With two boys (7 & 9) our family needed an all purpose "family car" for the everyday drive to work for my wife and the shuttling of the boys she & I share. The Subaru wagon had over 90,000 miles of hard mileage and recently consumed $500 in repair bills every other month with painful regularity.

I was assigned the task of finding the "new car". I knew I did not want an SUV (too much gas & no panache) nor did I want a van ( zero fun factor). Yes, I have a touch of environmentalist mixed with old fashion notion that cars should be fun to drive.

Being a consumate consumer advocate I did the obligatory search in consumer guides and narrowed the field to another Subaru wagon (boring and risky recent repair record), a Volvo wagon (a boxy design that grows on you), or an Audi A4 Avant wagon (never knew it existed until I looked in a consumer guide). I went to an auto show where I could look at all three and get the feel of each.

After sitting in all three (but incredibly in retrospect no test drive) I decided to buy the Audi. I did an internet search for the model and best price (that is another review). I found a dealer within 5 hours who was willing to deliver the car I wanted at the range over invoice targeted by the consumer price sheet I ordered from a leading consumer guide. I took deliver of the car.

Simply put, I am in love. My wife gets to drive the car much too much. We purchased an Audi A4 Avant 1.6 litre Turbo station wagon. It handles like a sports car (much better than any sedan I have driven and certainly better than the Subaru wagon). The interior is beautiful (gray leatherette- fake leather/vinyl). And the interior dash and instruments all glow red at night like a fighter jet cockpit.So you have fun and function rolled into one well engineered German package. The price was right (between the Subaru and the Volvo). And there are no lingering thoughts about what I could have bought (with more money- like the boring Lexus RX-300) or should have bought ( like a Van at the same price or less that handles like- well a Van).

The A4 has nice little touches too- like interior lights that slowly dim after you get in and turn the key or remove the key and exit.

Rear room is ample for groceries or soccer equipment (though not cavernous like the typical SUV).

In sum, the eco-sensitive consumer who likes to "feel-the-wheel", but also has a family to haul couldn't find a better fit than my Audi A4 Avant.

I have almost 3000 miles on our 1999 Avant with no complaints and all smiles.

Amount Paid (US$): 28,300
Condition: New
Model Year: 1999
Model and Options: Audi A4 Avant 1.6 liter Turbo