I've bought my A4 Avant in November 98. I was in love with it. It had great pickup, precise steering. The climate-control system was amazing, I finally understood those people that drove around with their windows up. I took it for a spin on the heavy snow, and 4WD worked as advertised, the only time I got stuck was when I slid into a snow bank, and all 4 wheels ended up off the ground. 4WD added unexpected fun to dry conditions too, for a while I could not get my tires to peel off in a turn. And when they did, all for tires peeled at once, it was easy to regain control. What fun!

Few things that I've thought needed improvement were:

- Wind noise: quieter than my old Integra, but louder than many of the fancier cars in the similar price range.

- Cup-holders: they'll hold cups. Medium-size drinks, or Snapple will not fit in.

- Rear leg-room: It is OK when driving seat is pushed far forward, but in my usual position, my friend's legs barely fit in.

- Pickup: great in the low RPM, but levels off. For a fast highway pass, I usually have to downshift to 3rd or 4th gear.

- Stereo system: too much bass, I just never feels quite right, and I hate to change my CDs 6 at the time in the rear.

And then... And then I felt some weird tugs inside the engine while driving on a highway. Soon afterwards, my speedometer started to fail. I took the car to the shop (Carlsen Motorcars) and the diagnosis was "Speed sensor has cracked". They did not have a replacement speed sensor in stock, and told me to come back in a couple of weeks.

A week later, my speedometer stopped working completely. The engine started making scrunching noises, and the car stopped. The motor would rev up, but there was no power coming to the wheels. The car got towed to the dealership, free of charge. #$&@!!!

The initial repair estimate was a couple of weeks. A week later, I called, and some spare parts had to be ordered from Germany, and it would take a few more weeks. Two months later, after week by week delays as more parts were shipped from Germany, I had my car back. The speed sensor had broken to pieces, and destroyed the transmission, which got rebuilt piece by piece, shipped from Germany in small batches. I've heard that Audi parts were in short supply at that time. Repair was free. But still, two months was a long time. I got a half-hearted offer to replace the car for free, but they did not have similar model in stock, it would have taken them months to get it.

I have my car back. After the initial period of mistrust, I've started enjoying it again, and I've put on another 10000 miles without any problems.
====
update: my transmission again failed completely at 25000 miles. Ever since the last repair, I felt slight tugging when accelerating above 85. I think that they never got it quite right the first time. This time around, they just replaced the entire transmission. The car feels and handles better, and my mileage is up from 20mpg to 22.

Crossing my fingers