Audi -- Aluminum inlays vs. wood

S

sharding

New member
I asked about this buried in a thread on Audizine, but I thought I'd come over here and ask a bunch of people who I know are super picky about this kind of stuff.



I'm considering ordering a new Audi A5 Cabriolet, and I'm trying to decide between the stock aluminum inlays and the wood. I like the look of both. I think I like the aluminum a little better, but I'm not sure (I'm going with the "cinnamon brown" leather).



Is either one significantly harder to keep looking nice? I have a 2007 A6 with wood (and black leather) and it still looks as good as new. The A5 I looked at in the dealership with aluminum had some nicks and imperfections already. But I don't know how that car has been abused or if it just had some defect (it's not one I was considering buying anyway -- I just looked at it to see the color combos).



Any recommendations from a maintenance/detailing perspective?
 
The darker the interior, the better it looks over the long term. I'm not a fan of the wood treatment, but the guys at MotorTrend and Car & Driver love it (it's like $400.00 extra on a new model). The wood probably hides knicks and scuffs better than the aluminum, though. I hope to have an A5 (hard top) as my next car even though they are over priced and under powered compared to its rivals like the G37...A5 is just so much hawter than the rest...IMO...V.A.G. FTW!!!
 
The wood is $350 -- the cost is a total non-issue. I just want whatever looks the best. For me, it's kind of a toss-up based on how they look new, but if one looks much better down the line that might sway me.
 
The aluminum trim in my Passat is starting to show some scratches after approx 19K miles. I'm sure the dealer will replace it whilst it's still under warranty. How long do you plan on keeping the car?
 
I keep my cars a long time. My current car (the A6 is my wife's) is a 2000. Only 56K miles, though -- I have a short commute, and lived downtown where I walked to work for 5 years. I don't expect everything to look showroom new after 10 years, but it should look presentable. I'm willing to take reasonable maintenance steps; I definitely don't abuse my cars.
 
In that case, ask the dealer if they will replace the worn interior parts due to manufacturer's defects before you buy. If so, replace everything before your warranty expires. I keep cars as long as possible, too...never lease (lease = Fail). My '06 GTI had the radio, paddle shifters, and interior door handles replaced with out a fuss. Now at nearly 70K miles, they still look brand new! I'll do the same with my Passat when the time comes. You should be in good hands with an A5 (they've only been out since model year '09)...Post some pics!!!
 
aluminum will dent, scratch and oxidize. Wood has a clear coat that can be polished up.. my reasoning is that the dash is an easy care, but the door card trim is a different story. I have an MB with wood trim, but my car before had aluminum trimming on the door cards and it had it fair share of seatbelt clasp denting the trim, wristwatch scratching the aluminum, wife's purse with those fancy metal labels - the list goes on.. both should be cleaned with quality microfiber cloth.
 
No way would I want any Audi interior trim in aluminum if I could have it in wood instead, for the reasons mentioned above- fixing marring in aluminum Audi trim is generally impossible and even factory replacement parts a) often don't arrive in perfect condition and b) often fail faster than the original ones did. Gee, guess how I know :o



I also think that the wood trim looks classier on cars like that, but then I'm pretty old-school about such stuff.



Do they offer different wood finishes? The D2-series cars that we have came with three or four different wood treatments, and the stuff in my wife's A8 is simply gorgeous with the dark blue interior..the dark-stained wood in my S8 is much less attractive. Some of their wood finishes seemed to really clash with certain interior colors too, I've seen some downright ugly combos.
 
They offer two different woods in that car. Colors are always hard online, but here's a screenshot from the configurator.



a5-wood-options.png




If I go with wood, I think the lighter one would look better with the brown leather, but I'd need to see them both in person (it's a bit tough to find all the combinations I want on the lot to see in person, but so far it's happened). Our A6 has a darker wood, which I think is the same as the darker wood here, but I'm not positive.
 
Also, FWIW, here are some snaps I took yesterday with my phone of the leather I'm thinking of with the aluminum trim. The colors are definitely not quite right (I should have brought a real camera with me), but it gives you an idea.



a5-cinn-al-1.jpg




a5-cinn-al-2.jpg




a5-cinn-al-3.jpg
 
sharding- Ah, those pics are helpful, even if we have to guess about how they look compared to in person.



I think I know the wood on your A6 (we had three '00-'01 A6 4.2s in the family), yeah, about the same as that dark one.



