rebel3

This Thursday I will be trading in my 2001 Audi S4 for a 2003 TL-S w/ Navi. I've had sporty coupes in the past (95 M3) but decided last year (or my wife did) that I needed a 4 door car due to the birth of our first child. I enjoy the quattro and performance of the S4, but the back seat isn't big enough. To make matters worse, my wife can't drive a manual and does not want to learn. I've tried to convince my wife that we can use her MDX to transport the family but she's right that we both need to be able to drive both cars for flexiblity. So . . . please help me convince myself that I'm doing the right thing. Thanks.

Saintor

Sorry, but you are not.

If your wife has a MDX, keep your car. I would never let my wife decide what I drive!

For the next 2-3 years, you should be all right. Baby don't take that much space and you have a MDX, may I repeat. No need to change, IMO.

Also, if you are used to the cachet of brands like Audi or BMW, that is something you will miss.

JPritch

1) Who's the breadwinner in the household?
2)Did you buy the Audi with your money?

If you answered yes to both questions then don't listen to your wife. Sorry to be so blunt about it, but man, it's your money so do with it as you please.

I become very discouraged when I hear about lots of my friends giving up so much of what they enjoy in order to accomodate the "wifey" or a new kid. Trust me, you can do BOTH!!!!!

Stick with the car you enjoy.

ALthough, I have to give TL's two monstrous thumbs up! It would look sweet parked in the driveway next to an MDX!

BLAZING_TL

Keep your car it's got BALLS!!!And you the man so you should have the Balls to go with the car.JMHO.No flame intended.

tdoh

Not intended to be a flame, but IMHO that's a selfish statement to make. Geez, I guess as a husband and father, all the money he earns goes to himself to spend as he pleases whereas any money the wife/mother earns pays for just about every other family expense (food, shelter, clothing, etc.). And even if she doesn't work/bring home money, a guy shouldn't be having the attitude of "Hey, I make all the money, therefore I get to make all of the decisions regardless of whether or not you agree." Heck if that's the way a guy's gonna be, why bother getting married (this is a generalization towards no one in particular)?

rebel3--I assume that the S4 back seat isn't big enough for either you or your wife to sit in the back with the child, as there should be barely enough room for the car seat...otherwise, I can't see why you can't keep the S4.

tlssvtf150mr2

Is your wife planning to drive your vehicle on occasion? If so, why isn't she willing to learn to drive a MT? I thought that the S4 came in AT? If so, can you trade for it?

I agree that the back seat of the S4 is limited, but it's fine for baby seats/toddlers, unless you plan to carry more than 2 back there. I would've bought the S4 before the TL-S if it had the room of the current A4, and was available last yr. I need the extra room to carry business clients.

JPritch

I totally agree with that statement, that attitude IS selfish! However, doesn't it sound selfish of one partner to dictate what the other should drive, when the other car already suits that need?!?

If all they had were two seater convertibles, then yah, a sacrifice should be made and they should trade one in for a more family oriented vehicle. However, they already have an MDX, so should he have to upgrade his entire fleet to serve the family? - that's an individual decision....one personally that I would not do

JPritch

Oh yah, I'm just arguing over the principal of this thing.

Personally, I would take a TLS over an Audi or BMW any day!

rebel3

Guys,

I think I may have overstated the wife issue. We make these decsisions together as a family, not her telling me what to do. A couple of weeks ago her MDX needed servicing. I took the car to the dealership since it would be a PAIN for her to bring our 6 mth old child to the dealership and wait for service or try and move the car seat to another car. This left her home and basically carless since she can't drive a MT. For her sake I would like her to be able to drive my car if she needed to. And I will not force her to learn to drive a MT since she would need a lot of practice for her (and I) to get comfortable especially with our child in back. No, this isn't about who is making the money. We each make around $100K so we could afford a more expensive car. And no, this isn't about me being happy with a non-trendy brand. My favorite car that I have owned is a 93 RX7 - to bad it spent as much time in the shop as on the road.

My question for you guys is whether the TL-S is a better compromise between performance and utility than the S4. For me this is about changing priorities after havinig a child. And I am doing this willingly. Sorry for the long responce and for leading you off track originally. . .

tlssvtf150mr2

I'd trade in the S4 MT for the AT version. The interior dimensions of the TL-S and the S4 are very close (slight nod to the TL-S), especially when the primary rear passenger is going to be under 6' for a long time. Plus, since safety is a concern (as it should be), I'd imagine the quattro would be more beneficial.

If you could upgrade, I'd go w/ a MB E55 (even used) - more room, AT, and decent performance .

DAY Type S

The two cars you are comparing are entry level sedans. I would upgrade to a LS 400 or a 430 that really will add to rear leg room for baby bags and all that stuff that comes with your 6 month old child.

Go back to Audi and look for a A6 4.2-

I have a 03 type S and I rarely plan to use the back seat-

Keep in mind their are no sun shades for the child and no rear seat head rests in the TLS

Great car though- I just don t see someone popping it into sport shift to blow through traffic with their child in the back seat-

LOOK AROUND-

Good Luck

SSItls

I'd consider the a6 2.7t same running gear as your s4, but more room, and chippable.

