^^
All press cars in press photos are very generously equipped and the A4 not any more than the C and 3er. Try specing a C on the MB website and you'll see that A4 isn't such a bad deal.

The funny thing is that, that is exactly the thing I have been doing for some time now as I need to replace my current car. I keep calculating the BMW 3-er, Audi A4 and Mercedes C class, but everytime I try a new combination with options/packages the Audi just keeps popping up with higher prices.

I'll just take a Mercedes C as an example


This is an Avant Garde interior with options (Although the star on the bonnet makes me think it might me an Elegance ;-) )

Options:

• Black wood instead of alu
• Command stereo

Where downgrading the command to APS 20 ot APS 50 is not a real bad thing. Just a smaller screen, but still the nice command button in the console.

This is around 5k in options...

So you need to look at the Avant Garde "packet" and what it costs, but really it's a no brainer as it's more exterior than interior options you get. For the interior you get alu dash inlay, leather multifuctional steering, multi function display, half leather (look) seats. Exterior wise you get the nice front, some minor changes in looks and 17" rims. Trust me, taking this into the pricing this at Audi will not make it easier. Avant Garde is around 3k, add it to the 5k and you are still in better condition.

I'm reading similar conclusions on German Audi sites, where people are a bit confused by Audi's different pricing. They used to undercut Mercedes/BMW by a bit, with the A4 this is different.

Please don't take this is Audi bashing, I absolutely love the brand, their cars and especially their interior build quality, choice of materials and design.

MBs trim packages offer good value, but I have yet to visit the A4 configuration so I'm not aware of Audi's pricing for options. I know that MB are expensive though. My eyes almost feel out when I paid a visit to my local MB dealer the days the C hit the street, and saw that one of their demo cars(C350) had options for close to 21 000 euro(asking price for a C180K is 29 300 euro).

WOW. 21K euro? that's like 25-27K US dollars. Damn, for that much I could get a well equipped 2002 M3. JEEZ.

21k euros is actually almost 31k USD.

Cars are cheaper in Europe than US. Probably one of the reasons why BMW biggest market for M3 is US.

You meant cars are cheaper in USA than Europe, right?!

yes!

That's not quite right. For some of us who live in the US, then the answer is yes, mostly thanks to the heavily weakened dollars. But is if you work and live in the US cars are just expensive as they are here in Sweden.

While the price of cars might be cheaper in the US than in other nations, living off of the wages *most americans earn here the cars are still very, very expensive. Cars are just one expense, but people like me who have to pay for health insurance as well have more to worry about than cars. Health insurance in the US is very, very expensive. How expensive? Literally, the amount of money I person pay for Health Insurance per month, I could have me a decently equipped 335i. So keeping many things into account, cars might be cheaper on paper, but when it comes to financing and wages here, cars are still expensive. Don't even get me started on car insurance in this country.