Roger

I just had mine replaced five weeks ago. It took them 2 1/2 weeks to fix the car. This included shipping two turbo's from germany. The first one was BOA (Broken On Arrival)<p>After they fixed it, my Check Engine Light came on. But that's another story. Anyways, I still love my car and will upgrade to a Wett Chip soon.<p>Roger<br>98.5 1.8T quattro, tip, trip, sport pkg, etc. etc.

Andy Hedin

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Bill S.

I called Thule customer service to double check that it was OK to fit one of their cargo boxes to my Avant with factory Audi (Votex) crossbars. The guy said it was NOT OK. I asked why. He said that Thule had tested that setup and the result was a catastrophic failure. I asked what the failure was. He said the factory crossbars SEPARATED from the long silver rails, which on the road could easily lead to a fatal accident for anyone behind you!<p>I really couldn't believe my ears. To me, the factory crossbars seem extremely strong and their connection to the silver rails seems excellent. It's just hard for me to believe that this type of failure could occur.<p>The Thule rep said the cargo boxes can be used safely with Thule crossbars.<p>At first I thought that maybe Thule was just trying to sell their own crossbars. But I also asked about a friend's Toyota that has Mondial crossbars. He said they have not testing their boxes with Mondial bars and so could not recommend them, but he said that if the bars were Yakima it would be fine. So I'm not sure what to think.<p>I also called Yakima to see what they had to say. They also said they do not recommend fitting a box onto the factory crossbars, but when I asked why, they said only that the connection hardware probably didn't fit the factory rails but they had no info either way about a safety issue.<p>I asked the Thule rep if I could get more details about the exact type of failure they observed, because I was doubtful about how such a failure could occur. The rep said Thule does not share that type of information.<p>If what Thule told me is true, it seems rather significant, since I'm sure some people have fitted and will continue to fit Thule boxes to the factory crossbars. In that case, Audi should immediately recall all their factory crossbars, right? And if what Thule says is untrue or misleading, as I suspect, they shouldn't be allowed to give out such scary misinformation. <p>Any thoughts?

Josh

Could be where the Thule box attaches; I'm not familiar with the Avant's rails to the Audi crossbars, but I'd imagine it's somewhat of a screw/bolt mechanism. The Thule box I have (Adventurer, the big one) has two front and two rear settings, and they're pretty inflexible for most cars (ie: had to mount my Thule rack outside the "standard" guided area on both my Passat and the A4 to accomodate the box).<p>The box has stayed put at 110+ MPH speed (on Route 15 in Nevada), as well as in hot and cold extremes. Just a pain to put on and take off.<p>-josh

marmer

No, the A6 has those red lights too, I believe. The A6 and the Passat have white lights on the bottom edge of the door that shine directly down on the ground. The red ones on the sides of the door are so other drivers can see you have a door open.

krionic

even if you did read the owner's manual you would have found out about the little things AFTER you bought your car. Hence, the reason for my post..... finding all the little things AFTER you bought your car.

But I guess you read the owner's manual BEFORE you bought the car.

And as someone pointed out earlier..... little rubber nipples on the mat on the firewall... if thats in the owners manual I'd be surprised. But even if it is.... you wouldnt appreciate it until you actually used it.

So, what little thing did you READ about that you were happy is there?

Allan Landmesser

<center><img src="http://131.107.68.28/a4org/Imgs0018.jpg"></center><p>Some of the things that I like on my 99.5:

- Look at the climate control lighting when you turn on the lights. Notice how it doesn't just light up, but fades on? It also fades off... Cool.

- The way the dome lights fade on and off.

- When you "lock" the rear windows, the lighting on the rear window switches goes off... almost as if to say, "they won't doing anything right now, so you don't need to see them."

- Did anyone notice that the "motion sensor disable" switch only lights up when it would be appropriate to press it?

- (Can you tell that I like stuff that lights up?)

- Anyone else think the A4 has a really nice butt?

Allan Landmesser
'99.5 1.8Tqms

Nealio

Yup that's some ***! ; )

krionic

- When you "lock" the rear windows, the lighting on the rear window switches goes off... almost as if to say, "they won't doing anything right now, so you don't need to see them."

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sweet! thats exactly the kind of stuff I'm talkig about. And no, I didnt notice that. I'm the driver =) . Nonetheless thanks for sharing.
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- Did anyone notice that the "motion sensor disable" switch only lights up when it would be appropriate to press it?

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I did notice, but i didnt *notice*
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mitro

Well, no power to the switch = no lights, kind of a side effect actually.