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Buying a car, either new or used, is only part of the total cost of ownership. Once the deal is signed, buyers still need to factor in the cost of insurance, fuel, maintenance and, in some cases, even depreciation.
An inexpensive car can prove to be anything but, and sometimes paying a bit extra for a different model can save you money in the long run. Kelley Blue Book’s (KBB) latest study, on total cost of new vehicle ownership, has named Kia as the most affordable brand and Audi as the most affordable luxury brand.
The win for Kia comes as no surprise, since its vehicles have a low purchase price (compared to competitive vehicles) and tend to return good fuel economy. In the luxury brand category, Audi won for its strong resale value and superior fuel economy.
For some time, German luxury automaker Audi has been one of the few automakers to offer clean diesel cars to the U.S. market.
But until Audi announced plans back in March last year to offer diesel-engined options for every new Audi sold in the U.S. by 2015, the only diesel Audis you could buy were the Audi Q7 TDI SUV, or the compact, VW Golf-based Audi A3 Hatchback.
Not for much longer.
Talk of an Audi A1 quattro has been circling the Internet’s most feverish tubes for well over a year now, heated up by the unveiling of the Audi A1 clubsport quattro concept at the Wörthersee Tour in May. Today, Audi has stripped back the sheet from its latest creation: the A1 quattro.
Looking very much like the clubsport concept from earlier this year, the A1 quattro sports all-wheel drive (natch), and gets its power from a 256-hp 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder. Zero to 62 mph takes 5.7 seconds, top speed is 152 mph, and it still pulls in a quoted 27 mpg U.S. A six-speed dual wet-clutch transmission handles the shifts.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has released new data on U.S. car theft, and the statistics aren’t especially surprising. According to the report, more Toyota Camrys were stolen than any other vehicle in America, but performance models like the Audi S8 actually had the highest rate of theft.
The data comes from 2009 (the NHTSA is still crunching numbers from 2010), and if you’re the sort of person who enjoys poring over spreadsheets, this is a fascinating way to spend your Friday afternoon. The NHTSA ranked vehicles according to their rates of theft, and at the very top of the list, we find the 2009 Audi S8.
Coinciding with the reveal of its facelifted 2013 Audi A4 range, the automaker from Ingolstadt has announced that it’s reached a new milestone concerning its popular mid-size model.
Factoring in the original four generations of the Audi 80 first launched in 1972, plus the four-generations of its successor, the A4, Audi can now lay claim to building its 10 millionth mid-size car.
The particular model was a 2012 Audi S4 finished in Misano Red, which rolled off the line at Audi’s secondary plant in Neckarsulm, Germany, earlier this month.
The 2013 Audi A4 range is out, and it will (nearly) all be coming to the U.S. within the year, including the hot S4 and the crossover-like A4 Allroad. Full details were just revealed for the European models, but we expect the core variants to remain mostly unchanged for the U.S. market.
As Audi’s meat-and-potatoes car, the best-seller in its range, the A4 is a key model, and its update reflects that. The lightly facelifted design gets some modernization and refinement, but still remains conservatively Audi. LED daytime running lights are standard, with conventional headlights and xenon-plus headlights as an available upgrade. A gray grille, angular air inlets, and flat fog lights complete the new front-end look. The Allroad gets some unique chrome accents and round fog lights, while the S4’s look is a more aggressive, aerodynamic take on the A4’s profile.
The Volkswagen Group 2.0-liter clean-diesel TDI engine has been fitted to quite a number of VW vehicles over the years, as well as the Audi A3 TDI.
Now the company has announced a voluntary safety recall that applies to both Golf TDI models built from May 2009 to September 2011, and the more numerous Jetta TDI and Jetta SportWagen TDI models built between May 2008 and September 2011.
Audi’s latest recall of the 2012-2012 A3 TDI is unusual, not in that it’s a diesel or an Audi, but because of the reason: an odd confluence of engine RPM and fuel line pressure that can cause a leak.
The problem is limited to the VW-sourced 2.0-liter TDI engine in 7,335 A3 TDIs built between September 2009 and September 2011. Under a certain set of load and engine RPM conditions, the fuel injector pulses coincide with the frequency of the second cylinder, creating a resonance that can cause stress cracks to form in the fuel line. The cracks can then leak fuel onto hot parts of the engine, potentially causing a fire.
We recently saw spy shots of a camouflaged Audi concept car doing some photography work in the heart of Berlin, Germany, and now the automaker with the four rings has revealed some preview sketches of the concept ahead of its debut next month at the 2011 Frankfurt Auto Show.
The new concept will be called the Audi Urban Concept and it’s just the latest in a long line of e-tron electric car concepts, most of which are destined for production in the not too distant future.
We recently saw spy shots of a camouflaged Audi concept car doing some photography work in the heart of Berlin, Germany, and now the automaker with the four rings has revealed some preview sketches of the concept ahead of its debut next month at the 2011 Frankfurt Auto Show.
The new concept will be called the Audi Urban Concept and it’s just the latest in a long line of e-tron electric car concepts, most of which are destined for production in the not too distant future.
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