USED Audi A4 Cabriolet (00 - 05)

My car

I have owned my 3.0 litre Sport Cabriolet for 13 months. I cannot rate it highly enough or the dealership.

It has superb fit, finish and interior quality and looks to die for. The BMW is its only real competitor and recently in France the Audi was the only cabriolet to turn heads.

Its only fault is the light non-communicative steering but I will forgive this due to its fabulous looks and performance. The criticisms regarding size of boot seem odd as this is a cabriolet not an estate and where do you think the hood is stored when not in use?

Summing up there is no better four-seat open-top motoring for £30,000.

My car

We had this car for nearly two years and have just got rid of it as we just cannot stand it any more and have come to resent it.

For a £30k car, the reliability has been dreadful - from a creaking roof, two new gearboxes, a broken radio to a new clutch. I used two dealerships in the end - neither better than the other.

The manual does not give you intructions on how to change bulbs, as you have to dismantle the front of the engine bay.

Performance is disapointing.

OK the car looks great but looks are more then skin deep. Audi may have the touchy feely bits sorted but the rest of the owning experience left me bitter.

I am going back to BMW.

My car

Love it. It still turns heads, especially with the roof down.

It's more destinctive than both the Saab and BMW cabrios. Fantastic build quality - my only gripe has been the need to change brake light bulbs three times, rear light bulb twice and front headlamp bulbs twice. The front were especailly expesnive as it can only be done by a dealer. Slightly sluggish in auto version. I would definitely buy another but probably a more powerful model.

My car

There are really only three cars in this category: Audi, BMW and Saab.

The Saab is a poor ownership proposition and the brand is quite frankly a bit down at heel. The BMW has more toys as standard but its age is showing and who wants to be seen out with mutton dressed as lamb?

Being honest, the Audi wins by default. It does nothing wrong and ticks enough of the the quality, style, cost and performance boxes.

So, let's face it, if you're looking at these cars you haven't got a chance of pulling one of the racy girls at the party like the Boxster... so the Audi is just good enough to make you forget that you're dancing with a slightly chubby dental hygienist from Woking.

It might not be the date of a lifetime, exhiliratingly fast or exotic but at least it will let you take it home and not feel too embarrrassed in the morning... and that's probably the best you can hope for.