I've owned 3 Audi's (A4 Convertible, A5 Convertible, Q5) + 2 BMW's (330i and an X3). My Audi's have all been excellent. Q7's are a bit quirky, and I won't own one. As for the battery under the seat, that come from VW, and was done for weight distribution.

The Audi dealerships in Houston are either awesome or crap with no in between.

As for brake jobs 2500 isn't crazy. Normal for a German car. Run about the same between BMW and AUDI. They mandate replacing rotors and pads at the same time + fluid. Nothing made in china, so your paying full euro prices. The reason your average mechanic can't do the brake job is due to the electronic parking brake and the rear brakes. Audi you need their VAGCOM software to tell the system to disengage the motor that drives the back break pads (it auto adjusts during normal wear, and moves the pads in).

If your buying German, a few things to note. Lease is probably a good option. Use it for 3 years and let it go. IF your going to buy one, usually pre-owned certified is the way to go. You can get some very low miles (under 10k), and save a wad of money. If certified they come with a very long warranty and you can also get a maintenance program. In most cases, don't keep them more than about 6 years. Maintenance post that get's expensive.

The more expensive the German car, the more expensive the maintenance. M3's. M5's, 7 series, R5,7,8's maintenance costs are sky high....

I can quote you plenty of Japanese that run close to that as well. I can do them myself for under $1000.

Look-up a brake job on a GT-R, ouch.....Close to $8K!

Most American don't replace the rotors, and just refinish/resurface. Saves a ton of money. Fine on non-high performance cars. It's fine for my Expedition.

Same here. Domestic trucks hold up extremely well. 2nd expedition. My ford cars were not great by any means. Ended up spending less on maintenance with the German car (believe it or not).

Realize most German cars are leases (near 80%), and many have the maintenance buried in the cost. Many want one flat cost per month. By the right one with good re-sale value, and its not a bad deal. M Series or 7 series, well be prepared to bend over..

VAGCOM is the correct way.. But there is another way.....

There is an electric motor that drives the pad for the electronic parking brake. When you in VAGCOM, you reset it and it turns the motor all the way back. Plenty of Audi guys have hooked a 12V battery to each parking brake motor (with reverse polarity), and backed it out.

This worked on several models a few years back.