If you had to replace your daily driver (automobile) right now, what would it be?

[SkiSVLikeAgassi]

Beautiful. Remember that yellow S4 Avant that parked at the River Run lot forever? I used to lust after that every time I walked by, but those 4.2L V8s cost a lot to keep going when the mileage starts creeping up.

I'm a Warm Springs kind of guy...

Yeah, an S4 in yellow or blue is beautiful.
But not a car you want to keep long term unless you come to terms with the potential maintenance costs. I did have a 4.2 Allroad for around 60K miles that was very reliable. But with gas hitting $6 in the near future, these cars are going to become impossible to run as daily commuters...

 

[SkiSVLikeAgassi]

I wonder what the final gavel price will be for the RS4 Avant. I personally think the current $80K is steep. Real steep. Trying to recall what the two cars in CO, where the owner essentially built two RS4 Avants was. All it takes is two buyers to bid against each other. There is a LOT of money out there. This one is not perfect. Will not matter, I guess. I think it will top $100K.

I guess if you are wiling and able to pay that, you can afford a new sunroof motor, switch, and whatever else is needed to make the sunroof work!

I have not tracked B7 s4 six speed avant sales as of late. If I were thinking Audi, I bet one could source a bunch of RS4 bits and have a hell of a car for a third or less of what this will sell for.

Heck you could buy a mint B7 AND A near mint 1994 RS2 Avant For less than $100K!!

“Federalized RS4” does not float my collector boat. Others will feel differently.

People want it NOW!!!

GLWA to the owner!

Agreed. Way too steep.

But it is a cult car. And the buyer probably "has" to have it. I think if money is no object and you want a turnkey solution, this car accommodates that-- and like you said, there is a lot of money out there. For reference, what is going on in the 911 world is surreal...

At the end of the day, someone will end up with a very special car for which they paid dearly. As long as the owner is happy!

I would be happier with a blue six-speed B7 S4 for a fraction of the cost, frankly.
I also imagine sourcing parts for these things is going to become increasingly difficult (like with the Euro Evo and non-Evo E36 M3 engines).

 

[Tom K.]

I'm a Warm Springs kind of guy...

A little bit the same, except:

1. My wife does NOT prefer to start out with that cold, shady lift ride!

2. I like to close out darn near every day with a run down Exxy.

 

[SkiSVLikeAgassi]

A little bit the same, except:

1. My wife does NOT prefer to start out with that cold, shady lift ride!

This trumps everything. And I am in the exact same situation when my wife decides to join me...

 

[Lebowski]

Re: the Audi/Mercedes/Volvo wagon thoughts.

I posted that I helped my sister in law with this a couple of months ago. She ended up with the Volvo V90 T5, the turbocharged engine without the supercharger. And she bought a brand new 2000. The cars have not sold well, the dealer wanted it gone, she made a great deal.

Her #2 was an CPO A4 allroad. Price wise it was close to the Volvo. A bit less. It “lost” strictly due to size. Too small for her. She is single, but has two dogs and three homes and does not travel light. I think it might have been perfect, but not my car.

We checked out an A6 Allroad. And drove it quite a bit. VERY nice. My wife and I had an A6 3.0T Avant {until it was hit while parked on the street and sadly totaled}. Loved that car. We bought ours, BTW, well depreciated. My sister in law was pretty put off by the dealer “greed index” that factored into the pricing. A whole lot of fluff added on. When you added in a longer warranty, etc., the car priced out at almost twice what she paid for the Volvo.

She would not consider the M-B. Town is loaded with young “Yummy Mommies” driving them to coffee and yoga class. And her former BF drives an AMG E63 wagon. Would not consider a M-B badge. I did source a couple E series CPO, but wow were they reaching high and digging in on price.

The A6 Allroad really impressed me. Checked off almost every box at once….including “too nice to be used as a wagon?” For me…pricey. Will be interested to see how the CPO pricing on them unfolds down the road. A couple of years.

BTW, on the RS6 avant topic, my brother is planning on taking his off the road once we see snow. However, in an interesting move, he is also mounting snows on it. Hmm? “Just in case.” We are wagon nuts. The car is a beast. But even if I had his budget, I really struggle to see it. The A6 Allroad is NOT the same, at all, but it’s a really, really great car. And I sure as heck would drive one through the winter!


When I see and drive them all…makes me love our 328xi and 325xi wagons. And makes me want a good old C4S6 avant again. Actually, more like a RS2.

