SVX supposedly "requires" premium (I've used mid-grade sucessfully for the last 4 years) & weighs 3,580 lbs. Like the A4, it actually has a backseat you can use.
Audi certainly has maintained quite a high level of performance across their entire line. Can't imagine buying one without the Quattro option (one of the Best Buys! ever) unless living in Florida or somewhere where it never snows.
The question of frequent dino changes vs. extended intervals with more $pecialized oils (and anaylsis) will probably only be answered on an incidental basis. You could probably take two identical vehicles and submit each to a different regimen for 100K and then tear down the engines and see what really happened. One would think the automakers have done this already...
But, WHAT IS THEIR PRIMARY MOTIVATION?
IMHO to build and sell new cars at a profit and not lose their shorts on warranty expenses. Ergo, don't expect them to spec the maintenance system that will keep the average buyer in their car for twice as long: they can't afford it.
Planned obsolescence is a fact of life, not a conspiracy theory. What concerns me is that new technology doesn't come with extended warranties on components that are not proven in actual use in the real world: New CVT's in Audi, Nissan & Honda products should have 250K factory warranty so the original owner and the used car buyer won't have to worry about what it might cost to have their 5 year-old 65K Murano's tranny repaired in Elephant's Breath, MT!
Audi certainly has maintained quite a high level of performance across their entire line. Can't imagine buying one without the Quattro option (one of the Best Buys! ever) unless living in Florida or somewhere where it never snows.
The question of frequent dino changes vs. extended intervals with more $pecialized oils (and anaylsis) will probably only be answered on an incidental basis. You could probably take two identical vehicles and submit each to a different regimen for 100K and then tear down the engines and see what really happened. One would think the automakers have done this already...
But, WHAT IS THEIR PRIMARY MOTIVATION?
IMHO to build and sell new cars at a profit and not lose their shorts on warranty expenses. Ergo, don't expect them to spec the maintenance system that will keep the average buyer in their car for twice as long: they can't afford it.
Planned obsolescence is a fact of life, not a conspiracy theory. What concerns me is that new technology doesn't come with extended warranties on components that are not proven in actual use in the real world: New CVT's in Audi, Nissan & Honda products should have 250K factory warranty so the original owner and the used car buyer won't have to worry about what it might cost to have their 5 year-old 65K Murano's tranny repaired in Elephant's Breath, MT!
