l am about to buy a car: a 2004 to 2006 Lexus ES330 or Audi A4 sedan. The Lexus are only FWD, while the Audis are FWD or AWD. I am really not much of a car person, so I am not looking for top luxury, super fast, etc. I've just never had a really nice car, and these 2 seemed to fit the bill and have great safety records, no/few recalls, etc. Which is the better quality car? Reliable, few issues / repairs, less likely to be in the shop all the time, the better value? I am not too worried about the price of repair parts either, because both Lexus and Audi are offering 3+ yr warranties, loaner cars during repairs, etc. I am looking only at certified cars.

lexus are very well made cars and they are very reliable, but they are more expensive, l dont know much about audis but my friend has one and its been giving her problems occasionaly

The Audi is a much more nice place to be. Personally i've driven around in A4 Quattro & the A4 bigger,faster brother, RS4. And u just feel much more secure in it with the Quattro AWD, is just so civilized, modern, crisp & clean much like Germany the place it came from.

The ES is always been abit of a pig too look at & if u pay enough attention is driven around by old woman. And the interior feels American & cheap. Probably cause they try to attract more American.

Look at it this way the Audi is like being in a departing lounge of a Swiss airport, very clean, very modern & civilized. The Lexus is like being in LAX.modern but not quite there yet.


If safety Concern u The Audi A4 receive 4 Stars Safety Rating by Euro NCap.
Now a car given 5 Star by American safety rating would reciveve no more then 3 Stars by Euro NCap testes
and the ES330 receive 4 Stars American safety rating.

Edit: Also if this comforts u Audi owns Lamborghini.

The guy below me got it wrong..Volkswagen Group owns Skoda,Bentley,SEAT,Bugatti & Audi.then Audi owns Lamborghini. Volkswagen have no say in Lamborghini part. That is how the new R8 is virtually a detuned Gallardo . Not a Golf.

Volkswagen Group does not own Porsche, Porsche own 45% of the Volkswagen Group.

Well, while Lexus is made by Toyota who makes great cars, it really is just a Toyota When u look at the ES specs compared to a Camry, there r not too many differences. As for the German built Audi. The Germans always seem to make better ''driving'' cars. Look at BMW who claims to be the ''Ultimate Driving Machine''. Look at Mercedes which has been the top status symbol for years. l have drivin an A4 when l sold cars & loved it. The Germans build them right.

As for Audi owning Lamborghini, kind of... Audi is owned by Volkswagen who owns Lamborghini AND Porshe.

When Toyota decided to compete with high end Euro Cars, they took their entry level cars & Lexurized the crap out of it with gadgets & slapping parts from other models. Like taking an Avalon & place a Celica engine, $25Gs more, make it look A-La-Benz or BMW & there u have it.

Audi, BMW, MB & even VW r pretty original on their design. l drove those cars before & they r a good experience to drive them. Some about the stile & the ride that can not be cloned.

On the other side of the Pond, seems to be liked by a group of people that likes to mod Japanese Imports. Care more about if my Toyota, or Nissan can make 1/2 sec faster than ur Bimmer. That Koyi Toyo San says is the best car to drift. That comes with Blue Ray, Boom Box, Leather Seats & a Nav system that tells u how to find the toilet in ur house with the best hours to watch Anime/Manga with Play Station, HDTV capabilities. And that makes it better than any other car on the road.

l am ready for some flame here, some people can not handle the truth. All u have to do is, take a good look at any of their entry level cars & look at their high end cars, a Headlight & a Tail Lights change does not makes it a better car.

If l have the money, l get the Audi, if l barely do & l want to have a wannabe clone Euro car, l look to the the other side of the Pond. Beside in any car, u should be able to maintain it. Some people barely r able to keep up with payment & maintenance. Therefore they end up like junk. Do not be one of those guys. Check ur finances & see how much u can shed for a car in overall. That means, Payments, Maintenance, Insurance, Tax n Title & Fuel. That is the bottom line on what r u going to get so u can enjoy ur ride. Perhaps, instead of a Lexsucks, look at a Camry or Avalon, is the same Toyota Quality, almost identical looks at a much affordable price. Gadgets? You can buy Garmin or a Tomtom later & keep it when u trade ur car ;-)

Here is the deal.. l am not going to throw big fancy words at u or try to convince u that one car is better then the other.

