Which car? 2001 Toyota Camry, 2002 Audi A4, 2000 Audi A6
 

Hey guys. My mom is selling her 2001 Subaru Legacy because she said she is scared to drive it lol. She has spun the car many times since most of the torque is sent to the rear wheels and there is no traction control or LSD. I originally reccomended this car because I thought it had extremely good handling and safety features which I still do believe (the car drives perfect for me). I have come to the conclusion that my mom is a horrible driver and needs a car that has more understeer since it is "safer". She wants to buy a 2001 Toyota Camry but I hate that car. I reccomended an 2002 Audi A4 1.8T quatto or 2000 A6 2.7T Quattro(both used) since they are in the same price range. Out of these 3 cars, what would you choose and why. And please include some maintinence costs, insurance costs, fuel economy, safety, and any other things you wish to include in your response. And please feel free to reccomend any other cars in this price range (around $25000 Canadian). Thanks.

It really depends on what you/she is looking for in a car. The Camry will be a good, reliable, long-lasting car that is pretty comfy and spacious. The insurance for this car should be the lowest of those three. Also, since it's a Toyota (japanese car), unless it's a lemon (very unlikely) it WILL last you a long time.

The A4 is slightly smaller, more comfy, and a lot more fun to drive. It will, guaranteed, be more fun to drive. The engine is just so much better than the one in the Camry. Then again, your mom prolly wouldnt need the extras the A4 would give her. Also, the insurance will be higher than the Camry. It's also not gonna be quite as amazingly reliable as the Camry, but it will treat you well if you treat it well.

The A6 is (i think) about the same size as the Camry, if not a bit bigger. It'll also be more powerful, and more comfy than the A4 or the Camry. Insurance would be most likely the highest of these three, and the A6 should last about as long as the A4.

If it were up to me, I'd get, without a doubt the A4, but that's cuz i love driving, and out of those three, the A4 is by far the best driver's car.

Hope this helps some!

Peace
Brian

Don't get the Camry!! My dad borrowed it for a few days and I had the chance to drive in it. The engine is OK, but the interior is totally shit!! For a car of that price it has way too many plastic parts. I like the design however of the exterior, and I think it has 5 stars in the NCAAP tests, still your better of with an Audi.

Thanks for the reply man. I might try and get my mom to get the A4 then. Do you know about the fuel economy or safety features of the car? And would this car spin as easy as the Subaru?

Uhm... the Camry as said by KaBloogie will be the cheaper choise and will likely last a lot w/o problems at all, but if she needs AWD (since she had a Legacy), better invest something more and go for Audi.. but why A4 1.8T or A6 2.7? IMO the best choice would be an A4 V6 :) my granpa has an A4 2.8 bought when it was first released (so the 174 hp version).. it begin to has some years and km under its belt but never had to fix anything so far :) and the AWD systen is perfect :)

Thats what I think. And this isn't even the new body style, its the old styling seen in this pic:
http://auto.consumerguide.com/images...1990201LRG.jpg

I find it extremely ugly and I can't believe this 2001 model is the same price as a 2002 A4 or 2000 A6.

I could only find the A4 1.8T and A6 2.7T for around $25000 Canadian. My mom wants a car with low mileage and these two are around 70000kms which is low.

If you can find a 2002 A4 1.8T or 2000 A6 selling for $25000 CDN
just go and grab it, it's a bargain
they are way below the average price IMO (at least in Vancouver)

Listen its her car y do u care

id say go with one of the Audis. not as common as a toyota, and nicer interior touches as well. the audis are also more fun as stated above, but maybe thats not what your mom needs.......
i guess its still a damned if ya do, damned if ya dont thing

Audi A6

A4 is a little small, but lets be honest if shes into the camry she would be perfectly happy with a A6 2.8 and thats within the area of a used camry. but i still dont think that either the A4 or A6 is gonna be close. Still A6 has a new gen coming out and the A4 has the better interior. Eh its personal chioce, but if u can get a 2002 A4 quattro go for it, great car (plus there are great chips for it :twisted: :twisted: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: )

Is the A4 a safe car because I can almost guarantee that she will crash it. She crashed the Subaru 3 times already. Then she goes off and blames it on the car and says she doesn't want it anymore.

My mom owns a CAmry it...unspeakably horrid!!! I heard that A6 are less reliable than A4...why not a bimmer?



...forget what my avatar is...they rotate on regular basis...but i love audi!!! Ich liebe der Audi S4 und RS6!!!

How did she spin it so many times again? Sounds a little strange... Perhaps a few driving lessons will be the best investment that could be made at this point in time...

i say u get ur mom a front wheel drive car... with a lighter steering than a legacy.

