Six months of searching for the car, 3 fun years of driving, and 22k miles later our Audi experience ends. A tree fell on our Audi on Saturday as the storms swept through Midwest. I will miss the joy of driving the car as we move on to a minivan/suv. I did my best to hold on to my Audi as long as I could, but alas the choice was not mine.

I believe I have the choice to take the salvage value of my car instead of the insurance company's salvage value so if anybody's interested let me know soon. At the very least, I might be able to get you in touch with the right people. The car had just over 55,000 miles and was in mint condition. It is located in Amana Colonies, IA, but it will soon be moved to a salvage yard. It has a brand new Audi oem ZF steering rack; less than 1k miles. I have full maintenance records from day one as well.

I'm curious as to what Minivan / SUV fellow Audi owners find themselves in. We have an 18 month old and one on the way. So any advice would be greatly appreciated.

I easily could have been loading my daughter into the car when the tree fell on it because we needed to be leaving for a wedding rehearsal. The front of the storm was upon us and I could have just ducked into the car, shut the door, and loaded her into her car seat. Instead, I chose to stay inside and wait for the front of the storm to pass. So remember, the safest place in a storm is inside. Be safe.

 

Inside Photos

 

Man, that is a bummer. But it is also good to think that you were not in it at the time. A several years ago, there was a case in our area that a tree fell on top of a car while the car was being driven. The lady died instantly.

Anyways, I always thought about an alternative vehicles for my family as well. But so far, I can't find anything that comes close to my avant with the 3rd row seat option. I can fit 5 plus 2 kids in the back if needed. I think my son started to sit in the back around at 3 1/2 years of age. He really loves it.

Unless I save enough money for a E55 or E63 wagon with the 3rd row seat option, my next choice probably will be an 04/05 allroad. You can retrofit the rear to install the factory 3rd row.

Good luck with the search and sorry to hear about the car.

 

Wow, I had no idea you could do a 3rd row in the Avant. My dad has an 05 allroad, but I don't think he's ready to let it go yet.

 

Sorry for your loss, but a great decision to stay inside! The pics broke my heart. If you do salvage the A6 please let me know, that's the exact interior as mine, and my 04 and my drivers seat bottom leather is in rough shape.
Good luck with your new vehicle search.
Paul

 

Oddly, my driver seat cracked too at about 38,000 miles.

Found out with the total loss offer that I can't salvage the Audi by Illinois law. Doh!