Change of heart.
 

I seem to have owned a lot of cars, scoobies, range rovers, skodas, vauxhalls, fords, audis, vw's and there was no doubt that the D3 quickly became one of those favourites that was an all round 'good idea' and earned itself a place somewhere in the top 10 of motors I'm most pleased with.

Well, its not any more.

Its reached the dizzy heights of (probably) being the best car i have ever owned, knocking off the 1993 classic range rover off my personal top spot as that excelled hugely in value for money and practicality, even beyond the umpteen D2's I've had.

No, the D3 has won because it 'just gets on with the job'. I dont have to think about anything. It has right balance of power, traction and economy. I dont have to find my keys to get it or to get going, I dont have to waste precious seconds turning the lights on, or slow down manually if the traffic gets heavy on the motorway. The adaptive lights did seem a bit gimicky, but I think I'd miss them now..... The Audi Music Interface is a joy with every track I ever wanted literally at my fingertips saving my precious moments mucking around with those antique disc things. The Sat Nav is fast, and the MMI is very powerful. The air suspension raises up when tip-toeing over snow and hugs down when I want to go fast, largely with no input from me. It grips the road in a more balanced, poised and confident way than most D2's ever did, which has to be the beneift of air suspension, which doesnt sag or get tired over time.

I admit I'm really pleased with my particular D3, and some of the options are absolute 'musts' or I wouldnt feel this way, but for the first time in quite some time I've got quite attached to a car, and I would be truely truely gutted if anything happened to it....

Prices continue to fall, pushing the Tdi models well below 10K, and the V8 petrols well below that.... With fuel duty and tax on the increase 1st Jan, I imagine those D3 petrol burners will become even more of a bargain next year ...

.... now form an orderly queue chaps... :D

Must admit.. I have to agree :)

We've been driving the XC90 around for the last week or two with the snow and stuff, and whilst it's been flawless in those conditions, getting back into my D3 the other day after a 2 week layoff has been amazing.. Roasty-toasty heated seats, more MP3s than I can shake a stick at, loads of power and a suitable gearbox to go with it.

Let's hope that the snow stays away for me to enjoy it some more. :)

I can also agree, I have owned some seriously nice cars, and my D3 is the top of my list


Well done audi +++

Still a bit early to say but my D3 S8 has almost certainly knocked my D2 S8 of the top slot, and that D2 worked hard to get there. I didn't expect it to come near, but it was such a fantastic motor.
The only question mark over the D3 is the niggles. I love the toys, but I do like them to work everytime, without that weird lottery of will it, won't it :Confused:
For instance, I effectively have no memory on my seat, such is the hit and miss with fingerprint recognition. This in turn affects the heater controls, radio settings etc etc. The list goes on.

Definitely agree with the fingerprint memory.. Though I think you can add the key to it as well which may help. What I've found sometimes works better is using my middle finger. That may be because I've stopped showing it to the dash when that happens and put it on the sensor right enough :)

I already use the middle finger.... Perhaps that's what's bothering it. These Audis are so smart they take offence :ROFL:
I'll investigate the key option, cheers

hmmmmmm.....
 

Great write-up Ian! +++

Making me think quite seriously about a D3 S8... ;)

Yes, D3 S8's are starting to fall, but as ever the 'S' models will hold their value relitively well.

I expect the W12's to become the bargain of the century this year.... :D