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In Europe station wagons are accepted. They almost have to be. Families don’t have the luxury of opting for two vehicles to suit different tasks. In Europe they choose one versatile vehicle for multiple jobs. From hauling the family and their gear on a trip to Munich to commuting on a daily basis to work, the station wagon suits many families very well. In the United States us Yanks drive the SUV on the weekend and the sporty car (or stately sedan) to work during the week. The fusion of the two would have looked something like an Audi allroad… but American consumers didn’t seem to like the ambiguous styling and with slow sales Audi pulled the plug on North America.

Since the allroad (the hard core ‘Land Rover test course capable’ car-based SUV) didn’t work, Americans looking for a mid-sized Audi station wagon will have to settle for the A6 Avant.

Who’s the U-Boat Captain?
Walking up to an Avant is a curious experience. It’s almost like walking up to a two-ton, beached German U-Boat. Its exterior appearance isn’t exciting but it still means business… The bottom line is that the Avant is still a solid, quick, AWD vehicle that seems to hunker down at speed. But, the fact that it is a station wagon suggests that it’s a sedate ‘mommy mobile’ ready for trips to the super market.
The plus side to the internal debate at AutoPacific and VehicleVoice is that the somewhat boring ‘station wagon’ image means that you could get away with being understated, counter-culture, and not a pompous person, all the while owning and driving a really nice Audi and on occasion employing the Quattro AWD.
Anyone up for a $60K Station Wagon?
The 2007 Audi A6 Avant 3.2 is a nice vehicle. It has many of the same characteristics we’ve come to expect from Audi. They know climate control and heated seats like it’s nobody’s business. Their MMI (Multi Media Interface) is still the most intuitive system we’ve tried and the build materials in the interior are top notch. You can still expect a solid platform, smooth ride, and silky drivetrain, but with that said, we found the A6 Avant to be boring and expensive. The price is still $61,115 as tested, and we are still contemplating what a prospective buyers consideration set looks like… What else would fit the needs and wants of an A6 Avant prospective buyer at $61K?

Wish List for A6 Avant
We still love the ride and handling the Audi Avant offers. It is smooth, comfortable, and handles like a nimble sedan, if a sedan can be nimble (OF COURSE A SEDAN CAN BE NIMBLE!). With a base price around $60K we have a pretty in-depth wish list for the ’07 A6 Avant. It includes a reclining second row of seats, moving the CD changer and navigation DVD system out of the glove box and putting in an auxillary/iPOD jack; not to mention deeper, more ergonomically friendly cup holders.

Update
Overall, the A6 seems to be in dire need of a major update. The plastic instrument panel and HVAC vents look like they are out of my grandfather’s Buick and the wood accents look like they were dipped in dirty water. We should forgive the Germans; they are not drawn to wood trim pieces as much as us Americans are and typically appreciate aluminum or carbon fiber over wood.

Neat Features
Other than the great climate control, MMI, and Quattro, some of the other great features offered by the A6 Avant were the mirrors in the sun visors. When I say mirrors I am talking about each sun visor having two mirrors each. Open one mirror for quick easy viewing or peel back that mirror for a magnified view. Open up the rear hatch and you are welcomed by a myriad of choices to secure your luggage, supplies, children, anything really… Another neat subtlety is the ambient lighting; not only on the interior but also on approach or departing the vehicle fog lights and puddle lights from beneath the exterior mirrors illuminate and shed light for safe and easy ingress/egress.

Four Pieces of Flare
Overall, the 2007 A6 Audi Avant is a very well put together vehicle. It’s definitely not an allroad and I would at least recommend some flares to the wheellips (but maybe then you’d look like you were trying to hard – especially in a station wagon). Could it be that I’m just an A4 fan?