Audi A4

I suppose you have to expect it when you're pushing on towards 40 - a bit of creakiness and general wear and tear, that is. With humans it's the onset of a bit of stiffness in the joints, and maybe even the memory isn't quite what it was - although that couldn't apply to me, of course!
With cars, things start to shudder and whine, and the general sharpness that was present in the mid-20s has dulled. That's certainly been the case with our long-term Audi A4 Cabriolet. True, it still appears young and beautiful for its 39,000-plus miles, but a closer look reveals the odd wrinkle is starting to appear.
There are a few too many scratches, scrapes and blotches - all as a result of normal town and city driving. There's one exception to this general wear and tear, though, and that's the series of marks caused by vandals who recently wrenched the badge off the bootlid late at night.
I'm told Audi's four rings are much sought after by the boy racer-tuner brigade for their souped-up Fords, Peugeots and the like. Anyway, cheers guys. Or maybe it was simply something to do with the Olympic Games on TV - and our Kelly Holmes winning her second gold medal.
It was that very evening that the Audi rings went missing. Well, four rings is close enough to the Olympic emblem's five! At least a replacement from a local Audi dealer cost less than a tenner and arrived after only a couple of days. It took a matter of minutes to remove the old adhesive with some white spirit and a little elbow grease, and then stick the new moniker on. Further signs of damage are visible on the 18-inch cross-spoke alloys. Despite trying to be very careful, we've still managed to score them while negotiating demon traffic-calming humps and chicanes.
Mechanically, the combination of the 2.5 TDI engine and Multitronic CVT gearbox is really starting to struggle, with the previously reported 'lag' (issues 761 and 779) between hitting the throttle and moving off getting progressively worse. It really is unsettling when you're trying to make a dash for a gap in traffic, and there simply isn't much response for a couple of seconds.
And when it comes to stopping, the Audi's transmission continues to display a nasty habit of jerking forward when the anchors are applied within the first couple of miles of driving. The A4 has also developed an intermittent fault afflicting the alarm and immobiliser. This problem sees the car lock normally on the key plip, only to refuse to unlock when you use the device again.
Having said all this, we wouldn't have swapped top-down motoring in the Cabriolet for anything. We've been fortunate to have enjoyed some of the hottest weather on record in the 18 months that it has been on our fleet. And that has meant virtually everyone on the magazine has been que-ueing up to drive it, particularly at weekends. The hood is one of the best in the business - easy to operate, brilliantly constructed and remarkably good at blocking outside noise.
The only problem we've had is keeping it clean, especially after sap splattered all over it when the car was parked underneath a pine tree. Regular washing was useless; steam cleaning was needed to shift the stains. Now, as winter arrives, it's time for us to say farewell to the A4. If only we could all be in such great shape at 40...