Audis are put together very carefully and made out of nice stuff. We all know this. My own venerable A4 has only ever gone wrong once (the water pump expired thanks to a wildly inadequate plastic impellor, no doubt a part bought by an external supplier and not really Audi's fault:- benefit of the doubt issued), despite my maintenance habits being of the "keep me mobile" variety, not the money-no-object, preserve-for-eternity mindset afforded to more valuable machines (as in more than £750...).
Every time I drive mine, I am reminded how every single interior attribute is OK at the very least. Not one aspect is insufferable, and those that are merely adequate are certainly liveable. The only significant demerit is the paucity of rear legroom; a design travesty, not a quality issue. So when I read of Audi's current quality crusades (CAR, issue 600), I was left wondering whether really, to be quite honest, they wouldn't be better off sitting back with a nice cup of tea and resting on their laurels for a while.
Does quality sell a car, really?
(Image stolen from CAR, issue 600 (July 2012))