The lighter one looks a bit like my wife's A8, and/but I'm assuming it's not the *really* light wood that I find unattractive and yeah, it's hard to tell other than in person.



The interior of that car actually looks pretty nice with the aluminum IMO, and I'm not an easy sale :D But I can't help but wonder if it'll start looking ratty with normal (even normal Autopian) wear-and-tear and it might also look "dated" after styles change.
 
When the trim wears out, replace them with carbon fiber. That car is soooooooo sick. I'm asking Jesus to help me get an S-Line A5 with their M.M.I. function just like you have in the pic. The prices on used ones should come back down to earth in about 4 years :( Post more pics, man!
 
Accumulator said:
sharding- I trust you'll be taking delivery "in the bag" to avoid any dealer-installed marring :D
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That's definitely my plan. I've never custom ordered a car before, so that brings up another question. What specifically do I need to tell/ask them to get them to not mess anything up (without being a jerk about it)? Is it sufficient to just tell them not to do any prep? I assume they're somewhat used to that kind of request?



I am considering having them do the STaSIS ECU upgrade before I pick it up, but I'm not sure if they'll balk at doing work without also doing the prep stuff. Any advice is appreciated :)
 
sharding said:
That's definitely my plan. I've never custom ordered a car before, so that brings up another question. What specifically do I need to tell/ask them to get them to not mess anything up (without being a jerk about it)? Is it sufficient to just tell them not to do any prep? I assume they're somewhat used to that kind of request?
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Heh heh, I just stay very polite and don't worry about coming across as a [jerk]. I'll make some self-deprecating comment about how I'm just soooo weird, but then I'll follow up with "but if something goes wrong, and the car *is* touched, then the deal's off and there won't be any discussion about it".



I ordered almost all of my Audis, and I turned down a few that didn't show up satisfactorily perfect (to me).



Tell 'em to unload it off the truck and *NOT* remove the transit protection. Ask if it comes "in a bag" or "in a wrap". Explain that *you* will remove that protection and again, make that part of the deal (if you don't trust them, and I wouldn't, get it *in writing* on the sales contract).



Yeah, if you have to explain why, just point out the inevitable marring on the cars in their showroom, and explain that you wouldn't be caught dead in something that looks like that. Note you'll also want to have a talk with the sevice dept. about how to touch your car.



It's not all that unusual. At another Audi dealership I know (not good enough to work on mine) they just had a customer take his A4 that way. They thought it was weird but, knowing me from their Mazda franchise, they weren't about to second-guess the guy and risk losing a customer. So it's done at both the Audi dealers in my area, but heh heh, it might be a new one for *your* Audi dealer :D



Oh, and on the rare chance that they say they can't accommodate your request, that's BS, simple as that.



I am considering having them do the STaSIS ECU upgrade before I pick it up, but I'm not sure if they'll balk at doing work without also doing the prep stuff. Any advice is appreciated :)
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Don't do that until after you've taken delivery and ascertained that all is well. I had an A6 4.2 repurchased by my dealer after it turned out to have unfixable (to my satisfaction) drive-by-wire issues and having it 100% stock certainly made things easier for me. I've had cars tuned prior to delivery, but in this case I wouldn't do that. You want to be certain that you "got a good one" before you change anything, especially anything that they could blame for any misbehavior. New Audis are not a 100% safe bet and you don't want to make things tougher on yourself if you somehow get a bad one.
 
Without a doubt, the wood is more scratch/scuff resistant. However, IMO. the wood looks totally out of place in an Audi, especially with a dark interior. We have two with wood, and two with Aluminum. I like the Aluminum much more.
 
yakky said:
Without a doubt, the wood is more scratch/scuff resistant....
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And you can polish the wood's clear, at least a few times.



Heh heh, you can I can just agree to disagree on which one is more Audi-appropriate :D



Heh heh#2, nice to hear somebody is accumulating even more Audis than yours truly! We only have three at present.
 
Accumulator said:
Heh heh#2, nice to hear somebody is accumulating even more Audis than yours truly! We only have three at present.
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I'm trying to stay on par with you, but I made the mistake of taking a B6S4 out for a testdrive. Then while scouring some ads I found a B7S4 at a ridiculous price at a Chevy dealer. I called the dealership with an even more ridiculous price and they took it. Trying to unload the B7A4 now, tough market... its priced well under KBB private party and generating very little interest.
 
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