New to me SUV

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Sentry18

Sentry18

Thrivalist
Neighbor
Joined
Nov 26, 2017
Messages
19,105
Location
US of A
I have been driving the same well used police-package Chevy Tahoe since 2008 or 2009 and it's reached the end of it's lifespan. In fact I have essentially been without a personal vehicle for a few months now. So out of the blue yesterday my wife tells me she has made arrangements to purchase a vehicle for me from one of her (okay, our) relatives and it will be here in about 3-4 weeks, as soon as they can drive it here from a couple states over and arrange a flight home. Unless of course I object. It has apparently been sitting in an underground temperature controlled parking garage for almost 2 years, sans a few trips to the store or what have you. It's a 2012 Audi Quattro Q7 3.0T Premium with 50,000 miles. They apparently just had a full tune up and service on it this summer and new tires 18 months ago. Not sure if a luxury SUV is my cup of tea, but they are selling it to her for well under blue book value and I guess it is in incredible condition. My teen and pre-teen daughter's (with whom I will likely end up sharing the car) all really want me to get it.

Anyone have any experience with Audi?


2011_audi_q7_3_0_tdi_quattro_premium_plus_awd-pic-8317572051705747988-640x480.jpeg
 
Audis seemingly are always in the left lane at triple digits at my current location.
Very competent at speed.

Likely not as good as your tahoe in pushing other cars out of the way.

Maintenance when older can get spendy
 
It seems like my wife's entire family drives nothing but Audi's and Mercedes.

We have an Audi dealer in town and another one about 30 miles away, so I would have access to a shop. I am also concerned about the cost of repairs, but they claim they rarely have issues with their Audi's. We take our cars to a small shop for repairs as the guy who runs it is a good honest mechanic who doesn't blow smoke up people's backsides. He said he could do the maintenance and repairs but he would be slower than the Audi dealer.
 
Sentry18 said:
wife gave me that look.
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Yikes! Better not go there, lol.

I have ridden in a few, never owned one. The quality seemed top notch to me.
 
Sentry18 said:
We have an Audi dealer in town and another one about 30 miles away, so I would have access to a shop. I am also concerned about the cost of repairs, but they claim they rarely have issues with their Audi's. We take our cars to a small shop for repairs as the guy who runs it is a good honest mechanic who doesn't blow smoke up people's backsides. He said he could do the maintenance and repairs but he would be slower than the Audi dealer.
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In all the years we had the Audi's, I can't think of a single thing outside of a recall that my good indy shop couldn't take care of.
They're not really expensive to fix (as I recall) but they're just in for something more often than many mfgr's.
At 50K miles, I'd think it would be reliable for at least another 50K before it starts giving you issues. At least that's how ours were.
 
Cascadian said:
Well if it doesn't work out you can always say you tried and sell without any harm to your wallet. That is a nice ride, why not make the family happy. Happy wife happy life.
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My wife drives a newer GMC Acadia Denali, so this one is really just for those times when I can't use my department provided Tahoe and the Nanny has the Honda Pilot (which seems like ALL of the time). But my girls will likely drive it everyonce in a while too.

On a side note my wife also gives me that look when I say "happy wife, happy life". She prefers "happy spouse, happy house".
 
The most informed, and unbiased opinion you can get on newer vehicles, will come from a senior mechanic that works at an independent collision repair shop. They are tasked with taking them apart, frame work, suspension, & alignments, then reassembling them with new parts before they get sent to paint. I haven't worked in the collision industry since 2004, so I can't speak to the newer models, but back then Audi, & VW were not well favored, mostly, because they had design features that made them difficult to work on. Of course, features that can give a collision repair mechanic fits, might not apply that much to someone that just drives the vehicle. But they usually end up knowing more about them, and how well they are constructed, than they really want to know.
 
Did you get the car yet @Sentry18 ?

What I know of Audi is that they aren't a tool for everyday living. Great driving and luxurious, but...you must stay on top of the maintenance and if there's any scheduled maintenance to be done, be sure it gets done. My local Mom n Pop shop says they see quite a few owned by younger people who beat on them and aren't meticulous with maintenance and they won't hold up in that situation. Residual value goes down fairly quick too. If I had to borrow money to buy one I wouldn't buy...
 
Spikedriver said:
Did you get the car yet @Sentry18 ?

What I know of Audi is that they aren't a tool for everyday living. Great driving and luxurious, but...you must stay on top of the maintenance and if there's any scheduled maintenance to be done, be sure it gets done. My local Mom n Pop shop says they see quite a few owned by younger people who beat on them and aren't meticulous with maintenance and they won't hold up in that situation. Residual value goes down fairly quick too. If I had to borrow money to buy one I wouldn't buy...
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Not yet, but we will sometime this fall. Might not be until October / November now as it's going to be a lengthy trip for them. But the price they are asking is well below book and we will be paying cash for it. Thanks for your feedback.
 
Sentry18 said:
My wife drives a newer GMC Acadia Denali, so this one is really just for those times when I can't use my department provided Tahoe and the Nanny has the Honda Pilot (which seems like ALL of the time). But my girls will likely drive it everyonce in a while too.

On a side note my wife also gives me that look when I say "happy wife, happy life". She prefers "happy spouse, happy house".
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I agree with your wife on that one
 
My brother is a senior mechanic (mostly foreign cars) and drives an Audi sedan. He's had it for at least 3 years. The one he had before this one, same model, was side swiped and beyond repair, he had for about 3 years also. If he's satisfied with it, I think that's an excellent reference as he is very picky. He drives nothing but fast.
On the other side of the family, my husband's brother (also a senior mechanic on mostly foreign cars) and wife drive same Audi as my brother. I think I see a trend.
 
Trying to explain the pure joy of having a spouse who means everything to you, to someone who has never found that person, is like explaining homemade apple pie with a scoop of vanilla custard to an Etheopian child. They cannot conceive it, so they cannot believe it.

On the other side of the coin my boss' wife is like a moldy gas station egg salad sandwich that fell out of the cooler 3 days ago and got kicked under the shelves. But he still sticks with that sandwich every day. If I were him I would rather be alone.
 
Sentry18 said:
Trying to explain the pure joy of having a spouse who means everything to you, to someone who has never found that person, is like explaining homemade apple pie with a scoop of vanilla custard to an Etheopian child. They cannot conceive it, so they cannot believe it.

On the other side of the coin my boss' wife is like a moldy gas station egg salad sandwich that fell out of the cooler 3 days ago and got kicked under the shelves. But he still sticks with that sandwich every day. If I were him I would rather be alone.
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Oh, I can believe it and understand it. I grew up seeing it from my own parents. But my own marriage destroyed any desire to be involved in a marriage again. I know better than to say never again though. Let's just say, I'm happy without, and I'll be happy with, or I'll go back to being happy without...
 
Patchouli said:
Well, once again we start out on one subject and before ya know it, y'all are talking about women.

:LOL:
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Women make the world go 'round!

Plus in this case my wife did buy the car for me. So technically it started out about women too. ;)
 
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