Back in 2002, I had to buy a new car for the first time in forty-eight years.  This because, in all those intervening years, I had the use of my dealership cars.  When you’re a new car dealer, you simply snap your fingers, install a dealer plate, and drive off.  Don’t like the car?  Take a different one tomorrow.

But by 2002, I had sold my dealerships and was an outsider looking in.  How to decide what car?

I started by eliminating all the cars I didn’t want, which included about 98% of new cars.  My choice was a 2002 Audi A-4 Avant, Quattro V6 with 6-speed manual transmission, dark gray with black leather.

Two Audis, a black S5 and a gray 2002 A4

That car has now traveled 82,000 miles, looks and feels as good as new, and will stay in my garage for a while yet.  Thanks to the innate good taste of the Audi designers, this car is still handsome.  To my eye, it makes competing designs look messy.

Mechanically, I’m pleasantly surprised that the front brakes have never needed replacement!  The rears lasted over 60,000 miles.  There have been NO mechanical ailments.

My admiration for Audi continues, and led to the purchase of a second one almost two years ago, the S-5 Coupe I wrote about in this column some time ago.  At the L.A. Auto Show last year, I met Audi’s chief designer, Walter de Silva, formerly of Alfa Romeo.  I felt pretty good when he told me that he considered the S-5 his masterwork to date.

In its home market, Audi outsells Mercedes-Benz and BMW by a substantial margin.  Here in the U.S., in this dismal year of 2009, Audi sales have dipped very little, while their competitors have suffered big losses.  Audi’s market share has climbed as a result, making one of my favorite brands a big winner for 2009.

White 2010 Audi Q5

I recently drove their newest entry, the Q5, a smallish crossover, tall station wagon-type car.  It has consistently won comparison tests with facing models from BMW, Lexus, Infiniti and Mercedes.  After my test drive, I concur with those professional testers.  You might, too. The Q5 is outselling its facing Mercedes and BMW models.

Another brand that looks good in 2009, even though its sales have not been stellar, is Jaguar.  The first Jaguar I ever bought was in 1973.  My father, who always drove Cadillacs, had just died, leaving my mother a new Cadillac.  I bought her a Jaguar, possibly the handsomest car sold at that time.  She was overjoyed, even though Jaguars of that era were not paragons of reliability.

Dark green Jaguar XK coupe

Fast forward three and a half decades.  Jaguars are now in the top tier of consumer ratings, and fully competitive with the world’s most highly regarded cars.

They are still among the most beautiful in addition to being bargain-priced for what they are.  A recent test car was the 510 horsepower Jaguar XK-R Coupe at $102,000.  Models from BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Ferrari and Maserati that have this much power and performance fail to match the Jaguar in one way or another.

The Jaguar is silky smooth and refined in a way owners of other cars could only wish for.  The Jag matches the Germans and Italians in performance, but doesn’t saddle the owner with high maintenance costs.  If a Ferrari is quicker, the margin is hardly measurable.

That Jaguar style that looked so good in 1973 didn’t look so smart when the same theme was used with the 2000’s.

Now all three Jaguar models, the XF and XJ sedans, and the XK, are as crisp and contemporary as any cars made today.  The XK alone outsells Ferrari – its sales are running ahead of last year, while Ferraris have fallen.

The Jaguar dealers in the Bay Area are all longtime friends of mine, and they manage to run dealerships that are a pleasure to visit, unlike some of their competitors, so buying a Jaguar is as pleasant as owning one.

Other 2009 Bright Spots

Three other makes stand out this year for having outperformed the market.  Subaru, Hyundai and Kia have all scored where it counts – sales numbers and consumer ratings.  A recent test car, the new Subaru Legacy, was impressive value for the money at about $23,000.  Our car-of-the-year choice last year, the Hyundai Genesis, has confounded the experts by establishing Hyundai as a slightly upscale brand, due to the excellence of the product and its keen pricing.  Sister make Kia is winning customers and reviewers, plus many new buyers.

Hyundai Genesis coupe

All of which proves that competition really does improve the breed.  If only government-run institutions believed that!