MB-telecom

If you are looking for a car with extra room go with the new Toyota Camry or check out the Avalon. There are tons of Camry's so you should be able to get a very good deal. You should be ble to get a fully loaded (minus Navi) Camry XLE/V6 for aroung $27K. The Avalon doesn't move very fast so you should be able to deal there to. Both of those cars will give you more back seat room and more cargo room than a TL-S. I think you'll at least be satisfied with the V-6 in eother of those cars. It has decent torque.

bricot

I am looking down that road, thats why I chose the TL-S, and I'm pretty happy with the car.

tdoh

I agree with you...I wasn't implying that your previous statement applied only to one particular group (husbands/fathers) but that the statement in itself was a bit chauvinistic. Both sides need to, and should compromise...

FLAcuraTLS

As selfish as it would be for a husband to refuse to sell his car for family reasons, it is equally selfish of your wife to not learn how to drive a manual. And also, think about how often you will, as a family, be driving around in your S4. It can't be that often, espcially when there is an MDX sitting right there next to it. I honestly can't believe you are going to go from an M3 and S4 to a TLS. Your obviously a serious sports car fanatic, and going from owning two different solid german rear/all wheel drive manual balls out sports cars to a semi cushy auto front drive jap/american ride is plain dumb. It's not like you own a two seater, you still do have 4 doors, and a back seat that can be used when neccessary. Tell the wife to stuff it, and deal with having the MDX as the main family ride. DO NOT SELL THE AUDI, YOU WILL BE VERY SORRY YOU DID.

typeSmaximum

I have a wife and a very small child and my other car is a modified C5 Vette I take it to work while she drives the TL-S day to day. If we are ever out together as a family, we take the TL-S of course. If we ever have a baby sitter we take the vette as our "date car" for just the two of us. What if my "new" acura is in for service? Well it's never that long (oil change) or we get a loaner from the dealer if it was, and I always have an extra inexpensive project or company car.

If I can do it with a 1 sports car and one sporty sedan, you can surely with a Sport Sedan and an SUV!

Now you likely already know you could, but your thinking if you should and if it would be more flexable? Well that is up to, regardless what anyone thinks here.

Now your question is will have remorse, what doesn't fly with me is if your family is making 200K a year, why are you down grading from an S4 to the TL-S?

The TL-S is a great car and I love it, but its best aspect is the value. Thats why we picked it over others. Why don't you get a 540I or a GS430 or something? Its larger, safe, still have vast perfromance and with an Automatic? If your looking for value, get one of the above used, or just keep the S4 and get a cheap but safe econo backup car.

Its not dumb to do this, but I can't see you being happy. Most really don't see a reason to trade the car you already have in the first place, and if you do, there is 100% NO reason to downgrade to a $30K FWD on a $200K/year income?

tdoh

I dunno if I would call it selfish if someone doesn't want to learn how to drive a stick, just as it wouldn't necessarily be selfish for someone to not want to sell his car.

If someone was so afraid to fly that he/she would never board an airplane, is he/she being selfish?

Birch

Rebel... I won't go ballbustin' like the other guys.

I was in the same position a month ago. I looked at the S4 and picked the TL-S because of the engine and the room.

It's not a matter of being selfish (learning to drive stick vs. having to get a new car), it's a matter of mutual agreement, which is sweet.

Vffr1

Personally,

I care what my wife thinks, but fortunately, we have basically the same taste. We went to buy the Type-S, and money wasn't an issue here either.

However, when we went to test drive the Type-S, we all (including my 8 year old son) didn't like the bumpy ride quality of the the S. As a comparison, we elected to drive the standard TL, and we were both won over with the ride quality and handling and performance of the TL-P.

It should be noted, that I had a Jetta VR6 that was slammed, I loved that car, and it rode smoother than the Type-S.

As far as the back seat, I’m surprised how small it is for the vehicle size, very unimpressive. I took a coulple of female friends to lucnch today, and one complained about the lack of back seat (she has a RL).

If you have the money, IMHO I like the (in this order) 530i, A6 or the GS430.

Thanks for reading.

Mike Smeezy
Anthracite 2003 TL
17” Type-S Rims
H&R Sport Springs
Rear Deck Spoiler
35% Full Tint
3” Exhaust Tips

rebel3

Thanks for your responses. Luckily (or unluckily) the decision was made for me. If you have been following the other thread that I started (Miles at Delivery) you’ll see that the car they were going to sell me already had 129 miles on it. I verbally stated that I wanted low miles, meaning less than 20. The dealer claimed that the other dealership did not let them know that this car had this many miles on it. The best that they would do was sell me the spoiler for $250. Since I wasn’t going to get one initially, this had little value to me or help ease my fears about the potentially rough 129 miles on the car. Today I told them that the deal was off. Since there is only one Acura dealer in Memphis, I’ll be looking at other options including just keeping my S4.

For those wondering why I would be “trading down” from a S4 . . . it’s nice to be able to put $20K/yr in my son’s Section 529 education fund. Those of you with small children, you ought to look into this.

rebel

T Ho

Indeed. Too many worried about showing off, and not putting some aside- but hey, it's the American way! Then again, I can't even come close to that amount (about that goes into ALL of my accounts- retirement, savings, college fund, etc). But, we decided it was best for our children for my wife to stay home. Kinda crimps the budget a bit.

I'd keep the S4. Teach your wife to drive the stick. Luckily for me, we both prefer manuals. I may end up with the TL-S 6-speed, down the road.

Todd

Birch

Rebel... I'm registered in Tennessee if you want help with that 529