The Audi A4 has been a perfect all-rounder for several decades. And since I still own a 2017 A4 Avant, I figured it was a good time to review it by today's (2023) standards.
I've owned the A4 for well over five years now. At first, we bought it second hand with just 30,000 km on the counter. Because it was used as a company car, we got a great discount and picked up a nearly new car that fit our needs perfectly.
Good things about the A4 Avant
Drive quality
I remember jumping into an older generation A4 for the first time. My wife and I were looking to replace my aging Volvo S40 and were considering a newer S60 instead. But we didn't like it very much. Not that it was bad, but it just resembled the older S40 too much. In the same garage, we found an A4 Avant that was slightly more expensive. Almost as a joke, we gave it a shot.
From that moment onwards, I knew one thing: an A4 is a great all-round car. There's nothing you can say to change my mind about that. The overall comfort and feeling you get is great. The car feels very planted and stable. The steering is well-balanced, good for driving around town or hurtling the A4 through fast bends.
We got a 2.0L diesel engine that pumps out 150 hp through a 7-speed automatic gearbox. The car feels surprisingly punchy and smooth while accelerating. The longest I ever drove it was 8 hours straight from the south of France to Belgium, and I enjoyed every second of it.
Comfort and interior
The list of positives continues in the cabin. It's simply a nice place to be, even now 6 years later. The interior has a timeless sense to it and still feels great to this day. In fact, apart from a larger display and some small tweaks, Audi is yet to upgrade the A4's interior, and that says something.
Not only does it look good, but the overall finish is great too. I've driven higher-range cars from other manufacturers that don't feel this well-built.
The seats are comfortable, and the driving position is adjustable enough to fit most people. There's simply nothing wrong with it. Even the rear passengers don't have much to complain about, apart from the fact that rear legroom could be slightly better when there's a tall driver in front of you.
Practicality
Being the estate version of the A4, the Avant comes with a great large loading area. The boot capacity is a proper 505L, and you can add a good 1000L if you fold the seats down. I can testify from experience that you'll be able to fit most Ikea furniture in the back of the A4.
Downsides of the Audi A4 Avant
Price and running costs
Well, this is actually a downside and an upside. The A4 is not the cheapest option available. Not only does it cost quite a bit to purchase, but I've found the overall cost to be higher than I would have hoped.
As a second-hand car, you can pick these up for a good deal, but after 6 years, you still pay quite a bit. And there's the upside: come resell, you'll still get a good price for it.
Maintenance costs have also added up to around 5k over the past years, which is probably normal, but there are cheaper manufacturers. Luckily for us, we found a shop not too far from where I live that can service Audis at a significantly lower cost than the official dealers would invoice.
Infotainment
During the first couple of years of ownership, the infotainment was fine. It wasn't great by all means, but I can't recall any infotainment in the late 2010s that was. The software would glitch every now and then. GPS would do strange things, and overall user-friendliness wasn't great.
By today's standards, that's obviously more of an issue as the infotainment feels dated and unresponsive. However, it's good to mention the support of Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, which means you have a well-performing alternative to ignore the built-in software.
Conclusion
It should be clear by now that I still love the A4 Avant. I'm convinced that the newer model is great, but the older ones are fantastic second-hand options. They still drive great by any standard, they still look the part too. Overall, we've had no problems whatsoever with the A4 over the past five years.
So, if you're in the market for a great second-hand family estate, be sure to check it out. Let a test drive convince you further because the A4 Avant, even after 6 years, is a fun-to-drive, practical, and trustworthy daily driver!
