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If you're concerned with maintenance costs a late 945 is the answer but unless Turbo dog slow compared to your 960.I've had 122,123GT, 145, 245, 2 745T, 96 965 & 2 V90's! Having move to a really bad hill & finding a great/cheap AUDI mechanic I switched to AUDI's. A well maintained AUDI can be a fabulous car. I just bought a '06 A6 Avant w/182K (for $5K) and it's now got 198K. Has almost as much pep as my friends '05-6 V70 Turbo, handles better and is quieter. The 2004-2007 V70's are probably a little cheaper to maintain than the AUDI. I would not consider buying an AUDI A6 Avant before 2006, 2001-04 had 3.0 engines they can become huge bucket of worms. Previous A6 from '99-01 had 2.8 engines and tend to be oil leakers, cheesy ctrl arms every 40-50 K. Here's my opinion starting w/least hassle/cheapest to maintain.
1. 945 Cheapest/Most maintenance & trouble free but slow
2. 965/V90 Smoother, quieter, better lights more maint & gas
3. 2004-7 V70 FWD but most of the bugs out and most people I know run them for years w/o major problems. AWD systems nowhere near as tough & trouble free as AUDI.
4. 2006-11 Audi A6 Avant Better handling, quieter, fabulous AWD system BUT don't buy one w/o pre purchase inspection and only if you find a reasonable AUDI knowledgeable guy!
5. 2008-11 V70 Great car but a gas guzzler, don't know about maint
6. M-B's are pretty solid but I've heard too many stories about excessive maint cost to venture there!
PS I never found a Subaru w/comfortable seat so can't help there.
PS I've just come back to Brickboard after 5 yr.abscence as I'm taking possesion of a 945 w/320K that I found here for a friend when it was a like new 70K car. I'm going to use it when I sell my '95 AUDI S6 Avant while waiting for a newer AUDI to be traded. The 945 will then hopefully become my daughter's 1st car in 2016!
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