USED Audi A4 Cabriolet (00 - 05)

My car

Overall a good car but not the special ownership experience we were expecting trading up from a TT to a new Audi. The car is solid, safe, drives very well and is economical. It can be brisk if well stirred but is not quick by any means.

Our Audi experience has been soured by mediocre build quality and dealer service. The dealers are great when they sell you the car but the Audi grease monkeys are the same as at the Ford dealers but pricier. We wont be back with Audi for our next car! Faults from new to 3yrs/60kmiles include clutch, carpets, front windows, camchain and ignition coils. The latter is a well publicised fault and I would rather have had a recall from Audi than suffer the inconvenience of a roadside breakdown in our £25k car.

Audi dealers are expensive (£50 to change a headlamp bulb) and costs can be halved if you have a trustworthy German car specialist nearby.

My car

This is an excellent all-road sports car.

It can be driven around town as a saloon but, when you want to put your foot down, it responds immediately. With very little turbo lag, it goes from being sedate to becoming a rocket ship in a blink.

It holds the road beautifully - it can be put into a corner and pushed through the other side with very sure boots.

On a sunny day, it takes 25 seconds and the roof's down ready to go. It has great looking lines as a cabriolet. There's plenty of room in the back seats. It's easy to maintain, and it tells you when the service is due.

I love the speaker system, which gives very good sound. Did I say how quiet it runs on the road despite having 17-inch boots?

I have driven this car from new for just over two years now and just want to keep driving it. If you have £25,000, go and buy one. I have the 1.8T sports with leather seats and it looks and feels superb.

My car

I have only had the car since March 2005, but the onset of summer provides open top motoring with the advantage of diesel economy.

Up to now the cabin has proved to be a comfortable place to be. I have already covered nearly 8,000 miles with the only problem being the passenger front window not closing when the hood is closed. I am averaging around 40 mpg but the computer is telling me that the car will need a service in 4,700 miles. This seems early as the salesman told me 20,000 miles or 2 years.

The delivery experience was very good, the dealership placed the car in its own glass-walled room for the pick-up and the saleman was very helpful. So far so good, especially if the summer weather continues to be hot and sunny.

My car

This is my third cabrio since 2003. Each one has been fantastic and a real head turner. All my friends own BMW cabrios and they are envious of the styling, quality of materials and fantastic looks!