2009 Audi A4 Avant Long Term Update 1

"Last night, after I had filled the A4's cargo room with groceries," notes Assistant Web Producer Carlos Lago, "I pressed the button to auto-close the hatch and-nothing. The hatch didn't budge. I pressed it again to no avail. The hatch wouldn't shut by itself. So I attempted to close it the old fashioned way-by this point the woman waiting for my parking spot had grown quite impatient-only to find heavy resistance from the hydraulic assist. The hatch closed, but would not latch into the lock, causing a warning indictor to illuminate on the dash for the rest of the night."

As we report this, the hatch auto-opens partially and then fully under manual power, and auto-closes with no problem. Meanwhile, Managing Editor Rusty Kurtz is laudatory: "In typical Audi fashion, the interior is fantastic."