am i paranoid in re model year
 

picked up the car today, and it runs great. so far, while limited, everything seems to operate save for the keyless entry / keyless start system. but while the manual etc. with the car and "car fax" describe it as an 05, it was built in june of 04 and first sold in august of 04. did they actually market the 05s' that early? :confused:

Yes they did...it IS an '05. An '05 that was made in '05 is almost considered by some to be an '05 1/2.
Production starts varied on different years. Corrections for the '04 model may have started early do to fact the 04 was the first D3. The '05 is the same as an '04 with a few corrections...most of which (if not all) were corrected for free by Audi on the '04 models.

The 05 is a much sought after model...it has all the cool D3 stuff, without the Edsel grill :)

turns out i was wrong about the keyless start not working, it was me not having read the manual about foot on the branke and pushing the start button a second time. however, the doors do not seem to keyless entry nor do they lock when the outside button on the outside handle is pushed. other than that, all appears well.