YEah, some drving lessons would be the best investment...

Since you're going for the quattro version of the A4/A6, you probably should think again. Although the Audi tends to understeer but it's still possible for her to get lift off oversteer under slippy condition. Not to mention they come with summer tires instead of all season so you most likely need another set of tires. Audi's maintenance isn't exactly cheap either. I would love to have one but you need to pay for premium gas as well!

For someone who can't feel the car's handling, definitely go for the safer and less powerful camry! Don't even think about the V6, go for the 4 banger. In case she crashes again, it's just a camry ;)

Interesting how in North America all season tires seems to be very common... here in Switzerland I think at least 70% of the drivers own summer tires AND winter tires :) (ok, what a terrible OT :D)

Anyway, yes Alien, Audi's maintenance isn't cheap, but like the Camry both the A4 and A6 won't have big problems to fix for many years :D

I have no idea how she spun. It was on the highway too at 100km/h lol. She spun the car into a ditch; I was surprised the car didn't flip when I say the place where she spun the first time. I have a hard enough time getting the car sideways and she spins the car without even trying lol.

I don't want her to get a bimmer because those are RWD and would be hard to drive for my mom. Like I said before, she doesn't understand the handling characteristics of cars even though she has been driving for like 20 years. I know there are the 4wd xi models but they are a bit too expensive and they send more torque to the rear just like the subaru.

I went to Audi's site and it says that the quattro models come with 16inch rims with all season tires. This was just like the subaru which came with Bridgestone all seasons. I think these are good enough for winter and summer.

Yes they are enough for winter and summer, but a compromise -> not perfect for neither of them IMO... and since your mom spun on a straight line on the highway, better put all the chances on her side, with summer tires during the summer and winter ones when needed ;)

what do you think about 2001 BMW 330xi , 330xd or a 2000 BMW 520i, 525i ?

the 5-series are out of the question cuz silvia said that RWD is out of the question...the 3-series AWD are also out cuz they're a bit too expensive with lower miles.

Well, my mom said no to the two Audis without even driving them :(. Both Audis have around 90 000kms and she wants a warrenty which ends at 80000kms. Now its between the Toyota and a new Legacy. I thought she hated Subaru now but she is paranoid that her current Legacy is trying to kill her or something lol. I want her to wait untill the new 05 Legacy is released but she doesn't want to wait that long. So, I'm hoping she chooses the new Legacy since AWD will be much funner than a crappy FWD Camry.

if she is going to buy the new Legacy, make sure she will go for the 165hp model since the 250hp model is too many horsepower for her for sure

http://www.caranddriver.com/article....&page_number=1

In the US I had a Camry 2.2 rental car and that was truly terrible… slow, boring, bad handling
……so now back home (in Europe) I drive a……. Camry??!
The reason: I’m almost 2 meters tall and that limits choosing a car, especially the space between brake pedal and steering wheel (in most cars my leg doesn’t fit) is a problem.
So now I drive a 3.0 V6 AT (2001) Camry, the interior is less plastic looking than in the US version, it handles better because of better suspension and 225/45 17 Goodyear F1GSD3 tires (in summer).
What’s important about a car to me:
Interior space (do I fit), safety, handling, long-distance driving, performance, reliability, price……looks
But at the moment I’m considering buying the new legacy 3.0R station (http://www.subaru-global.com/lineup/...agon/exterior/): btw the automatic versions have 60:40 (front: rear) power distribution (Manual 50:50). (or fitting a compressor, like on this camry http://ackbar.supercamry.com/main.html, because i wont be able to sell the car for a good price any way: nobody wants it)

Interesting fact:
in the US the Camry is one of the best selling cars <-> from march 31 the camry won’t be available in Europe because nobody (except me) wants to buy one.

My advice: buy the new Subaru (and if all else fails get a always reliable camry)

Hmm, are you sure about the Legacy having 60/40 power distribution? With our current Legacy, if you enter a corner at a low speed and mash the accelerator, the car will power oversteer like a RWD car but easier to control. It is also harder to maintain a drift. Thats why I though more torque goes to the rear end of the car.

Yes pretty sure, they said so on a dutch car program during a road test of the NEW Legacy (3.0R) 60:40 for AT and 50:50 for MT; I don’t really understand why this is different per transmission type.

Will there be a new legacy again in 2005?, already, or is the legacy that I’m talking about already the 'new' 05 type http://www.subaru-global.com/lineup/...agon/exterior/

Yeah, that is the new 05 model but i think it was an 04 model in Japan.