Hello everyone. I've been keeping an eye on this forum for quite some time now while trying to decide on our next vehicle which will be mainly driven by my significant other.
The car will be her daily driver and we plan to use it for road trip vacations, up to a week long usually, so it should be comfortable for long drives and able to carry the two of us with lots of clothing and shopping and gear for preparing road food. That would be things like a camp stove, cooler, lawn chairs, bicycles, dishes (including pots and pans), water jug, etc. As you may have guessed I am wondering if the Q3 would have enough space.
Other requirements are that it should have decent ground clearance and drive well in winter. No off-roading for us but unplowed streets, potholes, and large chunks of frozen slush are common. Priced under $45,000 Canadian with taxes in.
I do not have an Audi dealer anywhere nearby so I may not even have a chance to drive one or even see one in person. Our local VW dealer had a used Q5 which I drove and almost purchased on the spot because it drove so well and I liked it a lot. But it wasn't much cheaper than a brand new one so I held off as it was over our spending limit.
I have never owned a "high end" vehicle other than my Honda Ridgeline which I consider high end. And yes, if our road trip gear becomes too much we will use the Ridgeline as it is very roomy and comfortable but not so great gas mileage.
Other vehicles that we have been considering are:
First was the Toyota 4 Runner because of Toyota's reliability. My SO has driven a couple of Toyota's and they have been very reliable. The 4 Runner however does not have all wheel drive unless you pay well over $50,000. Plus it looks a bit like a school bus and it's just too big and overkill for our needs.
Second was a Land Rover LR2. They had a great discount due to the model being discontinued but reliability without a nearby dealer was a concern otherwise we would have purchased one. The new Discovery Sport is even more interesting but ruled out for the same reasons.
Next was the Toyota Highlander. We certainly will never use the third seat and it reminds us of a raised minivan. A bit too big as well.
Some comments about other SUV's we have ruled out: Honda Pilot is too large and boxy. Subaru's are just too plain. No other Toyota interests us. Lexus is out of price range. Honda CRV is awkward looking from the back and so are Volvo's SUV's. VW??? Well I think I'd rather have an Audi.
We want to spoil ourselves with a midlife vehicle and it seems that we have settled on the Q3. It looks great, has great reviews, okay ground clearance, is well equipped, and of course Quattro. The only problem is we don't have a dealer so warranty work might be difficult to have done. Our local VW dealer will certainly do warranty work but I may have to fight Audi to have them pay for it.
Help convince us!
The car will be her daily driver and we plan to use it for road trip vacations, up to a week long usually, so it should be comfortable for long drives and able to carry the two of us with lots of clothing and shopping and gear for preparing road food. That would be things like a camp stove, cooler, lawn chairs, bicycles, dishes (including pots and pans), water jug, etc. As you may have guessed I am wondering if the Q3 would have enough space.
Other requirements are that it should have decent ground clearance and drive well in winter. No off-roading for us but unplowed streets, potholes, and large chunks of frozen slush are common. Priced under $45,000 Canadian with taxes in.
I do not have an Audi dealer anywhere nearby so I may not even have a chance to drive one or even see one in person. Our local VW dealer had a used Q5 which I drove and almost purchased on the spot because it drove so well and I liked it a lot. But it wasn't much cheaper than a brand new one so I held off as it was over our spending limit.
I have never owned a "high end" vehicle other than my Honda Ridgeline which I consider high end. And yes, if our road trip gear becomes too much we will use the Ridgeline as it is very roomy and comfortable but not so great gas mileage.
Other vehicles that we have been considering are:
First was the Toyota 4 Runner because of Toyota's reliability. My SO has driven a couple of Toyota's and they have been very reliable. The 4 Runner however does not have all wheel drive unless you pay well over $50,000. Plus it looks a bit like a school bus and it's just too big and overkill for our needs.
Second was a Land Rover LR2. They had a great discount due to the model being discontinued but reliability without a nearby dealer was a concern otherwise we would have purchased one. The new Discovery Sport is even more interesting but ruled out for the same reasons.
Next was the Toyota Highlander. We certainly will never use the third seat and it reminds us of a raised minivan. A bit too big as well.
Some comments about other SUV's we have ruled out: Honda Pilot is too large and boxy. Subaru's are just too plain. No other Toyota interests us. Lexus is out of price range. Honda CRV is awkward looking from the back and so are Volvo's SUV's. VW??? Well I think I'd rather have an Audi.
We want to spoil ourselves with a midlife vehicle and it seems that we have settled on the Q3. It looks great, has great reviews, okay ground clearance, is well equipped, and of course Quattro. The only problem is we don't have a dealer so warranty work might be difficult to have done. Our local VW dealer will certainly do warranty work but I may have to fight Audi to have them pay for it.
Help convince us!