I’m struggling with these new performance/sport wagons, for a bunch of reasons. I changed all of the fluids and filters on one of ours yesterday. Rotors, two calipers, pads, brake hoses and fluid is a tomorrow AM project. I enjoy it, but I can do it. I pop the hood on my brother’s RS6 and “I think that’s an engine in there….”

Volvo? I would shop dealers and drive a hard bargain. As previously posted a dealer friend was clear that they are really hard to sell. And lots of leftovers.

Audi? You are going to pay dearly. They have great products and big demand.

M-B? Dealer friend says they are 95% leased. Which is a totally different game. Not my game. Just not too knowledgable.

Good luck! Have fun looking.

Re: the Audi wagon (and sorry in advance for the rant/ramble!): I had the same impression of the A6 Allroad: it's gorgeous and ticks nearly every box for me, but man, is it ever priced high! I do get it - I get that wagons are niche vehicles, but as ever, it has me rethink their value proposition versus a comparable SUV, especially as SUV’s get better and more ‘carlike’ with every iteration.

You can get a used Cayenne (the Base has the same drivetrain as the Allroad) for the same money as a used Allroad, or for the same price as a CPO’d V90 Cross Country, you could get into a similarly optioned and mileage’d XC90 or, better still, an X5 with the BMW’s far better ICE drivetrain.

I do get that those SUV's have an image problem, with their 'yuppie-soccer-mom-rolling-gin-palace-F-U-poors!' vibe, but it can't be denied they've also become very good cars. Much as I love a wagon shape and the ability to throw a roof box on top and keep gear out of the cabin (while still fitting into parking garages), it does get increasingly difficult to justify going the wagon route – except for the RS6, obviously, that one remains a shoe-in for the dream garage

 

[Jack skis]

If I replaced my daily driver my heirs would start legal action as I just purchased an Audi TT Coupe as my daily driver in June, but legal action not withstanding I'd buy a Jaguar, any model, just because I've never had one. Gone through lots of car makes all these years of driving, but never a Jag. Would it be a wise choice? Maybe not, but still worth considering just for the hell of it.

Come to think of it I've never had an Alfa either. That might be a step too far even for me.

 

[Bill Miles]

If I replaced my daily driver my heirs would start legal action as I just purchased an Audi TT Coupe as my daily driver in June, but legal action not withstanding I'd buy a Jaguar, any model, just because I've never had one. Gone through lots of car makes all these years of driving, but never a Jag. Would it be a wise choice? Maybe not, but still worth considering just for the hell of it.

Come to think of it I've never had an Alfa either. That might be a step too far even for me.

Get both the Alfa and the Jag!

 

[Decreed_It]

About to - Duramax Yukon XL we ordered should be showing up any day now. It's a whale of a beast of a monster of a vehicle. More like a ship to pilot. But, we legit need it, I'm a travel sports Dad now, so, you know. We're gonna burn up the SE coast this Winter going to tournaments. Should buy a freakin' condo in Orlando at this point, but I digress . . .

Now if money was no object and I had my ultimate dream car - Emory Outlaw 356 porche for the DD. Or a Sport Quattro from back in the day. Or possibly a 1989 944 Turbo S.

 

[doc]

Get both the Alfa and the Jag!

And get a good mechanic on retainer.

 

[Cameron]

If I replaced my daily driver my heirs would start legal action as I just purchased an Audi TT Coupe as my daily driver in June, but legal action not withstanding I'd buy a Jaguar, any model, just because I've never had one. Gone through lots of car makes all these years of driving, but never a Jag. Would it be a wise choice? Maybe not, but still worth considering just for the hell of it.

Come to think of it I've never had an Alfa either. That might be a step too far even for me.

To me Jaguar makes some of the best looking cars on the market so I could completely get on board with that and I would still love to have an Alfa 4c as well.

 

[Philpug]

To me Jaguar makes some of the best looking cars on the market

You have to say it right ... Jaaaaaaaaaag....

 

[SkiSVLikeAgassi]

I wonder what the final gavel price will be for the RS4 Avant. I personally think the current $80K is steep. Real steep.

Sold at $91K!

I love wagons, but, man, you can buy a whole lot of other very desirable cars with that kind of money,
even in the current inflated market...

 

[Muleski]

Sold at $91K!

I love wagons, but, man, you can buy a whole lot of other very desirable cars with that kind of money,
even in the current inflated market...

Nuts. Sure agree on that. Still, if it had topped $100K, I would not have been shocked.

