# EOS vs A4



## sapphirexae (Apr 25, 2010)

Hi everyone,

Yesterday my friend wanted to go to our local Audi dealership to look for a new car. While he was dealing with a salesman, I started wondering the lot. Turns out they had a certified pre-owned 2008 A4 Convertible. I figured I'd take it for a drive to kill time and to compare it to the EOS. My EOS also happens to be a 2008, so they were of the same year. The dealership tossed me the keys and I took off. Let me tell ya, anyone who picked an A4 over an EOS should have their head examined! Here are a few observations:

1) The A4 looks boring, no real 'lines' to be found 

2) Although they both have the same 2.0T engine, the EOS feels so much quicker and edgy 

3) The switches and controls in the A4 felt cheap and plasticy

4) The center console in the A4 is all cheap, hollow plastic. The E-brake actually hits the armrest when you pull it!

5) The A4 (a fully loaded model) didn't have Automatic Headlights, Auto-dimming Rearview Mirror, Folding Mirrors, Auto Dimming Side Mirrors or Park Distance Control.......my EOS has all of these features.

6) The A4's soft top let in a surprising amount of road noise, even at low speeds. The headliner material looked like terrycloth. Maybe its just me but I don't think a headliner should resemble a dish towel. 


Now that you've read this, roll your A4 off a cliff, collect the insurance money and go buy an EOS!!


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## PaulZooms (Dec 16, 2006)

*Right on*

I looked at the 08 A4 and took a pass. The main reason was that the ragtop as sooo 20th Century.

It is also worth mentioning that the A4 fully loaded went for north of $50K, almost 50% more than a comparable Eos.


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## sapphirexae (Apr 25, 2010)

PaulZooms said:


> It is also worth mentioning that the A4 fully loaded went for north of $50K, almost 50% more than a comparable Eos.




True. Go figure......about ten to fifteen grand more and a far lesser car. Yeah, that makes good financial sense. :sly:


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## lisn2me (Nov 6, 2008)

*A4 vs eos*

We had an A4 before the EOS. I will say there are some thing about the A4 that are better. They are also things about the EOS that are better. A4 had all wheel drive which was way better in snow and rain. Our A4 had power dimming mirror and auto headlights. However the A4's have a huge problem with the rear windows falling out, which ours did, and if you are out of warranty you are looking at $7-8K to replace the top. So they EOS has one up on it with the top. Also the EOS was horrible with spinning the wheels when the roads were wet and dry sometimes. However since installing coilovers on the EOS that basically got rid of that problem. And like you said the EOS has much better throttle response. Now that we have had both we would do another EOS before A4 Cabriolet.


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## swissness (May 15, 2011)

I solved my spinning issue on my Eos by mounting Michelin Pilot Super sport. No more spinning and much better traction in the rain as well. The original Continental tires are definitely not great. It also gave a better handling and the car is quieter and a bit more comfortable as well. I highly recommend them. What type of coil over did you install? did it make the car harder suspension wise?


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## billecorgan (Dec 31, 2010)

sapphirexae said:


> Hi everyone,
> 
> Yesterday my friend wanted to go to our local Audi dealership to look for a new car. While he was dealing with a salesman, I started wondering the lot. Turns out they had a certified pre-owned 2008 A4 Convertible. I figured I'd take it for a drive to kill time and to compare it to the EOS. My EOS also happens to be a 2008, so they were of the same year. The dealership tossed me the keys and I took off. Let me tell ya, anyone who picked an A4 over an EOS should have their head examined! Here are a few observations:
> 
> ...


I do like the Eos a lot, but have an A4 sedan. It's a 2008. I must say that it is weird how cars are priced sometimes, because you can get such good deals on some cars that are every bit as good as a car priced double (like you were saying). I must correct you on some things though. That A4 couldn't have been 'fully-loaded'. My A4 is almost fully loaded and does have the folding mirrors (you may have not known how to do this or that car didn't have them) Mine has the auto-dimming rearview mirror and automatic headlights. Also, My car has rain-sensing wipers (don't know if you can get that on the Eos.) It has a much larger back seat in sedan form, and even in convertible form if I'm not mistaken. It's a bigger car overall, I believe. Also, my A4 has auto-leveling HID headlights that also turn through corners (may not be available on Eos, not sure). We have heated rear seats (on top of heated fronts of course). I have the Bose Navigation system and it has the best sound that I've heard from a factory system. Anyway, my point being that there are probably a lot of ups and downs between both. I will say though that the Eos is a better value for sure. It's probably just because my car has the four rings up front, while the Eos has a VW emblem..lol Crazy marketing stuff. I bought mine used, so thankfully I didn't pay anywhere near what it cost new. Cheers!