ES330 pros: Very reliable, well built, FWD (better then RWD for snow), good gas mileage, will easily run u to 300k miles.

ES330 cons: It is basically a V6 Toyota Camry, if u want fast & super good handling, do not get it because it is far from it. It is a soft & cushy ride & is as far away from ''sports'' as u can get.

Audi A4 pros: Great cars in terms of build, AWD advantage, better handling then the ES330, decent gas mileage.

Audi A4 cons: It is german & will not be anywhere near the Lexus in reliability, The A4 is a slug.. if u want fast u want the RS4 or at the least the S4.

Bottom line, after reading what u want in a car, u wo not ever be satisfied with either the ES330 or the A4 because they lack in the sports category. Go test drive the Lexus IS350 or the S4/RS4 if u want to stay within those 2 brands & be in the similar class size. Good luck.

theres not really many cars out there that can touch lexus, as far as reliability is concern. i've never owned an audi a4 ( i've had the pleasure of driving the s4 which is blisterinfg fast--but reliability is not their forte. now to loaner cars, i've owned cars from vettes-lancruisers.when my 98 vette needed a trans, the dealership gave me a POS cavalier for a week to use. with lexus, l drop off my keys, l get a nice rx350 as loaner car, free of charge( u have to pay for ur gas). & when l pick up my car, its washed & ready to go. BTW, lexus is very lenient
with expired warranty, ive had some stuff dne while it was out of warranty & they still covered it.. now, l dont know if audi does this, but BMW & BENZ does the same . also look into bmw 3 series & c class benz. you'd be surprised how competetive their prices could be. & dont mind the TROLLS who thinks lincolns & caddillacs r in the same league.

The Audi A4 is a lot smaller than the Lexus ES330. If u want a smaller car u should consider a Lexus IS250, IS350, or Infiniti G35. They all come with either FWD or AWD & they r much more reliable than an Audi A4. They also have much better reviews than the A4. If u still want to stick with the Lexus Es 330, it is still a great car, but l personally do not like its looks. All Lexus is r quieter, more fuel efficient, & more reliable so u would not go wrong with a Lexus.

If u want to look at some problems, recalls, & repair costs, here r some webpages:

Lexus IS250 & 350:
http://consumerguideauto.howstuffworks.com/2006-to-2007-lexus-is-2.htm

Lexus ES330:
http://consumerguideauto.howstuffworks.com/2002-to-2006-lexus-es-300-2.htm

Infiniti G35:
http://consumerguideauto.howstuffworks.com/2003-to-2006-infiniti-g35-2.htm

AudiA4:
http://consumerguideauto.howstuffworks.com/2002-to-2007-audi-a4-2.htm

For reviews, search for them at caranddriver.com & motortrend.com

Do not listen to spamme44. becaue she definately does not know anything about cars. It is true that some Lexus is share the chasis with toyota's, but most r made with better quality & unique materials. Even if they do share parts with toyota, at least toyotas r reliable & good cars. Audi shares parts & bodies with VW which have horrible reliability ratings. Mercedes also does the same with Chrysler & Dodge cars.ewwwww! Oh & just because Audi owns Lamborghini, Lamborghini has no influence on the Audi A4 at all. Maybe if u were going for some high end models like the Audi RS8 an Audi R8, then they woul have some Lamborghini influences in their cars. Lexus is influences from Toyota is quality & reliability.

Im not sure you would want to compare a es330 to a audi a4. An a4 is an IS competitor, which means its meant to be sporty, for the younger generation. The ES is for the 40 is and up. Its meant to be quiet, comfortable, and non-intrusive; it basically spells out boring old people is car. l mean its your choice but id rather go with neitherr and go with an IS. Compared to the is the A4 is pretty slow and bland looking.

(eyes out in stalks !!)..OMG.comparing a LEXUS.with a silly audi..waaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.!!!!..lol