[mnewport]

I had an Audi 100S in college. It was such an awful car in terms of reliability that I have tried hard to forget it. It made me swear off Audi for the next 15 years.

I also owned a D3 A8. I got rid of it after one year. Parking brake sensors failed, TPMS sensors died, MMI screen gears stripped, Bose amplifier died, and finally the whole darn MMI module died. All in one year, and I think I only put about 10k miles on it. The Quattro is amazing. It cost me about $3500 to fix all that crap, about what a warranty woulda cost.

I traded the A8 for a D3 S8 with an extended warranty. I've had it for two years now, and the same problems I had with the A8 are starting to happen. The TPMS sensors have died and the parking brake sensors have failed. Recently the MMI screen has started hesitating, but no gear grinding yet. Again, the Quattro is amazing. A 450HP car that grips ice and snow without slipping is pretty mind blowing.

Will I buy another Audi? I don't know...what's the alternative? In Chicago AWD is a must in winter. The newer Porsches have pretty bad problems too. I hear the Cayenne is hideous. I hear Bentleys are very reliable but I can't see how given that it's pretty much the same car as the A8. Newer Caddies are very fast but I hear they're not trimmed as nicely...although the seats in the D3 kinda blow.