In the wagon world, you could buy BOTH a M-B E63 AMG, and great Audi C4S6. Or a Macan Turbo, actually TWO of them!

Wow.

 

[snwbrdr]

You have to say it right ... Jaaaaaaaaaag....

 

[cantunamunch]

For @Lebowski - except we have to wait until 2025

This Maserati’s roofless design is a stunningly muscular concept that makes the MC20 seem ordinary! - Yanko Design

If you're drooling over the Maserati MC20 launched a couple of months ago, reserve your charm for this concept Maserati designed by Samuele Errico Piccarini. As a part of his project during the Transportation Design degree at IED Turin, the designer created a blueprint of a Maserati for the year...

www.yankodesign.com

 

[Lebowski]

For @Lebowski - except we have to wait until 2025

This Maserati’s roofless design is a stunningly muscular concept that makes the MC20 seem ordinary! - Yanko Design

If you're drooling over the Maserati MC20 launched a couple of months ago, reserve your charm for this concept Maserati designed by Samuele Errico Piccarini. As a part of his project during the Transportation Design degree at IED Turin, the designer created a blueprint of a Maserati for the year...

www.yankodesign.com

Ha, wow - that is stunning! Reminds me of those recent roofless Ferrari specials, of which there's a green one - Monza SP2 i think it's called - that spent some time at the nearby Ferrari dealership. I happened to be walking by one day when they were starting it up and pulling out of the garage bay. Beyond incredible to see it in the flesh. For sheer road presence and sense of occasion, I think it makes a Veyron look like a GTI.

Here's a pic that someone else took of it, but it's gotta be the same car:

Side note: my ordinary middle-class neighborhood has a bizarre concentration of exotic car dealerships (because Vancouver) but once you get over the vulgarity of it all, it's fun to peek at what the 0.000001% are buying/driving/flipping. Currently there's an independent reseller 2 blocks away with a Ford GT, McLaren Senna, and Brabus 4x4 all shoehorned into their tiny showroom. Yikes!

 

[tball]

I've been thinking about this a lot and can't come up with a daily driver I could buy right now.

Here's what I'm looking for. Am I missing a car?

• Sports Sedan
• Fast (0-60 under 5.5 secs)
• Rear Wheel Drive
• Manual Transmission
• Reliable (150,000+ likely miles with minimal issues)
• Keeper (will still want in the stable in 10-15 years)

This car is to replace my current DD, a 2003 G35 sedan I bought new. It just turned 150,000. A starter and radiator are all that's gone wrong, both well after 100,000 miles. Super fun, super reliable car. I just wish I had bought a manual. I thought I needed to be a grown-up back in the day. Big mistake.

The BMW and Cadillac are not reliable enough for me. I got excited about the G70, but it's really slow with the four-banger only available with the manual. I'd buy a used G37 6MT Sedan if I could find one that wasn't gone in 20 minutes.

My hope for the future:

• The new Nissan Z trickles up to a new Infiniti sports sedan and brings the manual with it.
• Mazda blesses us with a manual transmission in the rumored in-development RWD Mazda 6 with an inline six-cylinder engine. Mazda needs to bring its Miata magic to a sports sedan and get Toyota to fund it through joint development with a new IS.

Either one of those could be a 3-series BMW killer. Pretty easy pickings for a reliable sports sedan with a manual transmission.

Any other thoughts?

 

[scott43]

Any other thoughts?

I hate inline 6's... Let's hope it's a v6 or v8...

 

[tball]

I hate inline 6's... Let's hope it's a v6 or v8...

Looks like it's an inline 6 for sure:

2023 Mazda 6 Illustrated: Next Generation Goes BMW Hunting With RWD Aspirations | Carscoops

Let's take a look at what the future could hold for the next all-new Mazda6

www.carscoops.com

Mazda Teases Us Again With Photos of New Inline-Six Engine That's Still a Long Way Off

Said to come in gas, diesel and SkyActiv-X configurations, don't expect this straight-six before 2022.

www.thedrive.com

I'll be happy with any new six these days. Too many four-bangers.

I love the idea of the Miata engineers developing a sports sedan. That plus a manual transmission would be a powerful marketing message. The new Z and Integra are getting lots of publicity from their manual transmissions.

 

[Tom K.]

The new Nissan Z trickles up to a new Infiniti sports sedan and brings the manual with it.

IMO, the first part is guaranteed yes, while sadly the second part is guaranteed no.

Hope I'm wrong.

I'll be happy with any new six these days. Too many four-bangers.

+ 1!