it thoroughly inspected before purchase.
-I need to decide within the next 2 days so that I can put down a deposit, so they'll at least hold it until I get to Houston on May 31.