New commuter car for wife

My wife needs a new car and we're down to 3 choices, all 4 door sedans:

- Audi A4 3.2 Quattro
- BMW 330i
- Saab 9-3 Aero (2.8L Turbo)

She's primarily looking for a commute vehicle and is most concerned about comfort, having an automatic transmission, good visibility and acceptable gas mileage (20MPG or better). Since we tend to use her car for errands and miscellaneous trips on the weekends, we like the 4-doors and 4 seats. I've convinced her to look at the 250-255HP engine options, as I hate dawdling when I drive her car; but we might still move down to the respective lower power engines in the 200HP range (Audi A4 2.0T, BMW 325i, Saab 9-3 2.0T) if they motivate the car in a fashion acceptable to me, while giving her better mileage.

Any comments on what she might like or not like about these? Which would you choose?

 

I voted audi. Can't go wrong with the BMW either IMO.

If you win the Saab in a sweepstakes, I supposed that would be OK...

 

I agree...why is Saab mentioned in the same breath?

 

How important is all-wheel-drive? Were you considering the BMW in AWD as well, or just the Audi? I'd drive the BMW and the Audi and pick between the two. Audi should have the nicer interior, BMW should be the better driver.

 

I just got a letter from the IRS telling me I won an Audi...

 

My friend has owned 2 Saabs. Yes, fun cars and can be boosted higher than stock setting, but hard to find parts for it. I would pass on Saab too.

 

BMW out of those listed. Might be worth your time to look at an Acura RL as well.

 

i vote BMW, the 3 series is bigger than the A4 by enough to make it matter. the back seats in the A4 are as bad as 2+2 ferrari's.

 

My wife's dad was a GM employee, so she gets an employee discount.

She finds the Acuras too bland.

 

I'd say the BMW, as of this year, I believe the Audis discontinued their maintanence program or something like that

 

Have you looked at the new infiniti M35/45?

 

another car(s) you may want to look into is the mercedes c or even e class

 

i just picked up a new 2006 325I BMW for my mother. Automatic, sports suspension, premium package, all the fixings except navigation (I really dislike the BMW navigation system), and that car rocks. It's great to dive, the $0 maint. is nice as well (they cover pads, oil changes, windshield wipers, etc.).

I say the 3 series, I've had an audi myself (3.0 quattro) and it was nothing but problems, not to mention the back seat room the the 3 series is nice and roomy.

 

Thanks for thinking of the suggestions, but these cars were filtered out already. She likes cars that stand out a bit in their styling, so the first pass was taking a visual of all the cars in this category and only the ones that she liked the looks stayed on the list. For whatever reason, the Japanese cars (Acura, Infiniti, Lexus) didn't get her excited at all. The Volvo S60 and MB C320 also fell off, though they lasted longer.

 

BMW

 

Volvo S60 R

 

I believe the "R" only comes in the 6spd manual.

Why not a S60 2.4T ?

 

How about the Saturn Aura? The XR looks good, and it has a 252 hp V6 w/ 6-speed transmission. Same chassis as the Saab 9/3 but better powertrain and styling. It's been getting great reviews.

That said, I'd take the BMW over the Audi.
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

How about a preowned 02-03 S4 or M5? Big performance, luxury in the low $30's.

Can you get an auto Mini S? Audi A4 Cabriolet?

 

this may be a little bit over what you're looking at, but what about a jaguar?

 

If you can get GM employee pricing but a Cadillac CTS with the sport package with your savings it will be well worth it.
Erik

 

quiet you. Now tell them how much you like the 3 series.

 

Not if he gets GM employee price I don't. He would even get GM employee price on an extended warranty he won't have any problems for 7yrs or 100k for like 1800k extra iirc from when I was selling gm cars.
Erik

 

Of these probably the BMW. However if you really like or need awd and aren't worried about a backseat then I say audi. Styling wise the audi is slightly better (inside and out) but both look great.

As for a jag-women seem to love them and I love them in green. Probably the sexiest of the cars mentioned in this thread. Thats really all they have going for them other than comfort and luxury.

 

Sorry, I'll NEVER buy a Jag again. Long story, but the short version for those of you in the car biz is that the customer you screw today is the one that WON'T buy their next 20-30 cars from you in the future.

Unfortunately she's not interested in higher performance levels and the S4/M5 don't meet the gas mileage requirement. Her attitude is that if we're in the mood to burn up obscene amounts of gas in the pursuit of an E-ticket ride, then I can do it in my cars and she'll just enjoy the ride.

She does think the Mini is "cute", and considered it for a bit, but ultimately decided it was too small. On the A4 Cab, she doesn't like convertibles (noisy) for daily driving. Thanks for the ideas though, Ryan!

Thanks for these suggestions, she (and I) hadn't thought of them. We'll take a closer look tomorrow - mostly it would be out of her family loyalty to GM (sigh), though we might be surprised.

We got a chance to drive the BMW and Audi back to back tonight and she's now leaning to the BMW (unless one of these late candidates makes a strong showing). This will be a switch for us as I've always been a Porsche guy and, being around the Porsche/Audi dealerships a bit, ended up with a few Audi's along the way for her. She liked both, went in with a bias for Audi (due to the prior experience), but the BMW surprised her in a positive way. Unfortunately, the Audi had some strange buzz in the steering column and it probably soured the test-drive for her.

What's the scoop on realistic BMW pricing for 2006 models? Invoice, Invoice + X? How about the 2007 335i? Are they worth waiting for or will those be premium priced for too long?

Thanks for all the help so far guys!