After over a decade of BMWs (528i, 735iL, 530i) I’ve made the switch to Audi. It was months of research, test drives, and haggling that lead up to the decision to buy (lease actually) the 2009 Audi A4 2.0T Premium Plus. I absolutely love the car!
I was looking for something nice, smaller than the 530, better gas mileage, and better handling, and at least the same power. Don’t get me wrong, the 530 was a very nice car, had plenty of power, and handled pretty well. But the best I ever got for gas mileage (combined city/highway) was 17 mpg. If I don’t do freeway and drive like I like to I got 13 mpg. The 530 was in the body shop after a small fender-bender and I rented an ’07 Mercedes C280… and it was pretty fun to drive, and even driving like a mad-man I got 17 mpg – with no freeway mileage. That was the moment I decided to make a change.
In the running was the A4 I got, the 2009 BMW 328i with sport package, the Mercedes C300, Lexus IS 250, and the Infinity G35. The G35 was pretty fun, but had the worst fuel efficiency and the highest price. It was the first to go. The Lexus was comperable in price and features, but sorely lacking in power. The Mercedes was pretty nice, but I didn’t like the way the steering felt, and power was close, but behind the remaining two. I was pretty close to deciding on the BMW until I test drove it and the A4. The new ’09 BMW 328i has been refreshed and looks pretty darn cool. With the sport package it has really comfy leather seats, but they aren’t even power! The salesman said you have to get the premium package to get power seats. With the sport package it was already a thousand bucks more than the Audi with the Premium Plus package, which has more options than the 328 even with the premium and sport packages combined. With both packages the 328 costs nearly 4 grand more than the A4 I got. Plus, the A4 was faster and has better fuel economy. What an upset! Of course the new A4 looks way cool, as you’ll see in the pics below, so I feel no loss. There isn’t a single point that BMW beat the A4 on, except maybe with the sport package on the Bimmer it might corner a tiny bit better. Big WHOOP! The A4 doesn’t slack in any way – luxury, sportiness, fuel economy, or ride/feel. With the premium plus package you get a whole lot of features. Oh, and you can get the “zero dollar maintenance” as BMW offers too… it just costs $650 up front. Still makes the Audi cheaper than the BMW, with more features/benefits.
If you’re in the market for the same class of car, do yourself a favor and save time and hassle… buy the 2009 Audi A4 2.0T quattro with the Premium Plus package (you can add the sport package if necessary).
Also, I’m not sure how it works when you need service done, but I can tell you that my final price was very close to what carsdirect.com quoted. I had to haggle like a fool to get my price – over $2k off the MSRP price. Take your pick, just buy it online at a price within a couple hundred bucks. Or, go to the dealer and tell him you want to pay $100 over invoice. They’ll laugh, but settle on no more than $200. You can ask to see what their invoice price is (what they paid for the car). They make money on the lease/loan too, so don’t feel bad, and don’t be afraid to walk out if they don’t make that deal. I’m living proof it works.
If you can’t or don’t want to afford the pricetag for this car, a cheaper option would be the Volkswagens. Basically same car, toned down.