My name is Kevin, and I'm here for some advice.

I don't have a ton of background with cars/automotive sports so I'm at a significant disadvantage to many of those on the forums.
I dabbled for a few years in rockcrawling, and have been wrenching professionally as a certified mechanic on bikes for 9 years(starting when I was 15). My specialties in the bike industry are custom wheel builds and suspension setup/tuning.
I'm hoping that my mechanical knowledge outside of the automobile world will come in handy.

I'm looking to pick up a used Audi wagon to replace my current '01 Dodge Dakota V8.

I'd like to molest the vehicle by putting a hitch bike rack on it as well as on top so that I can carry 4 bikes and people.
I'd like to go for the AWD option as I do spend a bit of time on logging roads(building mtb trails) and in our PNW weathers which include lots of trips to the mountain to snowboard/ski.

I'm looking to keep it under the $6-7k mark and be a platform I can build off of to make for a fun, snappy little car that does a bit of work on the side.

It sounds like the Avant S4 would be fun, but the A4 might be more reasonable. An A6 would from what I understand give me more room.
Perhaps you guys can make some recommendations.

Thanks
Kevin