Audi A4 45 TFSI (2024) Review

The final years of this A4 were an exercise in polish rather than progress. The build quality is the best here, with switchgear that clicks with the same weight after eighty thousand miles and a dashboard design that resists fashion. Quattro all wheel drive gives it real all weather confidence, and the 261 horsepower turbo four with its mild hybrid system is smooth, torquey and quick enough to embarrass most drivers of faster cars.

On the road it is secure and slightly remote. The steering tells you less than a BMW does and the car understeers safely rather than rotating, which some buyers actively want. The infotainment is a generation behind the newest systems but the physical climate panel underneath it is a mercy. Ownership is where the grades fall.

Timing chain tensioners, water pumps and carbon buildup on the direct injection engine are known items, specialist labour is expensive, and depreciation on compact German sedans is steep enough that the first owner absorbs most of the value. Beautifully made, quietly satisfying, and cheapest to own when someone else has already paid for the first three years.