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## sapphirexae (Apr 25, 2010)

Some good points. However, you cannot compare your care to the EOS or compare it to the car I drove. The convertible A4 had all together different options and feature levels then the sedans. It most certainly did not have folding mirrors. I am familiar with Audis and know where the controls are. The EOS (if loaded) also has rain sensing wipers and Xenon adaptive lighting, mine has both. Comparing the A4 Sedans backseat with an EOS' is also not a level comparison. No convertible will rival a sedan's rear seat room. The convertible will alway be narrower and less leg room. They are narrower to facilitate the folding top mechanism and they are shorter on leg room as they lack rear doors. The A4 I drove was indeed a loaded model for a convertible and for that year. My parents have owned many Audis (including an A4 convertible) and I am quite familiar with them. This particular A4 had both the Premium Package, S-Line Sport Package, Walnut Wood Interior Package, Sport Suspension Package, Heated Seat Option Group. This car lacked the convenience Group Package which added a couple of the things I mentioned earlier. I didn't say that they were never available. My point was that for the price of the car (as it was equipped) and all of the different option packages that it did have, it was petty that they couldn't include the aforementioned items. Also, the version I drove was the base model, tiny engine (2.0) and had an original window sticker of $42,164. A loaded EOS (with many more features) of the same year was $38,230. I'm not putting Audi down here. Although I suppose I should as my other three cars are BMWs, lol. I'm just saying that the EOS will give you more per dollar than the A4 will.


Funny that on an EOS forum I have to defend the EOS


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## billecorgan (Dec 31, 2010)

I wasn't trying to defend the a4, just saying that those things were available. I would think the convertible would have them available, but maybe not. I was agreeing with you for the most part especially the value part. The Eos is an awesome car. I love them. I also have a 2008 Rabbit (coincidence that everything here happens to be '08s) and I have did a lot more customizations to it. Love the car as well. I read that the Eos is built on the Jetta/GTI/platform, which is how I ended up on this thread while google searching some parts for it. Not trying to put down either car but I also had an a4 convertible as a loaner, btw and wanted to mention that its back seat felt roomy for a convertible. I was half asleep somewhat when I posted here, so I apologize if I said missaid anything. I don't go around defending my cars in other forums..lol I probably will trade the A4 for a year old Eos next year as I seriously like the Eos that much. I am going to read some blogs around here to see if there are any issues I need to look for and such. I really want the light blue color with the cornsilk beige interior. My favorite combo. I will probably have to post this elsewhere but am wondering if the Dynaudio system sounds as good as usual. The Eos almost seems like a bargain TT without the TT specific looks and high sticker since you get the great 2.0T engine. Anyway, you might see me around here more soon since I probably will be buying one. Cheers.


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## Kong99 (Jul 3, 2008)

The EOS was, has been, and will be under appreciated. Why? Maybe for no other reason than it fell under the radar, or was considered a 'girls' car, or... you name the reason. IMHO the EOS was developed by VAG as a test bed for hard top convertibles. We absolutely know it was not designed from the ground up, the front end is GTI, rear suspension Passat. This 'slapped' together car just turned out to be awesome. Frankly my feeling is that it was supposed to be an Audi but for whatever reason they decided to market it as a VW. I have no doubt the EOS is a better car than the comparable year Audi A4 conv, price irrelevant. By their very nature hard top convertibles are superior. They have to be over engineered due to the fact of when the hard top is down and stowed in the trunk.

I consider the EOS a wonderful fluke. It's a much better car than VAG ever intended to make. Regardless I still love my 3 1/2 year old EOS. The only reason I'd consider selling it is to have a pure sports car.


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## f.rizzo (Jun 29, 2008)

We are looking to replace the wife's beetle 'vert and are cross shopping the EOS Executive against CPO used 2008/2009 Benz CLK 350's. The Benz's are cheaper and even with the outdated telematics and no HID's it has a much more solid feel, more room, and great presence on the road.
F
Maybe I'm not looking forward to more of the VW "service experience"...


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## sapphirexae (Apr 25, 2010)

Agree with everything that Kong99 had to say! The EOS (INHO) was lightning in a bottle. For being basically a shelf car (creating a new car out of already existing components) it is incredibly innovative and unique. My spouse and I agree that the only car we'd consider getting rid of our EOS for would be another EOS. Ok, I really want to stress that I am REALLY NOT trying to be snobby with the following sentence. Most all of my life I have been used to the finer vehicles. I've owned 15 BMWs, 5 Porsches, 1 Mercedes (big mistake), 3 DeLoreans, 1 Ferrari, etc.... I never would have considered a VW for myself. I looked at them as a basic, middle class car. I guess I was just being ignorant and pretentious.



*My EOS obsession backstory (kinda long, my apologies).
*
It was nearing time to buy my son a vehicle. I asked him what he wanted, he replied a BMW Z3 Roadster. I told him absolutely not, not for his first vehicle! Like me, he only had an interest in convertibles. He somehow landed on a VW Cabrio. I found a loaded, immaculate, ridiculously low mileage example and brought it home for him. He was over the moon with that car. I drove it quite a bit, so he could ride around in it (he was 15 when I bought it for him and couldn't legally drive yet). Aside from it being rather gutless, I was pretty impressed! It was so quiet, well built, excellent features and an all around great lil' car! Then the EOS appeared. Being a 'convertibles only' guy when it came to buying cars, I LOVED the built-in moonroof! I was in-love.....you should have seen my spouse's face when I said I was enamored with a Volkswagen!! Normally, when I am smitten with a car, I run right out and buy it. The complexity of the top made me a tad gun shy, so I waited to see what owners had to say after sometime of living with the car. I read all of the horror stories with leaking but I also read about the use of Krytox. I developed a theory that most folks with a leaky top had them because they hadn't done their homework and didn't know about Krytox and thusly were not properly maintaining the roof components. After some time passed, I found myself on a VW lot......just looking. I had driven them before but wanted a little fix of EOS. As usual, my 'just looking' ended with me driving home in my loaded Salsa Red Luxury Model EOS. I have never looked back, I am still in-love. I will also report while I'm rambling on that after four years and nearly 50K miles, my baby hasn't leaked a drop! 

f.rizzo,

I highly recommend the EOS (duh). I have driven countless CLK Convertibles (320, 350, 430, 500, 550 and 55 AMG) and was never impressed. They felt numb, boring and very uncommunicative. I've had countless BMW 3-Series Convertibles and by comparison, the CLK cannot hold a candle! The maintenance on the MErcedes is also ridiculous! I myself bought an SLK Roadster on a whim. Huge mistake! It was the most boring car I've ever owned. I kept it for four months and flushed it down the toilet. Enter the EOS! This lil' VW offers every feature that a CLK will plus scads more! I've heard plenty of negativity towards VW Service but a lot of it is finding the right dealership. There is a VW Center about five minutes from my house. I will not take my car there! Every time I have had any dealings with them, I have walked away most unhappily. I take my car to the Dealership where I bought it (about 45 minutes away) and have never had an even questionable encounter. Is it worth a little extra drive time to find a place you love and trust? Absolutely! 

Sorry for all of my long winded stories, I'll shut-up now!!


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## Boosted2003! (Mar 10, 2009)

sapphirexae said:


> Hi everyone,
> 
> Yesterday my friend wanted to go to our local Audi dealership to look for a new car. While he was dealing with a salesman, I started wondering the lot. Turns out they had a certified pre-owned 2008 A4 Convertible. I figured I'd take it for a drive to kill time and to compare it to the EOS. My EOS also happens to be a 2008, so they were of the same year. The dealership tossed me the keys and I took off. Let me tell ya, anyone who picked an A4 over an EOS should have their head examined! Here are a few observations:
> 
> ...



Until something goes wrong with the EOS top and it has to be replaced for $6-7k plus labor.


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## audidonn (Jan 3, 2012)

Well according to car and driver, they would take the 2007 A4 over the VW by far:
http://www.caranddriver.com/compari...-bmw-328i-volvo-c70-saab-9-3-comparison-tests


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## sapphirexae (Apr 25, 2010)

Yeah? So because a critic doesn't like a film, the film is bad? plllleeeeaaasssse!


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## f.rizzo (Jun 29, 2008)

sapphirexae said:


> f.rizzo,
> 
> I highly recommend the EOS (duh). I have driven countless CLK Convertibles (320, 350, 430, 500, 550 and 55 AMG) and was never impressed. They felt numb, boring and very uncommunicative. I've had countless BMW 3-Series Convertibles and by comparison, the CLK cannot hold a candle! The maintenance on the MErcedes is also ridiculous! I myself bought an SLK Roadster on a whim. Huge mistake! It was the most boring car I've ever owned. I kept it for four months and flushed it down the toilet. Enter the EOS! This lil' VW offers every feature that a CLK will plus scads more! I've heard plenty of negativity towards VW Service but a lot of it is finding the right dealership. There is a VW Center about five minutes from my house. I will not take my car there! Every time I have had any dealings with them, I have walked away most unhappily. I take my car to the Dealership where I bought it (about 45 minutes away) and have never had an even questionable encounter. Is it worth a little extra drive time to find a place you love and trust? Absolutely!
> 
> Sorry for all of my long winded stories, I'll shut-up now!!


Thanks for the input. I've had more than my fair share of those "rare" VW "parts bin" vehicles. My R32 was probably the best example of VW putting a car together by rummaging thru the bins. Great car. The CC VR6/4mo is even more rare, I have only seen one other (unfortunately it creaks like a 1987 Hyundai).

Service? The GM of one of the largest VW dealers in the country is a personal friend of mine and the Service Manager _and_ the Parts Manager are on a first name basis. The dealership is within walking distance from my work. When the car goes wrong, there has never been a lack of trying to fix the problem. It's easy to drop off and everyone is very nice. Unfortunately, it does not make up for not being able to fix the problem eventually. These guys are my friends, but eventually we get tired of seeing each other.

For me there are plenty of CPO CLK350 'verts out there. I found a few with ~15k miles on them in the mid to low 30's. It feels heavier and more solid than the VW with far less cowl shake with the top down...and it's RWD and has a little bit more interior room. The EOS seems like a great car for the price point but I think the death nail in my decision was one of your posts telling someone to make sure they had a certified mechanic work on the top. I've seen this movie several times before on my other "rare" VW's and I'm going to pass this time.


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